Genadijs Maisejevics, from Jekabpils in central Latvia, caught the largest ever recorded fish in Latvian waters - a 68.2 kilogram, 2.22 meter-long cat-fish, Latvijas Avize reported. The previous Latvian record was a 59.5 kilogram catfish, caught in 2006. Maisejevics traveled to the town of Plavinas to visit friends, and as an avid fisherman couldn't resist dipping his pole in the local waters. However, right away something heavy and large caught onto his bait, Maisejevics wasn't able to pull out the fish alone, and called over local fisherman Janis Glods. Glods arrived and helped Maisejevics to pull out the fish. Many onlookers came to the scene to witness the event, taking an hour and ten minutes to pull out the huge catch. When the fish was finally pulled out of the water, it took three men to carry it to shore. It was instantly clear that the fish was a new record, Convinced the fish was a new record the men found a local store to weigh the fish. It turned out to be a new Latvian record as the huge catfish weighed in at 68.2kilograms.
Residents of Riga's center and outlying areas noticed a significant decrease in water pressure last week. On May 9 however, residents were greeted to no water at all. Several schools shut down and many restaurants were unable to open. Rigas Udens (Riga Waterworks), had hoped to give the city back its water soon, but due to water main repair water supply was suspended in Jugla and Vecmilgravis areas well into the night. Tourists were surprised to see how casually residents treated the matter and were shocked by the casual attitude. The University canceled their evening classes as well. Riga Waterworks warned residents that when the water came back on it was not be suitable for consumption or for washing, but the matter is expected to clear up. Earlier this week in some areas, water was still slightly brown.
Preliminary data suggests that the signature gathering campaign to amend Latvia's pension law 's proposed by the Society for Other Politics NGO and the Lawful State and the Pensioners and Seniors Party 's has successfully gathered the 150,000 signatures needed to send the bill to Parliament. The Central Election Committee was expected to announce the preliminary results on May 16, while the official results will not be available for about two more weeks. The proposed amendments, which were submitted on Feb. 18, would raise minimum pensions to meet Latvia's minimum subsistence level.
The government has pledged to donate 20,000 euros to help the victims of the recent natural disaster that took thousands of lives in Myanmar. A deadly cyclone that ravaged southern parts of Myanmar 's also known as Burma 's on May 2 killed about 63,290-101,682 people, according to latest information. Another 220,000 people are missing in the wake of the disaster. Some estimates predict that as many as 2 million people were affected by the disaster. This has been the most devastating natural disaster in Asia since 1991 when a tornado in Bangladesh took lives of 143,000 people.
