The government on June 18 adopted draft amendments to regulations for teacher’s pay providing for raising the minimum monthly wage for teachers from EUR 710 to EUR 750 for a 30-hour working week, the LETA newswire reported.
British fighter jets taking part in NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission have been kept busy in recent days, according to a release from the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence.
On 14 June 2019, the former Deputy of the Saeima Vaira Paegle died in her home in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, according to her daughter Laila's statement on “Facebook”.
After conducting bathing water quality tests last week, the Health Inspectorate does not recommend swimming in the “Lucavsala” bathing area of the Daugava river, Rīga, and the “Pasta salas peldvieta” on the left shore of Lielupe, where a high level of microbiological contamination has been detected, reported LSM's Latvian service on June 17.
The police of Carnikava are patrolling a small flower from June 1 to August 15. The precious plant is none other than Dortmann's cardinalflower (Lobelia dortmanna) – the only species of the rare and endangered Lobelia genus to be found in Latvia. One of its habitats is the Ummis lake in the Carnikava municipality. Latvian Radio caught up with the Chief of Carnikava Municipality Police Gints Dzirkalis and his colleagues on June 15.
Saturday 15 June saw a spate of bear sightings in northern Latvia, specifically on the road from Valmiera to Rūjiena, reported LSM's Latvian language service.
The two-package national health insurance system, which was set up and intended to be implemented by the previous administration, is postponed until 2021 – the Saeima decided at the final reading on June 13. Until then, it is planned to launch a one package system and set a health insurance contribution of 1% for every wage-earner.
Extensive military training, during which NATO allies train to overcome joint security challenges, has in recent years become a common practice in Latvia, reported LSM's Latvian service on June 13. In the days before the Jāņi festival, the Baltic Sea has become the site of ambitious naval practice program “Baltops 2019”, which marks 47 years since its inception. As part of the program, the largest ship of the Spanish fleet, “Juan Carlos I” is floating in Latvian waters. The operation is a novel experience for Spanish troops, as this is the first time the training is taking place so far from home waters.
The municipalities surrounding the town of Tukums will ask the state for funds to repair damage in the aftermath of a devastating storm, said Ēriks Lukmans, the chairman of Tukums Regional Council in an interview with Latvian Radio on June 12.
The drastic fluctuations in temperature, from the swelter in the streets to the cool air indoors, have increased cases of pharyngal inflammation, some of which require serious medical treatment, the LSM Latvian service's reported on June 12.
The annual Rīga Dialogue strategic communications conference winds up June 12, with another two days of academic, military and technological discussion having passed at the Latvian National Library.
The State Revenue Service (VID) has raided several Catholic churches, announced the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia on June 11.
Widespread cultural education is a major good, and it should not be changed, said the candidate for the post of Minister for Culture Nauris Puntulis in an interview with Latvian Television on June 11.
On June 11, the Saeima National Economy Commission has finished preparing amendments to the packaging law for the second reading. The law requires the establishment of a beverage packaging deposit system in Latvia. Talks about its establishment have gone on for around 20 years.
Ivan Golunov, one the most prized investigative reporters on the Latvian-based internet media “Meduza”, was arrested on June 7 in Moscow for drug possession with intent to sell. The media community believes this is simply a way for the Russian authorities to silence a journalist who has been probing into Russia's criminal activities.
Despite costing the state 62 million euros per year in maintenance costs, since 2012 there has been "virtually no progress" in implementing the management policy of state-owned Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, the State Audit Office concluded in a report released June 10.
Drones - unmanned aerial vehicles - pose an increasing challenge to the security of critical infrastructure in Latvia, so the regulatory framework in this area needs to be improved, the State Security Service told the LETA newswire June 9.
The Latvian Journalists' Association (LŽA) has lined up alongside other journalist groups to express support for Ivan Golunov, a Russian investigative reporter arrested in the Russian Federation on highly dubious drugs charges.
With the arrival of warm weather, the number of drowning victims and accidents are on the rise. The State Fire and Rescue Service (VUGD) warns bathers not to be reckless.
In 2018 population numbers rose only in Pierīga (the area immediately around the Latvian capital), with growth of 3,300 or 0.9 % according to statistics about regional populations trends released by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) June 7.
For ten years now, American stores have been selling rye-bread prepared according to a Latvian recipe. The bread is baked in a bakery shop located in Brooklyn, New York. It was introduced to the bakery by a Latvian-born professor at the University of Maryland, Jānis Melngailis. Latvian Television caught up with him at “Rodman's”, a chain store situated on the outskirts of Washington.
Knowledge is not the only thing that pupils and their parents expect from schools – the importance lies in linking learning and knowledge to real life. This can be inferred from the results of a survey conducted last year, said Zane Oliņa, the director of “Skola2030” (a program that aims to update the school curriculum) in an interview on Latvian Radio on June 5.
The three Baltic states share challenges in education such schools with a small number of students and the need to increase teachers’ salaries, but the capacity to address those challenges is notably different, it was admitted at the 25th Meeting of the Education Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Saeima voted June 6 to lift the parliamentary immunity of KPV LV deputy Atis Zakatistovs, opening the way for him to face charges in connection with an alleged illegal business scheme.
NATO's Rīga-based Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (STRATCOMCOE) stages its annual conference next week, though in fairness it is a bit more interesting and dynamic than most large-scale gatherings covering similar topics.
The State Environment Service (VVD) has issued a "decision-warning" about partial suspension of operations at Olaine chemical plant Biolar – suspending the manufacturing of the chemical porofors, the LETA newswire reported June 5.
Latvian central bank governor Ilmārs Rimšēvičs has had the charge sheet against him further extended with an accusation of money-laundering added to the charge he already faced of soliciting a massive bribe, reported the Bloomberg financial newswire June 4.
Donations to the Children's Clinical University Hospital fund have dropped by 25% after the recent tax reform, said the director of the fund Liene Dambiņa in an interview with Latvian Television. She noted that the decrease occurred right at the end of the year, when companies were usually known to make donations, which makes it evident that they now have little motivation to do so.
This year, 13 schools and other educational institutions will be closed, while another 40 educational institutions will be affected by reorganization of one form or another, such as merger with another school, according to information released by the Ministry of Education and Science.
Due to suspicions of corruption, there is a risk Latvia will have to repay 10.95 million euros allocated from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the project for construction of Ventspils Music School, according to comments from the Central Finance and Contracting Agency’s (CFLA) official Daiga Reihmane, reported by the LETA newswire.