Eighteen-year-old Oskars Bārtulis, a native of the Latvian city of Ogre, has joined the Philadelphia Flyers as a third-round pick in the National Hockey League draft July 30 in Ottawa, Canada.

Bārtulis, a left-handed defenseman, is the eighth Latvia-born hockey player to be drafted into an NHL team since 2000.

Bārtulis played during the past season with the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and was named to the league’s All-Rookie Team. Before that, he played in Russia.

The team’s scouting report on Bārtulis called him a good skater and said he is “strong both forward and backward with a smooth, effortless stride, good agility and lateral movement.”

The NHL, whose 2004 season was canceled because of a continuing labor dispute between players and the league, will put all 30 teams into competition when the 2005 season opens Oct. 5. Philadelphia will play a home game against the New York Rangers.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is No. 48 among the 100 most powerful women in the world, according to a ranking by Forbes Magazine, Forbes.com reports.

The magazine noted that the president “and her tiny country of Latvia made an international splash this year when President George W. Bush stopped by on his way to Moscow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.” Forbes mentioned how Vīķe-Freiberga had angered Russia by asking for an apology for the Soviet occupation of Latvia.

The magazine also mentioned the 8 percent growth last year in Latvia’s gross domestic product put it ahead of the rate of Germany, France and Italy.

Last year, Vīķe-Freiberga ranked No. 70.

The ranking is based in part on the size of the economic sphere in which each woman has power, according to Forbes.com, as well as the number of mentions in the media.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ranked first in this year’s list.

More than 500 singers and dancers from the United States, Canada and Latvia are expected to perform during the 13th Gaŗezers Songfest (Gaŗezera Dziesmu dienas) scheduled July 29-31 at the Latvian Center Gaŗezers near Three Rivers, Mich.

The festival—the largest Latvian event in North America this year—begins at 9 p.m. Friday, July 29, with an open-air dance, or zaļumballe, in the “song valley” at Gaŗezers. Music will be provided by the folk-rock group Laimas muzykanti from Latvia.

Events on Saturday, July 30, include an arts and crafts fair, an art exhibit and a children’s festival.

The highlight of the day will be the grand song and dance concert set at 7 p.m. in the “song valley.”

Performing during the grand concert will be the Boston Trimda Ev.-Lutheran Church choir; the Chicago Men’s Choir; the Zion Ev.-Lutheran Church choir from Chicago; the folk dance troupe Čikāgas Dzelmieši; the Uguntiņa dance ensemble from the Krišjānis Barons Latvian School of Chicago; the popular schlager group Čikāgas Piecīši; the folk dance troupe Čikāgas Randiņš; Ciema balsis, a choir from the Latvian community near Three Rivers, Mich.; the Philadelphia Latvian Baptist Concert Choir; the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Latvian Choir; the women’s caberet group IDVASA from Indianapolis, Ind.; the Gaŗezers Summer High School Choir; the Indianapolis Latvian School Choir; the Indiana Latvian Society choir; the folk dance troupes Jautrais pāris, Jautrais pāris children’s group and Jautrais solis, all from Indianapolis; the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Men’s Choir; the Kalamazoo Latvian School’s dance group; the Cleveland Latvian Society Choir from Ohio; the dance troupe Klīvlandes Pastalnieki; the Milwaukee Association’s Brusubardis dzimtene choir from Wisconsin; the dance troupe Pērkonītis from Minneapolis, Minn.; the Minneapolis and St. Paul Latvian Ev.-Lutheran Church choir; Atbalss, a mixed choir from Montréal, Québec; the St. John’s Ev.-Lutheran Church of Toronto’s vocal ensemble; the Daugavas Vanagi Men’s Choir of Canada; the dance troupe Dīžais dancis from Toronto; the dance troupe Daugaviņa from Toronto; and the Dzirksts choir from Toronto.

In all, according to Gaŗezers Board Chairman Arnis Kākulis, about 285 singers and 225 dancers are expected to participate.

The festival ball begins at 10 p.m. Saturday, also in the “song valley.” Again, music will be provided by Laimas muzykanti.

The festival continues Sunday, July 31, with a 10:30 a.m. service in the open-air church.

The musical “Gudrais padomiņš” will be performed at 2 p.m. in the Grasis Pavilion by a cast including high school students and Gaŗezers children’s camp participants.

The festival concludes with a dinner at 6 p.m. on the shore of Long Lake.

Mostly sunny skies, dry conditions and high temperatures in the low 80s Fahrenheit (about 27-28 degrees Celsius) are forecast during the weekend in the Three Rivers region by the National Weather Service.

Tickets will be available from 3-7 p.m. Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Dzintari cabins and at the main Gaŗezers office. Tickets to individual events are available, but the festival organizers also are offering an all-inclusive ticket. The dižbiļete costs USD 65 for adults and USD 35 for children.

For further information, visit www.garezers.org.