A leading analyst on NATO policy called for the alliance to place a permanent military presence in Baltic member states as a hedge against the Russian military, reported USNI News Tuesday.
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The administration of Barrack Obama intends to allot $3.4b to the European Reassurance Initiative (ERI) next year, effectively quadrupling the current commitment to its NATO partners in Central and Eastern Europe, reported LSM's Russian-language service Wednesday.
The Latvian Foreign Ministry is working on having Belarusian TV programs on Latvian media, LSM's Russian-language service learned at the ministry in a story published Friday.
The denizens of Liepāja, the birthplace of Latvian NBA player Kristaps Porzingis, are struggling to vote their star kid into the All-Stars game. Now they've gone as far as creating posters that display a gigantic Porzingis waving visitors in with a hearty 'Welcome to my hometown!', reported LSM's Russian-language service Wednesday.
The Moscow municipal authorities have initiated a survey over the possibility of introducing free public transportation tickets to car owners during heavy snowfall, LSM's Russian-language service reported Tuesday.
About ten wild animals living in Latvia could be added to an invasive species blacklist and as a consequence potentially be exterminated within the country. An EU regulation has been passed seeking to address the problem of invasive species and controlling the population of the trespassers, reported LSM's Russian-language service Sunday.
The Marine Stewardship Council, a non-profit that grants blue ecolabels marking fish it has deemed caught in a sustainable manner, has suspended the certificates of all five cod fisheries in the Eastern Baltic Sea, reported LSM's Russian-language service Thursday.
A former Russian energy official was sentenced by the District of Maryland Court Tuesday to four years in prison for money laundering, in connection with his role in arranging more than $2 million in bribes to influence the awarding of contracts with a Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation. Part of the money was laundered through accounts in Latvian ABLV bank, reported LSM's Russian-language service Wednesday.
LSM's Russian-language news have uncovered an unprecedented story about a British court ruling that four children - Latvian citizens - have to be returned to the United Kingdom to be put into foster care. The family has already left Britain via Ireland and is in all likelihood now residing in Latvia. The local authorities have no comment on the matter, reported rus.lsm.lv Monday.
Lonely Planet, the popular series of tourist guidebooks, has listed Latvia among its Best in Travel 2016 countries. Latvia ranks fifth in this top.
The Foreign Ministry has asked the responsible institutions for information about the Alexander Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian Armed Forces, reported LTV7's Segodnya Vecherom. As of now the concert is set to take place on December 8.
The Latvian ambassador to the Russian Federation Astra Kurme, along with Viktor Tolokonskiy, the governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, has voiced intentions about promoting bilateral ties, LSM's Russian-language service reported Friday.
The Legal Committee of the Saeima on Wednesday reviewed, in the third reading, amendments to Criminal law about changing the liability of the driver for driving under the influence, reported LSM's Russian-language service Thursday.
After the 2008-2011 crisis, Latvia has joined the small group of nations that saw the sharpest decrease in the share of employees protected by collective bargaining, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), reported a story on LSM's Russian-language service Tuesday.
The Latvian citizen's passport has ranked 12th in the global Visa Restrictions Index that is created each year by Henley & Partners.
Offers in an open tender for dismantling works, organized by state electricity giant Latvenergo, was found to have evidence of price fixing (cartel) by the Competition Council. The council decided to fine the companies in question for €100,000, BNS reported Friday.
The ruling coalition party Unity is becoming impatient with Health Minister Guntis Belēvičs (Greens and Farmers Union). After being denied access to to top-level secrets by the state security services, he told Latvian Television Friday that he isn't worried about it as access isn't necessary for the head of the Health Ministry.
The Lotos Petrobaltic company has started drilling oil at the B8 offshore oil field approximately 70km north of Jastarnia. The B8 field is estimated to contain 3.5 million tonnes of crude oil reserves. Though Latvia lags behind, there are searches for oil in the Baltic country too.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko believes that intensification of the political dialogue between Belarus and Latvia is one of the most urgent tasks on the bilateral agenda, BelTA news agency reported on Monday.
Even though Poland has allotted €16 billion to modernizing its railroads by 2023, not a single zloty has been earmarked to be spent on developing the connection to Rail Baltica at the Polish side of the border with Lithuania. Without this 200-kilometer section, the planned high-speed European gauge rail from Tallinn through Rīga through Kaunas won't be connected with the rest of Europe, reported LSM's Russian-language site on Friday.
Up to 17,500, but at least 7,000 cars could be affected by the global Volkswagen diesel engine 'exhaust cheat scandal', reported a story on LSM's Russian-language sister site on Wednesday.