A Latvian officer was among five or six soldiers killed in a June 8 explosion during a demining operation in the Polish sector of Iraq, according to Latvian media reports and the Associated Press. He is the first Latvian and second Baltic soldier to die in the war.

First Lt. Olafs Baumanis, 34, died in what the Latvian Ministry of Defence describes as an accident. He and other ordnance specialists were attempting to defuse munitions in a munitions dump near Suwariyah, a city southeast of Baghdad. Reports differ about how many soldiers were killed, but Polish and Slovakian authorities have confirmed that they also lost soldiers.

“Today is a difficult day,” Defence Minister Atis Slakteris said in a statement issued by the ministry. “Latvia has lost a son who, fulfilling his duty far from home, has paid the ultimate price—his life. Latvia has lost a soldier whom it will never forget.”

Coalition officials have begun an investigation into the accident, according to the ministry of defence.

The Latvian team of unexploded ordnance specialists was dispatched to the Suwariyah area on June 1 and was expected to continue its work there through June 22. In the first week alone, the ministry said, the team neutralized 19,859 explosives of different types, including artillery shells, grenades and mines.

A total of 116 Latvian soldiers are serving in Iraq, according to the latest ministry of defence figures. Some Latvian soliders have come under fire during patrols, but have suffered no casualties during these operations. The most recent attacks came the night of June 4 at two bases in which Latvian soldiers are stationed.

An Estonian soldier, 21-year-old Junior Sgt. Andres Nuiamäe, was killed Feb. 28 by an improvised explosive device.

The Latvian pop-rock group The Hobos plans a weeklong tour of Germany to promote its newest album, Radio Jah Jah, a double record that marks the band’s fifth anniversary.

The new album, according to the Rīga-based band and Platforma Records, includes one disc with songs composed by band leader Rolands Ūdris. The second disc contains cover versions of well-known pop-rock standards.

The German tour is an effort to generate media and music fan interest in the band.

The Hobos will perform at noon June 13 during the Streelife-Festival in Munich. Further information is available by visiting www.streetlife-festival.de.

On June 14, the band is scheduled to appear in an event in Dusseldorf organized by the NBC Giga television channel.

Another appearance is set June 16 in O’Dwyer’s Irish Pub, Bierstrasse 6 in Saarlouis.

In Berlin, The Hobos are scheduled to perform June 18 at BundesPresseStrand, located at the corner of Reichstagsufer and Otto von Bismarck Allee, near the Reinhardtstrasse bridge.

Traveling to Dresden, the band is scheduled to perform June 19 as part of the Bunte Republik Neustadt 2004 festival.

The Hobos return to Berlin on June 21, where the band is scheduled to perform at 16.00 hours during an open-air music festival. The performance will take place in Platz vor dem Roten Rathaus. Several other bands are scheduled to perform during the day-long festival, include the Raivo Tafenau Band from Estonia and Anapilis from Lithuania. For further information, visit www.fetedelamusique.de.

The band also is awaiting word on playing an acoustic set on Radio Luxembourg, according to Rimants Liepiņš of Platforma Records.

Following the band’s trip to Germany, The Hobos are scheduled to play in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

As Canadians prepare to vote on June 28 to determine who should represent them in parliament, residents of the Parkdale-High Park riding of Toronto will be deciding whether to reelect a Latvian-Canadian. Sarmīte “Sam” Bulte is seeking reelection on the Liberal Party ticket.

Elected in 1997 and reelected in 2000, Bulte faces two other contenders in her riding: Jurij Klufas of the Conservative Party of Canada and Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party. Klufas is a Ukrainian-Canadian who produces a syndicated television show for Ukrainians in North America. Nash has been endorsed by Toronto Mayor David Miller, which some observers say might help her upset the incumbent.

As a member of parliament, Bulte has fostered relations between Canada and the Baltic states. She led trade and investment missions to the Baltic states in 1998 and 2000, according to her Web site, and also chairs the Canadian parliament’s Baltic Friendship Group.

Bulte also remains active in the Latvian community, including serving with the Latvian National Federation in Canada.

Bulte’s riding is described by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as having an immigrant population of 42 percent and the largest number of Polish speakers in Ontario.