National Hockey League player Sergei Zholtok of Latvia, who most recently skated for the Nashville Predators, died Nov. 3 in Minsk, Belarus, according to media reports. He was 31.

Zholtok, who had been diagnosed with a heart ailment last year, collapsed during a game between Rīga 2000 and the Dinamo team of Minsk. Zholtok was pronounced dead en route to a hospital, said the Web site www.hockey.lv.

“We are all saddened and shocked to hear of Sergei’s sudden passing,” Predators General Manager David Poile said in a statement released by the team. Zholtok, a forward, joined the Predators in March after being traded from the Minnesota Wild. He became a free agent in July.

Zholtok was playing for the Rīga team while a lockout in the National Hockey League continues.

He began playing in the NHL in 1992, after being drafted by the Boston Bruins. His career also took Zholtok to the Ottawa, Montreal and Edmonton teams, according to the Canadian Press. He played in a total of 588 NHL games.

Zholtok also played for Latvian national teams, most recently during the 2004 World Ice Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic. He was the Latvian team’s leading scorer during the championship.

Zholtok was an honorary director of The Kids First Fund, a Milwaukee, Wis.-based charity that aids abused children in Latvia.

Arturs Irbe, a fellow NHL player from Latvia who also is involved with Kids First, released a statement about Zholtok through Jay Sorensen, president of the charity.

“I am in tremendous grief and shock over the loss of Sergei,” Irbe said. “He was a very dear friend and I just can’t imagine the pain his family is feeling over this loss. My primary concern now is to do what I can to help his family.”

Zholtok was born Dec. 2, 1972, in Rīga. He is survived by his wife, Anna, and sons, Edgar and Nikita.

In the second terrorism alarm in less than a week, the U.S. State Department is warning Americans living or traveling in the Baltic countries to be wary of suspicious activity or persons and to avoid large shopping areas and transportation hubs.

In a message posted on the Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Rīga, the State Department says it “has received threat information” and urges U.S. citizens to be vigilant on or about Nov. 1.

The warning comes three days after a new videotape surfaced of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and one day before elections in the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, Finland, on Oct. 30 warned Americans to be careful “especially in centers of ground-based mass transit.”

Authorities on Oct. 29 warned of a possible terrorism threat and tightened security at several embassies and other potential targets in Rīga, Latvian media reported. Information about the threat came from sources in the United States, Norway and Estonia, the Interior Ministry said in a Nov. 1 press release.

A suspect also has been identified, but Latvian authorities clarified that the suspect had not entered the country.

Norway on Nov. 1 closed its embassy in Rīga to the public, the newspaper Aftenposten reported. A Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to say how long the embassy would be closed, the paper said.

President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was scheduled to meet with the National Security Council (Nacionālā drošības padome) on Nov. 1.

Two Latvians in the United Kingdom and one in Canada are to receive the top awards this year from the Culture Fund of the World Federation of Free Latvian (Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienība, or PBLA), the association has announced on its Web site.

Winners of the USD 1,000 awards are Velta Sniķere of England for her collection of poetry, Pietuvoties vārdiem, Zigfrīds Sapietis of Scotland in recognition for his work in sculpture and Ingrida Vīksne of Canada for her work with the Latvian press, particularly in editing the Canadian-Latvian weekly, Latvija Amerikā.

Honorary diplomas have been awarded to Valda Oestreichere of Canada for her painting, “Trīs granātāboli,” and to Māris Pulis of England for his leadership since 1975 of the London folk dance troupe Kamoliņš.

The PBLA also named two winners of the Krišjānis Barons award, which carries a USD 500 prize. They are Andris Ritmanis of the United States for his documentary book, Dzīves drumstaliņas Amerikā, and Ziedonis Āboliņš of England, who since 1987 had led the mixed choir of the Straumēni retirement home.

Eight other individuals are recognized for their contributions to Latvian culture. They are Guna Ikona of Canada for her poem, “Nirstot”; Indra Gubiņa of Canada for her novel, Sārta svītra debesīs; Māra Gulēna of Canada for editing and publishing the e-zine Toronto Ziņas; and, for their lifetime achievement in Latvian theatre, Skaidrīte Pūpēde, Ilga Freija and Juris Freija, all of Canada, and Rita Kaugura and Ilga Rubene of the United States.

The PBLA is headquartered in Rīga, but its Culture Fund is based in Rockville, Md. The Culture Fund was founded in 1972 with a goal of supporting Latvian culture in exile.