Actor Märt Avandi says his life has changed beyond recognition since overcoming cocaine addiction, and he is now using his experience to help prevent drug use among young people, ERR reported. Avandi spoke about his recovery on the television programme Hommik Anuga. Three years ago, he told the p…

Estonia’s Heritage Board has recommended ending state protection for 48 of 133 manor-related built heritage monuments in Jõgeva County, ERR reported. It proposes continuing protection for the other 85, but the recommendations are not final. The board will present its findings to the county commun…

French social photographer Jean-Louis Courtinat’s work is driven by a desire to make the world better, ERR writes in a review of his exhibition “This concerns us all” at the Juhan Kuusi Documentary Photo Centre. The review was first published in Sirp. The exhibition features about 80 photographs …

Latvia’s preliminary parliamentary election results point to voters seeking change but not a radical shift, political scientists told public broadcaster LSM. They said a three-party coalition involving the United List, the National Alliance and New Unity is the likeliest outcome. The United List …

Reading and writing more could improve mental health and help reduce medical costs, Loomingu Raamatukogu chief editor Triinu Tamm told ERR in an interview. Tamm said people still read books, but reading habits are changing and long texts are read less often than in the past. She pointed to shrink…

Director Vincent Boussard’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Othello at Estonia National Opera explores how lies exploit human weaknesses, according to a review by Aare Tool published by ERR. The review first appeared in Sirp. Tool links the production’s themes to the present, where “alternative tr…

New Unity won slightly more than 6% of the vote and seven seats in Latvia’s 15th Saeima election, a result below the party alliance’s expectations, parliamentary faction leader Edmunds Jurēvics told Latvian Television on Sunday, according to LSM. With 98.5% of votes counted, New Unity’s seat tota…

Folk band Oopus won the most awards at the 2026 Etnokulp folk music gala in Viljandi on Saturday, ERR reported. Oopus won Album of the Year for “Reivlender”, Artist of the Year and New Folk Artist of the Year. Nublu, Tief City 44 and Curly Strings won Song of the Year for “Tšastuška”. Nova Lyre w…

The United List, represented by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, has won a record number of seats for a single political force in Latvia’s parliament, LSM reported. With 99.4% of votes counted, the party had about 35% of voter support and was projected to win at least 40 seats. The provisional res…

Estonian public broadcaster ERR reports that ETV2 will dedicate its Sunday theme night to musician Tiit Kõrvits, who turned 75 on October 3. The evening begins at 7.30 p.m. with the 2023 documentary “Rock-Hotel: How Did Your Game Go?” It recalls the band’s first performance, at a party at the Est…

The number of voters who changed their ballots in Latvia’s 15th parliamentary election was nearly seven times higher than before, Central Election Commission head Māris Zviedris told Latvian Television on Sunday, LSM reported. About 95% of the votes had been counted at the time. Zviedris said the…

A woman was found dead in her apartment in Visaginas on Saturday afternoon, and a man suspected of killing her has been detained, LRT reported. Police said the body of the woman, born in 1959, was found at about 2.10 p.m. on Energetikų Street. The suspect, a man born in 1979, was taken to a tempo…

Latvia’s Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) has failed to cross the 5% threshold to enter parliament for the first time in its history, LSM reported, citing nearly complete election results and the party’s leader. With 98% of votes counted, ZZS had won 4.46% of the vote. Party chairman Armands Kra…

Šiauliai Mayor Artūras Visockas plans to seek a fourth consecutive term, while the mayors of Širvintos district and Kazlų Rūda have yet to decide whether to run again, LRT reported. Visockas, who has led Šiauliai since 2015, told news agency ELTA that he would run, saying local self-government wa…

Research on retracted papers highlights how problems in scientific publishing may extend to artificial intelligence responses, ERR reports. Anton Sokolov, a doctoral student at Tallinn University of Technology and researcher at the Tyche Institute, studies trust infrastructure, including research…

The United List has won the most support in 36 of Latvia’s 42 municipalities in the 15th Saeima election, according to LSM, with 95.4% of votes counted. The party failed to lead in only six municipalities, all in Latgale. The results mark a sharp shift from the previous parliamentary election. In…

Light rain will return to parts of Lithuania on Sunday, with morning fog in some areas and changeable cloud cover, LRT reports, citing forecaster Elena Kliukina. Temperatures will be slightly lower than during the sunny week, but the change will be modest. Some western districts may see brief, li…

Merkinė could have become a major tourist destination if not for wars and occupation, says Žygimantas Buržinskas, director of the Merkinė Regional Museum. In an interview with LRT, he describes returning with his family to the town in Dzūkija, where he grew up, and says he prefers life there to t…

The United List won Latvia’s 15th Saeima election decisively, while voter turnout fell to its lowest level ever in a parliamentary election, LSM reported. At least 800,000 eligible voters, or 51.67%, cast ballots on October 3. Experts suggested the low turnout may have reflected a lack of promine…

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’s United List has taken the lead in Latvia’s 15th Saeima election, winning more than a third of votes counted, preliminary Central Election Commission results cited by LSM show. With 51% of ballots counted, the commission’s figures indicated that United List had won…

Latvia First is ready to offer the United List cooperation in forming Latvia’s next government, party prime ministerial candidate Ainārs Šlesers told Latvian Television, LSM reported. Šlesers said available voter survey results would differ from the final election results. He said the United List…

Latvia could speed up vote counting in future parliamentary elections by ending the option to deposit ballots for safekeeping or amending the Constitution to allow advance voting, Central Election Commission head Māris Zviedris said, LSM reported. The count in the 15th Saeima election was schedul…

Counting in Latvia’s 15th parliamentary election began more than two hours later than planned as officials checked for repeat votes, the Central Election Commission (CVK) told LSM. Preliminary results were expected at around 4 a.m. on Sunday. Officials had to identify and annul earlier ballots ca…

Political groups contesting Latvia’s 15th Saeima elections gathered at venues across the country to await the results as vote counting began, LSM reported. Fourteen political forces are running in the election. The National Alliance gathered at Benjamins’ House, while Latvia First awaited results…

Veliuona has renamed its last street named after writer and Soviet official Petras Cvirka, LRT reported. The street, in the town of Veliuona in Jurbarkas District, will now be called Kalno Street. The roughly 500-metre street is home to nearly 30 residents. The new name was chosen in a resident s…

Vote counting had not begun nearly three hours after polling stations closed in Latvia’s parliamentary election, as officials continued checking voter data, LSM reported, citing the LETA news agency. Laura Krastiņa, a member of the Rīga Election Commission, told LETA that officials were verifying…

Latvian voters have given Andris Kulbergs of the United List a substantial vote of confidence, political scientist Jānis Ikstens said, according to LSM. He called the election period Kulbergs’ “star hour” in an interview with Latvian Radio. Ikstens said the United List was nowhere near its curren…

Daiga Mieriņa, one of the leaders of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), says the party’s inconsistent position on values may be among the reasons it could fail to enter Latvia’s 15th Saeima. LSM reported that a voter survey conducted at polling stations did not put the party above the 5% thre…

Latvia’s United List will first discuss forming the next government with its current coalition partners, co-chair Edgars Tavars told Latvian Television, according to LSM. The United List received the largest share of support in an election survey, at 35.6%, but Tavars said the priority was to wai…

Voting in Latvia’s 15th Saeima election ended at 8 p.m. local time, with ballots now being counted and turnout at its lowest ever in parliamentary elections, LSM reported. The election passed without major incidents, and no cyber incidents were recorded. The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bu…

Record-low turnout in Latvia’s 15th parliamentary election may reflect a lack of compelling calls for change and prominent populists able to draw non-voters to the polls, experts told Latvian Television, LSM reports. Political scientist Sanda Liepiņa, head of the Providus think tank, said that in…

Rain will move across Estonia on Sunday as temperatures reach 14 to 16 degrees, ERR reports. A narrow band of showers will reach the islands and north-western coast before slowly moving south-east into the mainland. South-westerly and westerly winds will be moderate, with coastal gusts of up to 1…

New Unity and the National Alliance said the next coalition should be formed by state-minded political forces, including current coalition partners, LSM reported as they responded to voter survey results from Latvia’s parliamentary election. New Unity parliamentary group leader Edmunds Jurēvics s…

Edgar Vaht and Allar Kukk won the Saadjärv pike fishing contest with a combined catch measuring 324 centimetres, ERR reported. More than 120 anglers gathered on Saadjärv on Saturday for the 15th annual spinning competition. A total of 55 boats took part. The contest’s overall result was based on …

At least 790,000 people, or 50.81% of eligible voters, took part in Latvia's 15th Saeima election, the lowest turnout in the country's parliamentary election history, LSM reported, citing Central Election Commission data from 995 of 1,059 polling stations. At least 600,000 voters cast ballots at …

Estonia is becoming better prepared for major crises, but emergency shelters remain a critical shortfall, Interior Minister Igor Taro and the Rescue Board say, ERR reports. Estonia currently has just over 300 designated shelters, a small fraction of what the country needs. Taro said authorities h…

LRT has examined how Lithuanian media portrayed sexual minorities from 1994 to 2004, including the creation of a supposed “gay elite” conspiracy. The subject was discussed on LRT Radio’s programme Buvo nebėra, which reviewed material from the broadcaster’s archives with researcher Rasa Navickaitė…

An exit poll suggests six political forces may have cleared the 5% threshold to enter Latvia’s 15th Saeima, or parliament, with the United List receiving the most support, LSM reported. The poll, conducted by LETA, LSM and Riga Stradiņš University with methodological support from the SKDS researc…

Latvian police opened seven administrative-offence proceedings after receiving 25 reports of possible violations on parliamentary election day, most of which were not confirmed, LSM reported. Four proceedings concern disturbances of public order and three concern breaches of campaign rules. Polic…

Seven political parties would enter Latvia’s parliament if the results of the youth mock election were translated into seats, LSM reports. The Progressives would win 26 seats, followed by the United List with 23. Latvia First would receive 12 seats, Sovereign Power and the New Latvians Associatio…

The main uncertainty in Latvia’s 15th Saeima election is which parties will clear the five-percent threshold, not which party will win, according to an analysis by the think tank Providus reported by LSM. The results could affect both the distribution of seats and the options for forming the next…

Voter turnout in Daugavpils was among the lowest in Latgale by midday, while Rēzekne maintained high participation after strong advance voting, LSM reported. Residents interviewed said security, financial stability and access to healthcare were important issues for the next four years. Daugavpils…

Latvia’s Central Election Commission has annulled votes cast at a prison in Riga and ordered a repeat ballot after a prisoner voted using an expired identity document, LSM reported. The prisoner had already placed the ballot envelope in the box, where it became irretrievably mixed with other ball…

The United Kingdom is developing its nuclear capabilities in the air and at sea but does not plan to offer Nordic and Baltic countries a separate nuclear guarantee through the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, ERR reported. Security experts said such a guarantee is not needed and that Britain sho…

A simulation of evacuating and receiving 500 refugees at the Lazdijai hippodrome on Saturday marked the end of Lithuania’s 2026 national mobilisation exercise, “Vytis Vault,” LRT reported, citing BNS. The exercise scenario envisaged people fleeing a fictitious military aggression in Estonia and L…

Mobile voting is available at 82 locations in 14 municipalities for Latvia’s 15th Saeima election, LSM reported. In Valmiera Municipality, six mobile locations are operating only on election day and during set hours. Before dawn, staff from polling station 938 in Vecate packed a ballot box, docum…

Otto and Agnes Pukk were reburied at Kudjape cemetery in Kuressaare on Saturday, bringing the couple back to Saaremaa, ERR reported. Otto Pukk was born on the island 126 years ago and died in Sweden 75 years ago. Before fleeing to Sweden in 1944, Otto Pukk served in the Estonian War of Independen…

Voters in Jelgava called on Latvia’s 15th Saeima, or parliament, to get to work quickly, LSM reported on Saturday, October 3. Long queues formed at Jelgava State Gymnasium, while voters also turned out in large numbers at Miezīte Library. Several voters told Latvian Radio that choosing whom to su…

Kirna manor gardener Eneli Käger advises waiting for a proper overnight frost before planting tulip bulbs, ERR reports. The bulbs can be planted in early autumn, but putting them in too soon may expose emerging shoots to spring frosts. Käger said tulips are best planted from around late September…

A total of 198 inmates voted in Latvia’s 15th Saeima election at the newly built Liepāja Prison, LSM reported, citing TV Kurzeme. Inmates said their location did not change their rights or responsibility to help decide the country’s future. Inmates had to submit an application to the prison admin…