Week in pictures: June 29-July 5
The long-awaited summer finally arrived in Estonia!
However, those who hoped to grab something stronger from their local corner-shop or nearest gas station, and head to the beach to consume it, soon found to their dismay that Tallinn's hard liquor ban had finally come into force. From July 1 onward, beverages with alcohol content higher than 22 percent can no longer be purchased from shops smaller than 150 square meters, those in the immediate vicinity of schools, and gas stations.
Soon enough, those who now mourn easy access to alcohol, can repent in what, curiously, will be the first church in Mustamäe district. You can see what the Mustamäe Mary Magdalene Church will look like once completed here.
On Wednesday, the trams of Tallinn, old and new alike, ground to a halt for a month, as large-scale track renovation takes place in Viru intersection and other areas. A replacement bus number 42 will run from Kopli to the beginning of Peterburi road, near Ülemiste.
On the same day, Estonian Foreign Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus announced her resignation in connection to the so-called Autorollo scandal, which saw the bank accounts of her father's struggling trucking company emptied and the company declared bankrupt. Around 1.5 million Estonian kroons (approximately 94,000 euros) worth of assets were wiped off from Autorollo's books, the prosecution said. The circuit court ruled Pentus-Rosimannus liable to pay back part of the debt. "I do not agree with this ruling – it is unjust and I will appeal to The Supreme Court,” she said in a statement but decided to step down regardless. As the race is on for finding a new FM for Estonia, ERR News is having its own little public opinion poll on the front page.
Talking of foreign relations, the US embassy held a grand 4th of July party in Estonia on Thursday to celebrate Independence Day and American-Estonian alliance, complete with a bespoke cake said to have weighed over 300 kilograms.
The end of the week, however, brought sadder news. On Friday, four beach-goers were reported missing in Narva-Jõesuu and are feared dead. A body of a 10-year-old girl has been found on shore across the Russian border, while another girl of the same age, her father, and another man in an unrelated incident at the same beach, remain missing.
On Sunday evening, a tragic accident happened in Tartu County, when five children fell from a bouncy castle blown into the air by a sudden gust of wind. Despite prolonged efforts to save them, a boy and a girl were pronounced dead on the scene. Three more girls were taken to the hospital with serious and very serious injuries.
Editor: M. Oll