A guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. has defaced a Latvian painting worth $1.2 million. The painting, a work by Vita Celmina titled Night Sky Number 12, was destroyed when security guard Timur Serebrykov, 27, attacked it with a set of keys. Serebrykov initially denied destroying the work, but later confessed after learning that the crime had been caught on tape by a nearby surveillance camera. "I did it with a key… I did not like the painting… excuse me," Serebrykov told investigators. The museum's experts say that the painting is considerably damaged and are not sure if attempts to salvage the painting will be successful
In a sharp reversal of policy, Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis has thrown his support behind a proposal from Defense Minister Vinets Veldre to establish a mounted guard of honor. The prime minister had previously said he was against the idea, favoring spending the money on upgrading equipment for soldiers in Afghanistan, but reportedly changed his mind when Veldre explained that the 120,000 lat (170,745 euro) price tag would not seriously affect the budget. In a June 10 interview with "Good Morning Latvia," a popular morning news program, Godmanis said the honor guard would allow the army to take part in pentathlon competitions and improve the image of the country during state visits.
A sobriety campaign was launched by Transport Minister Ainars Slesers in conjunction with the Road Traffic Safety Directorate to try to eliminate drunk driving on Jani (Midsummer Night), the most prominent holiday on the Latvian calendar. "The worst thing is not that drunkards kill themselves in crashes but that innocent pedestrians die as well," the minister said. Results of a public opinion poll show that only 21 percent of people in Latvia believe that drivers should not get behind the wheel while under influence of alcohol.
The National Women's Basketball team easily defeated the Senegalese team on June 8 in the first Group A match of Beijing Olympic Games qualification tournament. The Latvian team won the game by an astounding score of 93-34. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota scored 19 points for the Latvian team, Gunta Basko scored 17 points and Ieva Tare added 11. Twelve teams divided into four groups will take part in the tournament, which is taking place in Madrid, Spain. The team's next match was being held against Japan as The Baltic Times went to press.
The editor-in-chief and co-founder of Diena, one of Latvia's leading daily newspapers, has stepped down ahead of a merger between Laikraksts Diena and Regionala Prese Diena which will form the strongest multimedia publishing company in the country. Sarmite Elerte, who has been with the paper for more than 18 years, assured her readers that the paper would uphold its standards of good journalism. She will be replaced by Nellija Locmele who will run the newly founded Dienas Mediji. The new company's turnover for 2008 is projected at 12.6 million lats (17.9 million euros).
