The Internal Security Forces revealed that it detained the mastermind who plotted the kidnapping of the seven Estonians in 2011 at the behest of al-Qaida cadre in Iraq, the ISF General Directorate said on Thursday.

In a communique the Directorate said: “on the backdrop of the kidnapping of the seven Estonians in the Bekaa region on 23/03/2011, investigations led to the arrest of the mastermind, Lebanese H.H. Born in 1983 (in reference to Hussein al-Hujairi) who plotted the kidnapping on the behest of al-Qaida cadre in Iraq.”

Estonian army chief Riho Terras apologized Thursday after photos surfaced of him performing a Knights Templar ritual in a white cape and army gear at a medieval monastery.

"There are rules about wearing the military uniform and nobody, including the commander of the defense forces, can violate the rules," the 45-year-old said on the army website.

Spring may be around the corner, but in Estonia residents of one tiny island are celebrating the cold with the opening of a 12-kilometer (seven-mile) ice highway over the Baltic Sea that is one of Europe's longest.

"We wait for ice roads every winter because the frozen sea makes our lives much easier," Heldy Polluste, whose husband made the drive from Kihnu island to the mainland over the weekend, told Agence France Presse Monday.

Thousands took to the ice of a frozen lake in southern Estonia on Saturday in the hopes of catching the big one -- a marked fish worth a 50,000 euro ($67,000) jackpot.

Sadly it was the one that got away, despite the 6,500 people who tried their luck at the Estonian Gold Fish Festival on Lake Viljandi, organizers said.

Hundreds of people popped into as many saunas and ice holes as possible on Sunday in an all-day marathon event in Estonia.

A total of 600 participants in four-man teams took part in the annual European Sauna Marathon in the southern town of Otepaa, with a goal of visiting every sauna in record-time.

Estonia's thriving brown bear population has spread nationwide after hunters eased up in their traditional territory, an expert in the Baltic state said Friday.

"Bears have been able to expand their living range from central Estonia through to the western regions on the Baltic Sea, mainly because hunters have been avoiding killing mother bears in central Estonia," Peep Mannil, head of wildlife monitoring at the Estonian Environment Information Center, told the daily newspaper Eesti Paevaleht.

In his victory speech, President Barack Obama acknowledged millions of voters' frustration when he said that it was time to fix the long lines at voting stations that have become an Election Day blight in America.

For inspiration, Obama may want to turn to Estonia, an East European nation and staunch U.S. ally that allows its citizens to vote in the comfort of their homes — via the Internet.

Kidnappers have boarded a ship off Nigeria and abducted seven crew members, including six Russians and one Estonian, in the latest such incident in the region, French company Bourbon said on Wednesday.

"Bourbon confirms that seven crew members, six Russians and one Estonian, were kidnapped during the boarding of the Bourbon Liberty 249, which occurred on October 15, 2012 in Nigeria," a statement from the oil industry servicing firm said.

An Estonian crackdown on petrol smuggling from Russia has dramatically cut down on traffic jams at the Baltic state's border crossings, its revenue service said Friday.

Until last month, Estonian and Latvian smugglers had driven to Russia several times per week to fill up their tanks with cheaper petrol, to then syphon it out of their tanks and sell it back on the EU side.

Andy Murray had Ivan Lendl in his corner and another ATP final in his sights when he beat Australian teenager Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday in the Brisbane International semifinals.