Police in Latvia have arrested a 42-year-old man wanted for questioning in the rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl in London, according to media and police sources.

The man, who put up no resistance, was arrested June 2 at his home near Līvāni and jailed in Preiļi, said Latvian State Police spokesperson Kristīne Mežaraupe. Līvāni and Preiļi are in eastern Latvia.

He is wanted for questioning in the May 16 rape and murder of Jeshma Raithatha, a high school student who disappeared after an afternoon shopping trip in west London. Her body was discovered eight days later. Raithatha had been stabbed three times through the heart.

The man is a Latvian citizen, Mežaraupe said. He was working in a car wash and living near where the crime occurred. He disappeared shortly after the murder, media reports and police said.

The man has not been charged with a crime, a Scotland Yard spokesperson told Latvians Online. In fact, British police have not publicly identified the man, although his name has been revealed in British media.

It may take about a month to process the man’s extradition to the United Kingdom, Mežaraupe said. He is due to appear in Preiļi District Court in the next few days and could decide to voluntarily return to the United Kingdom for questioning.

Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, has overwhelmingly ratified the European Union’s Constitution Treaty, giving EU officials some hope after the treaty’s recent defeat at the hands of voters in France and the Netherlands.

Latvia’s decision on June 2 brings to 10 the number of EU member states that have ratified the 25-nation treaty. The vote in the Saeima was 71 in favor, five opposed and six abstaining.

Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks welcomed the ratification.

“The members of parliament decided to align themselves with a dynamic, vital, competitive and egalitarian Europe,” he said in a press release.

The constitution’s defeat in France and the Netherlands is being viewed by many observers as a referendum on those countries’ governments, not necessarily on the European Union. In France, the defeat also led to the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Latvia, which became a member of the EU last year along with nine other eastern and central European nations, is the second Baltic state to ratify the constitution. Lithuania’s parliament ratified the treaty in November. Estonia’s parliament has yet to vote.

The EU constitution is actually a treaty. Its main purpose is to clarify and simplify some of the structures of the EU. It does not replace the national constitutions of the EU’s member states, but it can in some cases trump a nation’s laws.

Each of the 25 member states has to approve the constitutional treaty according to its own methods, which may be by a vote in its parliament, by a referendum, or a combination of the two.

The second retrospective album of popular music composed by Imants Kalniņš, featuring material from the 1960s and 1970s, is set for release June 6 by Rīga-based Upe Recording Co.

The album, titled Otrās dziesmas, is a followup to last autumn’s release, Pirmās dziesmas.

The 12-track compact disc includes popular songs such as “Viņi dejoja vienu vasaru” from 1967 and “Pilsētā, kurā piedzimst vējš” from 1973. Other songs on the album are “Par to gadījumu ar Džordāno Bruno” (1969), “Liedagā” (1968), “Es esmu bagāts” (1967), “Zelta haizivs” (1968), “Astoņkājis” (1968). “Bāka” (1978), “Balāde par viņu un viņu” (1970), “Dziesma, ar ko tu sāksies?” (1974), “Kad vēji kalnos rāpjas (1974)” and “Parīziešu dzīru dziesma” (1970).

Lyrics are based on the poetry of Viks (the nom de plume of the composer’s brother, Viktors Kalniņš), Māris Čaklais, Jēkabs Rūsiņš and Knuts Skujenieks. Performing on the album are Ance Krauze, Ainars Mielavs, Zigfrīds Muktupāvels and Jānis Strazdiņš.

Upe Recording, run by Mielavs, has released a number of albums over the past several years featuring music by Kalniņš, one of Latvia’s most popular composers.