Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who became head of Latvia’s government in 2009, has resigned. He will continue to serve until a new government is approved by the Saeima.

Dombrovskis announced his resignation Nov. 27 during a hastily called and brief press conference in Rīga in which he appeared with President Andris Bērziņš.

The prime minister said his decision is tied to the Nov. 21 tragedy in the Zolitūde neighborhood of Rīga, when the roof of a Maxima XX supermarket collapsed, killing 54 people and injuring dozens. He said he is taking political responsibility for the tragedy.

Dombrovskis thanked the Latvian people for their support in overcoming economic and financial problems in the country, and apologized for those things that have not been realized.

In a press release, Bērziņš said his goal is to have a new government in place yet this year. Next week, he will begin consultations with the political parties represented in the Saeima.

The National Library of Latvia recently launched a new digital audio collection – Latvia’s historical sound recordings.

The library holds several hundred shellac records, published in the first half of the 20th century by companies such as “Bellaccord Electro”, “His Master’s Voice” and Riga Record Factory “Līgo”.

The musical content is varied – including folk songs, popular music and choir songs, first performances of Latvian classical music and other compositions. Among the performers are many well-known names in Latvia such as Reiters Latvian Choir, Laivinieki brothers, Mariss Vetra, Elfrida Pakule, as well as other lesser-known artists today. One of the collection’s rarities is Latvian Prime Minister K. Ulmanis’ speech at the Riga Radiophone shortly after the coup in 1934.

In cooperation with private collectors, museums and other memory institutions that hold historical and valuable sound recordings, this collection aims to reflect Latvia’s sound recording history, especially the first half of the 20th century.

At present, the digital collection contains close to 300 sound objects. New recordings will be added regularly; it is estimated that by the end of 2014 the collection will include 2 000 objects. Most of the recordings are available online globally, except for an estimated 20% of the collection that is still under copyright and accessible to patrons on library premises.

The names of the 54 persons killed in the Nov. 21 collapse of Rīga supermarket roof collapse have been released by the State Police of Latvia.

The dead include three firefighters who were killed in the secondary roof collapse as they were searching for victims. Fifty-one of the dead were Latvian residents, two were Russian citizens and one was a citizen of Armenia.

The names of the dead and their ages include:

• Tamāra Aleksandrova, 30
• Leonija Apsīte, 55
• Sandra Arabela, 46
• Žanna Atarinova, 44
• Jurijs Aksjutins, 67, a citizen of Russia
• Valentīna Beļakova, 67
• Iļja Bļinovs, 26
• Anna Bondarenko, 37
• Edvīns Bonus, 52
• Jūlija Burdukeviča, 37
• Andrejs Burvis, 43
• Ludmila Ciba, 53
• Ēriks Čerņenoks, 55
• Gaļina Fadejeva, 56
• Naira Grigorjan, 39, a citizen of Armenia
• Elga Gruzde, 25
• Tamāra Guseva, 80
• Larisa Gutāne, 57
• Juris Gutāns, 60
• Marina Hitruka, 49
• Nataļja Igumnova, 51
• Dāvids Indriksons, 34
• Tatjana Ivčenko, 62
• Sergejs Ižiks, 44, one of three firefighters killed in the second collapse
• Jeļena Jesipenko, 53
• Mihails Jesipenko, 54
• Svetlana Kirillova, 49
• Ļubova Koževņikova, 59
• Svetlana Ļeha, 62
• Ņina Malaja, 59
• Vera Meļihova, 62
• Svetlana Mičuna, 55
• Valērijs Mizula, 54
• Pavlo Ničiporenko, 56
• Nikolajs Novikovs, 60
• Santa Pavelko, 42
• Jeļena Petrovska, 45
• Aldis Petruņins, 36
• Violeta Piņķe, 36
• Olga Poluhina, 51
• Edgars Reinfelds, 25, one of three firefighters killed in the second collapse
• Daina Skadmane, 23
• Jānis Skadmanis, 58
• Ina Skrinda, 37
• Viktorija Smirnova, 29
• Vilnis Šteinītis, 36, one of three firefighters killed in the second collapse
• Vera Teusa, 55
• Mihails Teuss, 53
• Raisa Tihonova, 62
• Nadežda Tračuma, 57
• Valentīna Troicka, 62
• Viktorija Vovka, 34
• Žanete Zarečanska, 40
• Rita Zhilinauskas, 39, a citizen of Russia