As could be predicted, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that seven diplomats from the Baltic States and Slovakia, including one Latvian diplomat, must leave the country within a week. Last week, several Russian diplomats were expelled from these countries in solidarity with the Czech Republic, which expelled 18 Russian diplomats on April 17. In response, Russia expelled 20 employees of the Czech embassy.
Recently (after US President Joe Biden answered in the affirmative to ABC journalist George Stephanopoulos's question about whether he considered Putin a killer), alarming news came from Russia that made even very serious analysts consider the chance for a widespread military conflict.
The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, in which he was accused of the murder of African American George Floyd, ended in complete triumph for the prosecution. Chauvin has been found guilty of all three charges against him – unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
29 customs officers from Terehova customs point were detained in Latvia. The widest detention in the history of Latvian customs. A giant scandal with far-reaching political consequences. Media headlines - "The smuggling network tentacles stretch to high offices in Riga", "The Minister of Finance has resigned after the searches carried out by the KNAB". Unfortunately, not even close. Complete silence. As if such detentions were an everyday event, which is not worth more attention to than a traffic accident on Turgeņeva Street.
For the third week in a row, the hysteria of war continues on the Russian propaganda resources. For a while, I avoided writing about this topic because at first, it seemed that all this rattling of weapons looked more like a "mental attack" than a real preparation for war. Recently, however, more and more serious analysts, who have always stood out with a balanced, rational analysis of the situation, point out that the dangers of war are very real and that the world community must do everything possible to prevent them.
From the start, I want to say that I do not want to be misunderstood. I do not intend to campaign for or against stricter or, on the contrary, lighter restrictions. I have simply compiled some statistics, which I dared to interpret because I know from experience that not everyone has the time and desire to dig through the tables of numbers.
Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said in the “TV Rīta panorāma” on March 24: “At the moment, I predict that we will end the state of emergency on this date [April 6], but this does not mean that the pandemic, various restrictions or safety measures will end. The state of emergency is now more of a legal rather than a practical concept."
The new week began with a déjà vu. As if we had gone ten years back in time. At a time when the word combination - Šlesers and Šķēle - in the introductory part of "TV Panorāma" were as common as "variable clouds" at the end of the show - during the weather segment.
Last Monday, late at night, the government abruptly stopped vaccination with AstraZeneca. It was just as suddenly allowed to happen again on Thursday. When asked why they stopped and then allowed it again three days later, officials and politicians say convincingly: we were looking after people's health. Vaccination was stopped because the AstraZeneca vaccine was suspected to be dangerous. As soon as the vaccine was found to be safe, we authorized it again. Everything is clear and seemingly logical. However, there is reason to believe that it only seems logical. So how is it really?
As early as 1947, nuclear physicists at the University of Chicago invented the so-called Doomsday Clock, which symbolically shows how much time is left until the relative end of the world. Depending on the level of a nuclear disaster threat, the minute hand of this clock, which is traditionally only a few sections before midnight, is shifted one minute forward or backward. Now, after US President Joe Biden confirmed that he considers Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a killer, the clock hand can be moved one step closer to midnight.
Ten years ago, in March 2011, the arrest of some Syrian students and the mass demonstrations caused by these arrests began the main escalation of the Syrian tragedy, which has now somewhat subsided but has not been successfully resolved. Time has passed, and now we can assess the impact of the Arab Spring on both the situation in the Middle East and the general political climate in the world, including Latvia.
On Monday, the Vatican, or more precisely the Congregation for the Faith (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, in Latin), circulated a short and clear answer to a frequently asked question about the church's attitude towards same-sex marriage.
Saruna ar Rīnūžu vidusskolas direktoru Denisu Kļukinu par to, kā jūtas skolas, skolotāji un skolu audzēkņi laikā, kad pandēmijas noteikto ierobežojumu dēļ ir izjaukts ierasais mācību ritms un skolēnu apmācības notiek attālināti.
Just a short while ago we could be proud of the aviation industry and Riga Airport as the central transport hub among our neighbors. But let us agree that being somewhere in the lead is not really in line with our national character. Therefore, this dissonance should be eliminated as soon as possible.
This week, the 90th birthday was celebrated by a man whose influence on the processes taking place in the world is invaluable. Mikhail Gorbachev. He has been the most important politician of my generation by far, because everything could have gone completely different if the Kremlin gerontocrats had not chosen him as their leader on March 11, 1985.
The still world-famous director Alvis Hermanis published on social networks seven rules of ethical conduct for New Riga Theater (JRT) employees and viewers. It is not in vain that I specified in the previous sentence - still famous. Hermanis' seven theses stapled at the door of the theater are unforgivably heretical for today's inquisitors, so there is no doubt that he will sooner or later be subjected to the infamous "cancel culture".
When I published an article in the summer about my observations in Africa, where I mentioned, among other things, that I had been to Africa five times, I received a huge wave of criticism from the “real” experts of Africa (read: those who survive on the grants received from this topic) that understanding Africa does not depend on the number of visits to the continent, but on the number of "scientific" publications. The word - scientific - can definitely be put in quotation marks in this case, because there are few topics that are more ideological than those concerning Africa, colonization and the problems of black people.
The fact that US President Joe Biden mentioned Riga in his speech at the Munich Security Conference ("The United States will work closely with our European Union partners and the capitals across the continent — from Rome to Riga — to meet the range of shared challenges we face") can be seen as a symbolic gesture - the Baltic states, which are the closest NATO countries to Russia, will not be forgotten and can feel safe.
Saruna ar Eiroparlamenta deputātu Robertu Zīli par Finanšu ministrijas iesniegtajiem ārkārtīgi pieticīgajiem plāniem ES Atveseļošanas fonda apguvei un iespējām situāciju glābt.
The US Senate vote on the impeachment of former President Donald Trump was very mundane and a bit boring - the senators with no intrigue voted as expected - not guilty. Democrats refused to question additional witnesses, while Republicans used only four of the allotted 16 hours of defense. Two thirds or 67 votes of senators were needed to find Trump guilty. Trump was found guilty by 57 senators who then quietly dispersed to enjoy the weekend.
The second Trump impeachment procedure has begun in the US Senate. From the point of view of political consequences, it is as meaningless as the first, because the final outcome of this measure is already clear - the parties will be appalled by the "terrible Trump" or "another falsification" and will vote according to their political position. The probability that Democrats could get 67 votes in the Senate for the impeachment to take effect is zero.
The National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has started to straighten up the Latvian television broadcasting space. From February 15, it is forbidden to retransmit and distribute the program Rossija RTR in the territory of Latvia for a year. The decision was made because four significant violations of the law were identified, related to incitement to hatred, incitement to violence and provocation of military conflict.