The cost of labor in Latvia is rising most among the 27 member states of the European Union, according to a new study by the EU’s Eurostat office.

The study, announced Sept. 12, found that hourly labor costs in Latvia during the second quarter of this year were up 31.7 percent over the same period in 2006.

Labor costs measured by Eurostat are those incurred by employers and include the industrial, construction and service sectors. In Latvia, the greatest increase in labor cost among the three sectors came in construction, up 37.4 percent over the second quarter of last year.

Romania, which joined the EU earlier this year, had the second highest increase over last year, 23.4 percent. Lithuania (21.6 percent) and Estonia (18.7 percent), which along with Latvia joined the EU in 2004, were third and fourth, respectively.

The lowest labor cost increase was in Germany, 1.2 percent.

Latvia also had the greatest increase in labor cost during the first quarter of this year, according to Eurostat.

Uljana Semjonova of Latvia, who was a star women’s basketball player for the Soviet Union, is one of 20 players, coaches and referees inducted Sept. 12 into the International Basketball Federation’s Hall of Fame.

Semjonova, born in 1952 in Medumi near Daugavpils, had a career that spanned more than two decades. She played from 1967-1987 with TTT Rīga before joining Spain’s Tintoretto team from 1987-1988 and then France’s Valenciennes Orchies from 1988-1989. She also helped the Soviet women’s basketball team twice win the Olympic gold medal, in 1976 in Montreal and in 1980 in Moscow.

Described by the basketball federation as the winningest player in the history of women’s basketball, the 2.13-meter, left-handed Semjonova played center.

From 1970-1985, she was 12 times named Latvia’s most popular athlete, according to the Geneva-based basketball federation.

Since 1991, Semjonova has headed the Latvian Olympian Social Foundation (Latvijas Olimpiešu sociālais fonds), an organization that supports sports veterans.

Semjonova was unable to attend the induction ceremony held in Madrid, Spain.

This is the second basketball hall of fame in which Semjonova has been enshrined. In 1993, she was added to the Basketball Hall of Fame based in Springfield, Mass., the first non-U.S. woman granted the honor.

Twenty films from Latvia are among the works of animation being screened from Sept. 11-16 during the Fantoche 07 festival in Baden, Switzerland. This is the first time Latvia has participated in the festival, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Films from Latvia being shown are some classics of animation as well as more recent work.

“Latvia’s animated film-making scene is unfairly seen as a ‘white dot’ on the European cinema landscape because Latvian animation is anything but colourless, it is characterised by a rich palette of shades and shapes,” according to the official festival program. “The films explore the infinite nature of opposites and know no bounds in terms of design. Latvian animated film-making also has a lot to offer from a technical perspective. To this day it still nurtures its tradition of puppet films which dates back to 1966. However, studios have developed alongside that which have perfected the art of 2D and 3D animation.”

The lion’s share of Latvian films will be screened during two “Terra Incognita” showcases devoted to the country.

In the first showcase, director Arnold Burovs’ Pygmalion (1966) and Little Hawk (1978), Roze Stiebra’s Looking for the Northern Daughter (1980) and Tanzania (2003), Vladimir Lesčovs’ Insomnia (2004), Edmunds Jansons’ Scissorman (2005), Signe Baumane’s Woman (2002), and Aija Bley’s Island of Doctor D. (2005) and The Prickly (2005) will be screened at 18:30 hours Sept. 12 and 09:30 hours Sept. 15 in Kino Orient, Landstrasse 2, Wettingen.

In the second “Terra Incognita” showcase, Burovs’ The Last Leaf (1984), Ansis Bērziņš The Trumpeter of Tālava (1988), Jānis Cimermanis’ Latvian (2007), Nils Skapāns Telephone (2005), Gints Apsīts’ Ministry Messiah (2005), Lesčovs’ Lost in Snow (2007) and Stiebra’s Green Fairy Tale (1977), A Piece of Cake (2000), Where Are Your Running (1997) and Butterflies (1997) will be screened at 18:30 hours Sept. 13 and 12:15 hours Sept. 15 in Kino Orient.

Participating in the festival’s International Competition are two Latvian films, Bley’s Island of Doctor D. and director Lesčovs’ Lost in Snow. The competition includes 33 other films. Island of Doctor D. and Lost in Snow are scheduled at 20:45 hours Sept. 11 in Kino Linde, Mellingerstrasse 22, and at 16:15 hours Sept. 12 and 14:15 hours Sept. 13 in Kino Sterk, Bahnhofstrasse 22, Baden.

In a showcase of animation films intended for children between the ages of 4 and 7, nine films will be screened including two works by Skapāns, The Witch’s Button (2006) and Holes in the House (2000). Screenings are scheduled at 14:15 hours Sept. 12 and 14:15 hours Sept. 16 in Kino Orient.

For further information on the festival, visit www.fantoche.ch.