Latvia’s estimated population totalled 1.883 million people in the beginning of June 2023, according to preliminary data from the Central Statistical Bureau, LSM reports. The number of live births totalled 5,770 in the first five months of 2023, which was 1,022 (15%) less than in the same period of 2022. Altogether 2,966 boys (down 504)…
Latvia’s Riga City Council has obliged owners of outdoor sales and catering establishments to ensure that their sound equipment and musical instruments do not disturb local residents, LSM reports. Under the new rules, municipal police can impose limits on loud music in outdoor cafés, bars, and similar establishments. Violations can lead to fines of up…
Latvia’s Latvians and Russian-speakers continue to hold completely opposite views on the war in Ukraine, according to an SKDS poll for Ir magazine, LSM reports. The survey showed that 78% of Latvian-speakers supported Ukraine in April 2023, while only 27% of Russian-speakers did so. In mixed households, just 32% supported Ukraine, which was down from…
Latvia’s Ministry of Defence and National Armed Forces (NBS) have extended the application period for volunteers in the second draft for military service by about a week until 21 July 2023, LSM reports. The Ministry of Defence said that there was a spike in applications just before the earlier deadline. So far, 172 young volunteers…
A fire broke out at a production facility of the Latvian grain processor, Dobeles Dzirnavnieks, in Dobele in the morning of 16 July 2023, LETA reports. The fire engulfed several floors of the seven-storey building on the city’s Spodribas Street. Dobeles Dzirnavnieks is part of Estonia’s Tartu Mill group. The company produces flour, pasta, cereals,…
Trains from Latvia’s capital, Riga, to the port city of Liepaja will begin running daily as of 31 July 2023, the Public Transport Council announced, LSM reports. The train will leave from Liepaja shortly before 5am and depart back to Liepaja at around 6:30pm. On Sundays, there will be two trains between the two cities….
Planned new wind energy projects in Latvia would be sufficient to generate electricity for more than half of the country, LSM reports. At the moment, wind energy accounts for just under 3% of Latvia’s electricity production, according to the Ministry of Climate and Energy. Lasma Livzeniece, executive director of the Latvian Wind Energy Association (LVEA),…
Latvia’s Ministry of Justice plans to propose amendments that would abolish conditional prison sentences, replacing them with probation, LSM reports. Anda Smiltena, deputy secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said that the State Probation Service’s (VPD) task would be to influence the thinking of the offender and correct their behaviour. The measures would…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has asked Prosecutor General Juris Stukans to explain why a Latvian citizen who provided support to Russia got away with just a fine, LSM reports. Earlier, a court found Marats Kasems, editor of Russian propaganda agency Sputnik’s Lithuanian edition, guilty of supporting Russia’s activities against Latvia and sentenced him to a…