Fish processing companies and the Orkla (former Laima) chocolate factory are seeing labor shortages, particularly for positions requiring little skill and having high employee turnover.
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Around midnight on December 11, an abandoned five-story house partially collapsed on Jeruzālemes st. in central Riga, and 138 people were evacuated from the surrounding houses.
The Latvian National History museum has set up a website to create a joint photo album marking Latvia's centenary, reports Latvian Radio November 14.
On August 23 the ruling coalition decided to not provide funds for the so-called MP quotas - public money that MPs can use to directly benefit their electorate - in the 2018 budget.
Archaeologists working at a site in southern Latvia are uncovering interesting evidence of the region's industrial capacity in the seventeenth century.
Latvia's colorful meadows are home to a great number of wild flowers that would be the envy of many other countries, and there's no better time of the year to explore them than the time around the midsummer celebration.
Latvia's colorful meadows are home to a great number of wild flowers that would be the envy of many other countries, and there's no better time of the year to explore them than the time around the midsummer celebration.
Latvia's colorful meadows are home to a great number of wild flowers that would be the envy of many other countries, and there's no better time of the year to explore them than the time around the midsummer celebration.
Latvia's colorful meadows are home to a great number of wild flowers that would be the envy of many other countries, and there's no better time of the year to explore them than the time leading to the midsummer celebration.
Latvia's colorful meadows are home to a great number of wild flowers that would be the envy of many other countries, and there's no better time of the year to explore them than the time leading to the midsummer celebration. Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll publish a Latvian Radio strand dedicated to Latvia's wild flowers.
A new tram route - tram line Number 1 - has started serving passengers from June 5. It joins the neighborhoods of Jugla and Imanta in a ride that lasts a little more than an hour.
Latvia's famous bird webcams got another addition with the nest of a great bittern with its young now being streamed online. The nest is located in the northern part of the Engure lake.
The Rīga City Council on January 9 started offering free Latvian-language courses for 1,200 locals. The demand for learning Latvian is high as most of the spots have been taken as of now.
Almost half of central and local roads are in bad or very bad condition. A large part of the road infrastructure funding is made up by EU funds, the availability of which for this purpose will fall dramatically in 2019. The Transport Ministry has discussed setting up a road maintenance fund, reported Latvian Radio on December 21.
Transport Ministry representatives on Wednesday unveiled a road traffic safety plan for the 2017-2020 period, aiming to reduce road fatalities by 50% until 2020.
In fall Rīga's real estate market sees a surge in demand as students return to their studies, reported Latvian Radio Tuesday.
Next year Latvia plans on buying body cameras for its traffic officers as part of attempt to curb bribery, reported Latvian Radio Friday.
On September 1 children start the 2016/2017 school year, on the date known as Knowledge Day in Latvia. On this day, pupils and teachers are welcomed to school standing in a celebratory line and flock to classrooms for the first lesson of the new academic year, reported Latvian Radio Thursday.
Latvian Radio offers the latest installment in the "Greatest Trees of Latvia" series. This time Latvian Radio visited the great oak in Kaive in the Tukums region. With a girth of about 10.4m, it's the thickest tree in the Baltics.
A Century Plant (Agave americana) is nearing bloom at the University of Latvia Botanical Garden. The last time a plant of the same species was in bloom at the garden was twenty years ago, reported Latvian Radio Wednesday.
Latvian Radio offers the latest installment in the "Greatest Trees of Latvia" series showcasing trees inside the country. This time we'll be visiting the great oak in Budas in the Dobele region. It's the only known oak in Zemgale that testifies to an ancient beekeeping method.
Latvian Radio offers the latest installment in the "Greatest Trees of Latvia" series showcasing trees inside the country. This time we'll be visiting the white willow in Jaunsloboda in the Kaunata parish of Latgale.
Latvia loves trees. Dižkoki (great trees) are Latvia's largest trees, protected by law. Long ago, they were thought to be holy and signal the presence of god. Some of these ancient trees are still standing - like Zemgales krīvs (the sage of Zemgale), a 300-year-old oak that Latvian Radio visited starting off its "Greatest Trees of Latvia" column.
The anti-speeding marathon held Thursday to Friday saw 622 drivers pulled over for speeding, reported Latvian Radio Friday.
The University of Latvia is using fruit flies to research shiitake mushrooms. Turns out substances in the mushrooms help prolonging the fruit flies' lifespan and improving physical abilities. The flies, mere nuisance for many, are useful to scientists and have things in common with human beings, reported Latvian Radio Thursday.
Northern lights and meteor showers will perhaps mark the turn of the year with very natural "fireworks", Māris Krastiņš, head of the Latvian Astronomy Society (LAB) told Latvian Radio Wednesday.
There could be a total of 20,000 protected trees (dižkoki - or 'great trees') in Latvia, but only a fifth are marked as such. Inspectors from the Nature Conservation Agency routinely set off to measure the kings of the forest and say that locals' help in finding and marking these trees is very welcome, reported Latvian Radio Thursday.
Krišjānis Valdemārs, one of the main people behind the Latvian National Awakening in the second half of the 19th century, turns 190 on December 2 and will be commemorated at Lielie kapi cemetery at 2 PM.
The light festival Staro Rīga has begun, taking place from November 18–21 with the motto “Light was called… in search of feeling at home in Latvia”. The central objects of the festival are the Cabinet of Ministers and the Old Church of St. Gertrude, while the most prominent of the objects this year will be the Freedom Monument, reported LSM's Latvian-language service Tuesday.
The spread of infectious diseases has not shrunk in Latvia since 2010, according to last year's research by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It has also been established that 41% of inmates are or have been infected with diseases such as HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, reported a story on Latvian Radio Monday.
The fund for supporting the victims of the Ukraine conflict is still taking donations for treatment of war veterans in Latvia, but the influx of donations has fallen recently as the events in Ukraine have been eclipsed by the refugee crisis. However, Ukrainian soldiers are still undergoing treatment in Latvia, reported Latvian Radio on Monday.
The investigative commission charged with studying the massive store of documents detailing KGB activities during the time of the Russian-occupied Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic will finally conclude agreements with researchers and start investigating the KGB "sacks of Cheka files", reported Latvian Radio on Friday.