Hijacking an airplane from Rīga International Airport, where security is not as high as in some Western European facilities, may have been explored two years ago by terrorists intent on striking Heathrow Airport in London, the newspaper The Sunday Times reported Oct. 9.

Citing British intelligence sources, who were responding to a White House list of Al-Qaeda attacks prevented by the United States and its partners, the newspaper reported that terrorists considered hijacking an airplane in Eastern Europe and crashing it into Heathrow, potentially killing hundreds of people.

The paper reported that “an Al-Qaeda cell had been spotted carrying out reconnaissance at an airport in eastern Europe, possibly in Poland, Latvia or Estonia.”

The list of 10 terrorist plots thwarted by the United States and its partners was released by the White House on Oct. 6 following President George W. Bush’s speech on the war on terror. No. 6 on the list refers to the Heathrow Airport plot.

“In 2003 the U.S. and several partners disrupted a plot to attack Heathrow Airport using hijacked commercial airliners,” according to the list. “The planning for this attack was undertaken by a major 9/11 operational figure.”

British authorities, according to The Sunday Times, considered closing Heathrow in response to the threat. Also suspected was a potential mortar attack against a passenger plane at Heathrow. The attacks were expected in February 2003.

About 712,000 passengers were served at the Rīga airport in 2003, according to the airport’s Web site. That number has almost doubled this year. A total of 19,504 aircraft movements were logged at the airport in 2003.

The death of the pastor of a Latvian congregation in Ottawa is the focus of the latest mystery novel by Latvian-Canadian writer Ilze Berzins.

Titled Ghosts & Shadows, the novel is due for publication Nov. 15, Berzins announced in an e-mail.

The novel takes place in present-day Ottawa and Rīga. Berzins described Pastor Māris Lapiņš as an “irresistible heartthrob” who “hides his snake oil charm under his clerical collar.” When he turns up dead, his elderly parishioners become suspects, as does Stacy Karsubova, a 40-something woman who began attending the senior citizens’ coffee klatches to hear about Rīga.

Cost of the book is USD 22 for air mail delivery in North America (CAD 22 for residents of Canada) or USD 25 for orders outside North America. To order, contact Berzins via e-mail at ilzeberzins@hotmail.com.

Ghosts & Shadows will be Berzins’ seventh mystery novel and her eighth book overall. In 1997, she published Happy Girl, an autobiography about her attempted repatriation to Latvia. The mystery novels, with covers designed by Berzins, frequently feature Ottawa and Rīga. Last November, Berzins released Kolka.

Just in time for the return of professional hockey in North America, a sports journalist in New Jersey has revived his effort to publish an international Latvian hockey magazine.

Publisher Andris Jansons now has turned to the Internet as a way to deliver his product to readers.

Jansons, who said he at one time worked for Latvian State Television, two years ago began writing stories about Latvian hockey for the daily newspaper Diena. Then, he said, he got the idea to publish a magazine about the topic and Hokeja Vēstnesis was born.

After a false start in early 2004, Jansons published the first two issues in August and September of last year. While he was satisfied with how sales of the magazine went in Latvia, Jansons told Latvians Online, he is struggling to find sponsors. In an effort to keep costs down, Hokeja Vēstnesis now will be available to readers via electronic delivery, meaning subscribers will be sent a password and will be able to download the magazine from its Web site, www.hokejavestnesis.com.

By the end of this year, Jansons said, he hopes circulation will reach 5,000, but publication will depend on reaching a minimum number of subscribers.

“Time will tell,” he said.

The Latvian-language magazine, mainly focused on hockey in Latvia and the careers of Latvian players in North American leagues, is scheduled to be published monthly.