Latvia's 'Talka' tradition of tidying up gets special status

The Council of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Latvian National Cultural Centre (LNKC) has decided to add the 'Talka' tradition – essentially a communal effort to clean up a location, usually in the spring – as a new entry ​​in the Latvian...

Latvian state police send vehicles and minibuses to Ukraine

Latvia’s State Police have sent another batch of cars and minibuses to Ukraine to support the country’s security and defence sector. As reported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia, On 22 September, Ukraine’s ambassador to Latvia Anatolii Kutsevol...

Latvia’s 2026 state budget – will the coalition wreck it in pre-election intrigues?

This is the final year before the next parliamentary elections, which means approving the state budget will be more challenging, as political parties are likely to focus more on pleasing their voters than on the government’s overall image or the...

Mumme goes to Latvia, speaks at retirement of archbishop

Jonathan Mumme speaks at the retirement of the Archbishop of the Latvian Lutheran Church Courtesy | Jonathan Mumme Associate Professor of Theology Jonathan Mumme returned from his first trip to Riga, Latvia, where he presented a paper on Aug. 28...

Hundreds protest against looming Latvian U-turn on Istanbul Convention

"No to violence! Yes to the convention!", "Wife-beating is not our value" and "Populism destroys, the convention protects!" – with these and other slogans, several hundred people came to the Saeima on Thursday, October 2nd, to protest against a...

Sharadiya Cultural Festival-2025 concludes at BSA

The two-day Sharadiya Cultural Festival-2025, organised by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) for the first time, concluded on Wednesday evening at the Academy’s Nandanmancha through a colourful cultural...

Building inclusive futures in higher education

A five-day “Train the Trainer Workshop for Inclusive Higher Education” was conducted under the EU-funded Project AIDEdu at Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), bringing together participants from Spain, Austria, Latvia, Nepal, and...

Education and net income in Europe: How much more do university graduates earn?

Getting just one more year of education can boost a person’s income by about 7% in Europe, according to the European Commission’s Investing in Education 2025 report. It therefore fits that across all 36 European countries, university graduates...

‘I stayed in a manor fit for a Baltic baron’: exploring Latvia’s pristine coast and forests

‘Is there anything worth seeing in Latvia?” asked a bemused friend when I explained my destination. “Other than Riga?” Latvia’s capital is certainly worth a visit: a wonderland of perfectly preserved art nouveau architecture with a medieval centre...

CultureNews A Crypto Malware ‘Game’ On Steam Stole $32,000 From Cancer-Stricken Streamer BlockBlasters drained the wallet of Raivo Plavnieks as he tried to raise money for treatment

Given the endless waterfall of garbage that arrives on Steam, it might seem like you can upload and sell absolutely anything on the storefront. However, there are meant to be some verification checks in place to prevent the most egregious examples...

Latvian state police send vehicles and minibuses to Ukraine – photos

Representatives of Latvia’s State Police have sent vehicles to Ukraine. Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia Latvia’s State Police have sent another batch of cars and minibuses to Ukraine to support the country’s security and defence sector....

Laura D. Minasyan: Bridging Cultures — Armenian, Khmer, Swedish, Russian

And yet you were drawn to distant, unexplored horizons. To go to Leningrad and study such a rare language as Khmer! What did knowledge of Khmer give a young Armenian woman? Yes, I went to apply to Leningrad University — but not for journalism, for...

BIMTECH’s ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop champions Generative AI for inclusive Higher Education aligned with SDGs

Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), through its Centre of Education for All (BCall), successfully organized a five-day Train the Trainer Workshop for Inclusive Higher Education. Under the EU-funded Project AIDEdu, this initiative...

'SHORT RIGA' test screening line-up revealed

SHORT RIGA Test Screenings, the longest-running section of the Riga International Film Festival (16–26 October) industry programme RIGA IFF FORUM, has announced the line-up for its 11th edition. Twelve short films in the works-in-progress stage...

News from the world of Education: October 1, 2025

Vidyamandir Intellect Quest Vidyamandir Classes (VMC) will conduct the Vidyamandir Intellect Quest (VIQ), a national-level aptitude and scholarship test that enables students to assess their intrinsic potential for competitive and scholastic...

Latvia’s digital and fiscal revolution appeals to Monaco

On Wednesday 17 September, ambassador Alise Balode shared the little-known strengths of the Baltic tiger with Monegasque businesses, citing its exemplary e-administration and self-proclaimed status as a tax haven. Reinvented by digital technology...

Illegal weapon suspected to have killed two children in Rīga

The Internal Security Bureau (IDB) has initiated criminal proceedings against an employee of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Office (PMLP) for possession of a firearm without a permit, which resulted in the death of two minors, the IDB said...

Rīga's bus station hotel plans halted

The idea of the joint stock company "Rīga International Bus Station" to build a hotel next to the bus station building has been suspended due to the Rail Baltica project and cultural and historical restrictions in the centre of Riga,...

BIMTECH’s ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop explores Gen AI to promote inclusive higher education

The workshop witnessed footfall of participants from Spain, Austria, Latvia, Nepal, and India.Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH), through its Centre of Education for All (BCall), successfully organized a five-day Train the Trainer...

Ancient burial site upends what we know about Stone Age men, women, and children

For a long time, the Stone Age has been painted in narrow strokes – men hunted with stone tools, women cooked, and children watched. This idea shaped research, museum displays, even the way skeletons were identified. But the ground in Latvia is...