Riga/Tallinn - Estonia's consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, according to statistics released Monday.

Prices in the Baltic nation rose by 10.9 per cent compared to the previous third quarter.

The latest figures were mainly influenced by price increases of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, but were mollified by decreases in the price of fresh vegetables.

Estonia's annual inflation currently stands at 10.5 per cent, but appears to be on a downward trend after peaking earlier this year.

Riga/Tallinn - Foreign ministers of the three Baltic nations and the Benelux countries concluded a two-day mini-summit in Estonia on Thursday with a call for continued dialogue with Belarus.

"We touched upon the latest developments in Belarus following the elections there and we discussed the future of our dialogue given the positive developments, such as the release of political prisoners and the green light granted to OSCE observers to monitor the elections," Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

However, Riekstins also noted that question marks remain about the September 28 election in which opposition parties failed to win a single seat in the Belarussian parliament.

Riga/Tallinn - Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves urged his country's stateless residents to adopt full citizenship on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ceremony in Tallinn at which he handed citizenship certificates to newly-qualified citizens, Ilves said: "Your will demonstrates that you trust and need Estonia. I affirm to you that Estonia trusts and needs you."

Estonia has an estimated 100,000 residents who do not have full citizenship, out of a total population of 1.3 million. Most non- citizens are ethnic Russians.

Tallinn - Authorities in Estonia have arrested a former high-ranking official in the defence ministry and his wife under suspicion of treason, local media reported on Monday.

The prosecutor's office said Herman Simm collected classified information and passed it on to representatives from another country.

The authorities will not release any details about the case, nor will they say which country hired the alleged spy, Gerrit Maesalu, spokesman for the State Prosecutor's Office, told Postimees Online.

However, citing unofficial information, the Baltic News Service has reported that Simm worked for Russia, making him the first official suspected of treason since Estonia broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Tallinn - Annual inflation in the Baltic natio

Tallinn  - A court in Estonia handed down jail terms to a couple wh