President Valdas Adamkus announced plans to make his first state visit abroad to Poland on Aug. 7-8. Adamkus will meet with Polish President Aleksandr Kwasniewski in Gdansk to discuss bilateral relations between the neighboring states. Adamkus, who was inaugurated on July 12, met with Kwasniewski on several occasions during his first term in office.
The Environment Ministry announced plans to pressure Russia to conduct an environmental impact study determining the possible damage caused by the D-6 oil platform constructed last year off the coast of the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ministry officials reported that at its recent conference held in China, UNESCO members were disappointed that Russia had yet to conduct the study.
The upstart Labor Party retains a commanding lead in polls conducted in the run-up to this autumn's parliamentary elections. According to a survey conducted by the Vilmorus polling agency and published in the July 17 edition of the daily Lietuvos Rytas, 29.1 percent of respondents said they would vote for Labor if elections were held today. The ruling Social Democrats came in second with only 11.5 percent support.
A group of Lithuanian sailors acquitted of drug smuggling charges in the U.S.A. have said they will sue the U.S. government for compensation related to moral and material damages in their case. According to Lithuanian Ambassador to America Vygaudas Usackas (photo), the sailors were illegally imprisoned for over a year.
Police seized a shipment of over 13,000 pirated CDs valued at some 140,000 litas (40,500 euros) brought into the country from Moscow. Two Belarusian and four Lithuanian citizens were detained in the operation, which police say was the first major pirating bust this year. Lithuania has come under pressure from countries such as the United States to crack down on the illegal CD trade.
Kaunas is playing host to the European stunt flying championships, which will culminate in a final round on July 31, the second time in as many years that the event has been held in Lithuania. Fifty pilots from 10 countries are participating in the competition, with three Lithuanian pilots representing the host country.
The Lithuanian Vaida Kuzminskyte has become first vice miss of the Deaf Miss World 2004 contest. Internet media reported that Candice Morgan, 22, from South Africa won the contest, Kuzmickyte, 22, became first vice miss and 20-year-old Ukrainian national Tatyana Prichodko won the titles of second vice-miss and miss sympathy. The contest, arranged under the initiative of deaf people from the Czech Republic, was attended by deaf girls from Europe and Africa.
