Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, will indeed visit Latvia in October, President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga’s press office has confirmed.

The news agency LETA broke the news early in January, but official sources at the time did not confirm the report. The British royalty are coming to Latvia at the invitiation of Vīke-Freiberga, the president’s press office said Jan. 25.

This will be the queen’s first visit to Latvia.

The queen and duke also will visit Estonia and Lithuania, Buckingham Palace announced.

Queen Elizabeth II turns 80 in April.

(UPDATED 26 JAN 2006)

Sarmīte “Sam” Bulte, a Latvian-Canadian member of parliament from the Parkdale-High Park riding of Toronto, has lost her seat in the House of Commons in Canada’s general election.

Bulte, a member of the Liberal Party, lost to Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party in an election that ended 13 years of Liberal rule in the federal government. Nash earned 40.3 percent of the votes, according to preliminary results reported by Elections Canada, while Bulte got 36 percent.

Two years ago, Bulte easily led a pack of six candidates to retain her seat in the House of Commons. Nash came in second in the 2004 vote in Parkdale-High Park.

Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin’s minority government, plagued by scandal, fell on Nov. 29 after a no-confidence vote in Parliament. Now Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper will lead a new minority government.

As the Canadian campaign began in late autumn, Martin’s Liberals seemed assured of a victory. But the Conservative Party, according to media reports, benefitted in part from Canadians simply being tired with Liberal rule. The Conservative Party, according to Elections Canada, received 36.35 percent of the national vote and captured a total of 124 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons.

Bulte was first elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2000 and 2004. Among her other political and cultural activities, Bulte has served as a member of the board of the Latvian National Federation in Canada (Latviešu Nacionālā apvienība Kanādā).

A new Latvian association has been formed in Switzerland, home to at least 500 Latvians, and will be based in Zürich.

The Latvian Association of Switzerland (Lettische Gemeinschaft in der Schweiz) was founded on Jan. 18, Secretary Axel C. Scherrer told Latvians Online in an e-mail. The association will be officially chartered when Latvian Ambassador Aivars Groza, who is based in Austria and serves in five countries, visits Switzerland.

About 550 Latvians live in Switzerland, according to 2004 data compiled by the Swiss government. About half as many again live in Switzerland but are not registered, Scherrer said.

Historically, Switzerland was a refuge for Latvians after the failed 1905 Revolution. Among famous Latvians who once lived in Switzerland were the writers Jānis Rainis and Aspazija, who resided in Lugano from 1905 until their return to Latvia in 1920.

The aims of the new association are to maintain contact amongs Latvian of all ages in Switzerland, to promote Latvian culture in Switzerland, to organize regular guest speakers from Latvia, and to help Latvians in need in Switzerland.

The group will be creating a Web site, Scherrer said.

Latvia has an honorary consul, Ragnar Granelli, who is based in Zürich.

For further information about the association, contact Scherrer by e-mail at a.e@scherrer-mst.ch.