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17 Jul 2010

Passport tour continues across U.S.

Foreign Ministry representative Evija Klauze guides Dace Zoltnere of Wisconsin through the process of digitally recording her fingerprints for the biometric data that will become part of her Latvian passport. (Photo by Andris Straumanis)Foreign Ministry representative Evija Klauze guides Dace Zoltnere of Wisconsin through the process of digitally recording her fingerprints for the biometric data that will become part of her Latvian passport. (Photo by Andris Straumanis)

More than 200 people have already renewed or applied for Latvian passports in the United States as part of an effort by the Latvian government to service citizens abroad before the Oct. 2 parliamentary election.

A two-person team, composed of representatives from the Foreign Ministry and the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, wrapped up passport application processing in Minneapolis on July 17 and prepared to head to Seattle for the next round. The team already has visited Boston, Cleveland and Chicago, with Los Angeles and New York on its calendar.

Another team is beginning a tour of Australia, while a third team will head to Canada after the U.S. team returns to Latvia, according to Evija Klauze of the Foreign Ministry’s consular department.

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12 Jul 2010

Youth song festival completes five days of hot fun in Rīga

For five days, from July 6-11, an estimated 31,000 young singers, dancers and musicians performed in Rīga during the 10th Latvian Youth Song and Dance Celebration.

The festival, which took place under often sweltering weather at various venues around the capital city, marked the culmination of five years of preparation by more than 100,000 children and youth around Latvia who studied and perfected their performances.

One goal of the celebration is to prepare Latvia’s youth to carry forward the tradition of song festivals, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has included in its list of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

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10 Jun 2010

Rīga boys choir sings for the Obamas

The Rīga Dom Boys Choir, under the direction of Mārtiņš Klišāns, performed June 6 in the White House before U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The choir performed five songs. The White House performance was part of a brief tour that took the choir also to New York and Philadelphia.

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04 May 2010

Latvia marks 20th anniversary of renewed independence

Twenty years ago Latvia’s Supreme Council took the bold step of voting to break away from the Soviet Union. Although full freedom was not restored until August 1991, the May 4, 1990, decision was a milestone. Two decades on, the anniversary was marked around Latvia with ceremonies. In Rīga, a large crowd gathered May 4 under overcast and chilly skies to listen to a speech by President Valdis Zatlers, to hear patriotic songs by local choirs, and to lay flowers at the base of the Freedom Monument. Other activities were held throughout the day in locations around the capital city. (Photos by Arnis Gross)

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16 Mar 2010

Amid protest, hundreds in Rīga commemorate Latvian Legion

An estimated 500 to 1,000 persons in downtown Rīga took part in a controversial March 16 commemoration of the Latvian Legion, the two divisions organized by the German military during World War II. The event included a march to the Freedom Monument to honor soldiers who fell while fighting against the Soviet Union. The marchers were countered by protesters who carried signs and shouted slogans against the commemoration, which they argue glorified fascism and the Latvian Legion’s ties to Nazi Germany.

Video

17 Nov 2009

Valsts prezidenta apsveikums tautiešiem ārzemēs

Sagaidot Latvijas Republikas 91. gadadienu, Valsts prezidents Valdis Zatlers savā apsveikumā tautiešiem ārzemēs atgādina, ka “latvietis ir latvietis vienmēr, lai kur arī dzīvotu, lai arī par ko strādātu, lai arī kādas domas domātu savā ikdienas dzīvē”.

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23 Aug 2009

200 demonstrators join Washington re-enactment of Baltic Way

About 200 people in Washington, D.C., participated in an Aug. 23 re-enactment of the historic 1989 Baltic Way demonstration in which an estimated 2 million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians formed a human chain to protest on the 50th anniversary of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, according to a press release from the American Latvian Association. The treaty, between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, led to the occupation of the Baltic republics. The occupation ended in 1991 with the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Washington re-enactment, organized by Baltic groups in the United States to mark the 70th anniversary of the pact and the 20th anniversary of the Baltic Way, saw participants line up in a human chain along Massachusetts Avenue from the Latvian embassy to the Estonian embassy. They also assembled in front of the Georgian embassy in a show of support for that country’s dispute with Russia. (Photos by Raits Eglītis, American Latvian Association)

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05 Jul 2009

Writers’ program, dance spectacle close out Hamilton festival

An ecumenical church service attended by an estimated 500-600 people, a program featuring both old and new writers and the traditional folk dance spectacle closed out the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada, which ended July 5 in Hamilton. Some 500 dancers from 26 different ensembles participated in the spectacle, held in Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum.

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04 Jul 2009

Choirs take center stage on festival’s fourth day

Hundreds of singers squeezed onto the stage of Hamilton Place for the massed choir concert July 4, the fourth day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada. Other events during the day included a repeat performance of “Mazā zaļā varde jūrā,” a play starring pupils from the Toronto Latvian Society Saturday School; continuation of the exhibit of Latvian work in the Art Gallery of Hamilton; and balls for children and adults in the evening.

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04 Jul 2009

New choreography, Čikāgas Piecīši among highlights

The new choreography show and a packed concert by Čikāgas Piecīši were among the highlights of the third day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada. Other events included an afternoon program for learning new dances and games, a second showing of the musical “Meldermeitiņa” and a concert of classical music. The approach of the weekend appeared to draw more festival-goers. The marketplace in the Sheraton Hotel Hamilton was slow in the morning, but by midday was buzzing with people.

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02 Jul 2009

From opening concert to ‘Meldermeitiņa’

The second day of the 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada included a number of events, from the opening concert, to art exhibits, to a sacred music concert, to a social evening by the harbor, to the debut of the musical “Meldermeitiņa.” In between festival-goers took in the marketplace in the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel or spent time catching up with old friends.

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01 Jul 2009

‘Saules svētki’ kicks off Hamilton festival

The 13th Latvian Song Festival in Canada, set this year in Hamilton, Ont., began July 1 with “Saules svētki” (The Sun Festival) at Camp Sidrabene. Despite intermittent rain, the day full of arts and crafts, food, activities and short concerts provided visitors with plenty of entertainment.

Gallery

25 Jun 2009

Jāņi at the West Coast center

Among locations Latvians abroad celebrated the Midsummer festival of Jāņi was the West Coast Latvian Education Center (Rietumu krasta latviešu izglītības centrs) in Shelton, Wash. As in many diaspora communities, because of work schedules the celebration was over the June 20-21 weekend, four days earlier than the official holiday in Latvia. Among highlights of the Washington festivities were performances by the folklore ensemble Gaigalava from Latvia and the Trejdeksnītis folk dance ensemble from Seattle. (Photos by Ivars Ikstrums)

Video

13 Jan 2009

Thousands demand Saeima’s dissolution in Rīga protest

Demonstrators sing the Latvian national anthem at the close of a Jan. 13 protest meeting in Rīga’s Dome Square.

Video

16 Nov 2008

Intervija: Krišjānis Kariņš par 18. novembri

Krišjānis Kariņš dzimis ASV. Latvijā dzīvo kopš 1997. gada. Vinš ir partijas “Jaunais laiks” deputāts Saeimā.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Līga Kilman par 18. novembri

Līga Kilman dzimusi Rīgā, bet trimdas gadus pavadija ASV. Pirms 6 gadiem atgriezās dzimtenē.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Matīss Kukainis par 18. novembri

Matīss Kukainis dzimis Detroitā. Jau divus gadus dzīvo Rīgā, kur pašam savs advokatu birojs.

Video

15 Nov 2008

Intervija: Aija Ebden par 18. novembri

Aija Ebden dzimusi Rīgā, no trimdas Vācijā dzimtenē atgriezusies 2003. gadā.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Pēteris Medenis par 18. novembri

Pēteris Medenis dzimis Latvijā, pec II. pasaules kara emigrējis uz Austrāliju, tagad atgriezies dzimtenē.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Dīna Šillere par 18. novembri

Dīna Šillere dzimusi Čikāgā, tagad ir LR Valsts kases Personāla departamenta direktore.

Video

14 Nov 2008

Intervija: Uldis Brūns par 18. novembri

Uldis Brūns, dzimis Austrālijā, strādā tulkošanas un rediģēšanas jomā.

Desmit par deviņdesmito

Atzīmējot Latvijas neatkarības proklamēšanas 90.gadadienu, portāls "Latvians Online" oktobrī intervēja 10 latviešus, kas dzimuši vai daudz gadus dzīvojuši ārpus Latvijas, bet tagad dzīvo un strādā Rīgā. Viņi stāstīja par 18.novembra atzīmēšanu ārpus Latvijas, ko viņi sagaida no šīgada svētkiem un ko viņi novēl Latvijas nākotnei. Skatieties korespondentes Ilzes Ostrovskas videointervijas:

Aija Abena

Uldis Brūns

Vanda Dauksta

Aija Ebden

Krišjānis Kariņš

Līga Kilman

Matīss Kukainis

Pēteris Medenis

Pauls Raudseps

Dīna Šillere

Veidojot video intervijas, par finansiālo atbalstu pateicamies LR Īpašu uzdevumu ministra sabiedrības integrācijas lietās sekretariātam.

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News

01 Sep 2010

Summer of 2010 is Latvia’s warmest

This summer in Latvia has been the warmest on record, topping the previous heat wave of 2002, according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre.

News

30 Aug 2010

Number of green cards declines, while U.S. sees more Latvian visitors

The number of persons from Latvia who have become legal permanent residents of the United States dropped last year to its lowest point in the past decade, according to recently released government statistics.

Reviews

28 Aug 2010

Latvian, Georgian collaboration results in remarkable world music album

One of the most intriguing recent collaborations in Latvian music is that of composer Valts Pūce and the Georgian ensemble The Shin. Joining together on the recording entitled Es arī, their talents have produced a unique album, combining elements of Latvian and Georgian folk songs, as well as jazz and other world music elements.

In the forums

SC = "Atpakaļ nākotnē" posted by ambersun on 02 Sep 2010

Election campaigns posted by jem71 on 01 Sep 2010

Saeima nedomā par latviešiem, bet par bagātiem ārzemniekiem posted by courlander on 31 Aug 2010

Durbin on the Mosque posted by Peteris Cedrins on 30 Aug 2010

"In Israel, Settling for Less" posted by Peteris Cedrins on 29 Aug 2010

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