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☆ NATO boosts Baltic patrols after undersea infrastructure damage
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Navy ships sail during the Northern Coasts 2023 exercise in the Baltic Sea, September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Janis Laizans/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - NATO is stepping up patrols in the Baltic Sea following recent damage to undersea infrastructure in the region, the transatlantic military alliance said on Thursday. A fleet of four NATO minehunters is also being dispatched to the area," NATO said in a statement. "NATO will continue to adapt its maritime posture in the Baltic Sea and will take all necessary steps to keep Allies safe." The buildup illustrates that NATO allies are vigilant and ready for action, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said.

Persons: Janis Laizans, Dylan White, Hanno Pevkur, Andrew Gray, Andrius, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Ed Osmond Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, NATO, Baltic, Estonian Defence, European Union, Andrius Sytas, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Rights BRUSSELS, Sweden, Estonia, Finnish, Estonian, Finland, Tallinn, Brussels, Vilnius

☆ Israeli protesters mobilise to help survivors of Hamas attack but anger at Netanyahu remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Everything that theoretically, the government should have done was initially organized by the protest movements," Poran told Reuters. The judicial overhaul plans, promoted by Netanyahu's religious-rightist government as an overdue check on the powers of activist judges encroaching on politics, drew hundreds of thousands of protesters who saw them as an existential threat to Israeli democracy. Thousands of military reservists said they would refuse to report for normal duty, creating fears in the military that Israel's security would be compromised. "They said that if Israel will be in some existential threat, under an existential threat, that then they will return and this is exactly what they did." Reporting by Emily Rose and Janis Laizans; Editing by Howard GollerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ammar Awad, Guy Poran, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Poran, Netanyahu, Emily Rose, Janis Laizans, Howard Goller Organizations: Volunteers, REUTERS, Hamas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel, TEL AVIV

☆ Israeli cyber experts start 'war room' to track missing after Hamas attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Janis Laizans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Hamas gunmen evaded heavy Israeli security measures to escape the Gaza Strip and storm Israeli towns and kibbutzes, killing 1,300 people and taking almost 200 into captivity. In response, Israel has bombarded Gaza for days, killing more than 2,700 Palestinians while its troops prepare a ground assault. "We try to understand the status of each one of the missing people and we still have more than a thousand people who are missing," she said. Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas in response to the attacks while Hamas says it will execute hostages in response to Israeli strikes on civilians. Hamas is now also removing footage of the attacks that it has posted online, suggesting that the militant group is aware those videos are being analyzed for information, Nahon said.

Persons: Karine Nahon, Nahon, Emily Rose, John Davison, Deepa Babington Organizations: Hamas, Pictures, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Tel Aviv, Israel, TEL AVIV, Palestinian

☆ Israeli volunteers prepare hundreds of wreaths for funerals
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

She and her teenage daughter are among more than 100 volunteers working to prepare flowers for the more than 1,200 Israelis who have been killed since Hamas gunmen burst into Israel from Gaza on Saturday. "You have to understand that there are no wreaths left in Israel anymore," said flower exporter Lihi Salpeter Danziger, who organised the initiative. "People cannot get and cannot find flowers to take to funerals for the size of this event. Danzinger explains that the women work in shifts as the safe room can only accommodate 100 at a time. Once completed, the wreaths are loaded onto cars and trucks and sent out free of charge to funerals taking place all over the country.

Persons: Janis Laizans, Butcher Tali Yehuda, Yehuda, Lihi Salpeter Danziger, Danzinger, Sharon Singleton, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Israel, Gaza, Zeitan, Tel Aviv

Just a few days ago this was the sleepy, scenic kibbutz of Kfar Aza, an Israeli farming community of about 750 people, many of them families with young children. Now it's become a charnel house after Hamas gunmen burst out of the Gaza Strip on Saturday and laid waste to the village. There was no official death toll from the Kfar Aza kibbutz as of Tuesday evening, with Israeli soldiers still searching homes they suspect may be booby-trapped with explosives. [1/37]The dead bodies of Palestinians lie on grass following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel, October 11. The Hamas gunmen rammed through the kibbutz's fence, possibly using an earthmover, clearing the way for dozens of other gunmen to enter through the breach, she said.

Persons: KFAR, it's, Itai Veruv, Veruv, I've, Kfar Aza, Avidor Schwartzman, Aza, Violeta Santos Moura, Schwartzman, Keren Flash, Maayan Lubell, Janis Laizans, Emily Rose, Michael Georgy, Pravin Organizations: Israeli Defence Forces, REUTERS, Reuters, Jets, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: KFAR AZA, Israel, Kfar Aza, Gaza, It's, Kibbutz Beeri, verandas

LUZIT, Israel, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Soon after Hamas gunmen invaded Israel's villages videos began to emerge of seized Israelis being dragged away into Gaza. One showed an elderly woman, a defiant expression on her face, driven on a golf cart into the Palestinian enclave. The family of the bespectacled grey-haired woman, wrapped in a pink blanket and later identified as 85-year-old Yafa Adar, recognized her instantly. "I can't even start to understand how people think it makes sense to kidnap an 85 years old lady, kidnap babies, kidnap kids," said Adva. And you can see there, she's sitting trying to show them, she's not afraid and she's not hurt.

Persons: That's, Adva Adar, Nir, Yaffa's, Israel, Adva, she's, Maayan Lubell, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: LUZIT, Israel, Gaza, Luzit, Adva's

Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins addresses the opening session on the first day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, Britain June 21, 2023. Henry Nicholls/Pool via REUTERSRIGA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins announced his resignation on Monday, blaming a breakdown in relations with parts of his multi-party governing government. Karins' New Unity party plans to select its candidate for prime minister on Wednesday, he said. President Edgars Rinkevics has responsibility for giving a mandate to a new prime minister to try to form a government. Latvia's next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2026.

Persons: Krisjanis Karins, Henry Nicholls, Karins, Aivars Lembergs, Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia's, Janis Laizans, Andrius, Terje Solsvik, John Stonestreet Organizations: Latvia's, Conference, REUTERS, Latvian, European Union, NATO, Unity, National Alliance, Progressives, Greens, Farmers Union, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, London, Britain, REUTERS RIGA, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Ventspils

☆ Air forces are ditching runways to prepare their jets to keep operating when enemies aim for their bases
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It is meant to be a test of the British air force's ability to operate away from its main bases. Some air forces moved away from that capability after the Cold War and now have to train for it again. US Air Force/Senior Airman Jonathan Valdes MontijoThe US military has also been planning distributed air operations from unconventional airfields and runways. When done correctly, ACE "complicates the enemy's targeting process, creates political and operational dilemmas for the enemy, and creates flexibility for friendly forces," according to the Air Force's ACE doctrine. Gen. James Hecker, the head of US Air Forces in Europe, said last year that his command was sending airmen to study the Swedish approach.

Persons: Jon Hobley, Air Marshal Harvey Smyth, Smyth, Janis Laizans, Sweden's JAS, Jonathan Valdes Montijo, Phil Speck, James Hecker, " Hecker, Janes, Stavros Atlamazoglou Organizations: Service, Royal Air Force Eurofighter, FGR4, Coningsby, Getty, NATO, Britain's Royal Air Force, Air, Aviation, RAF, REUTERS, US Air Force, Marine Corps, Agile, US Air National Guard, Air Force, Aircraft, US Air Forces, Hellenic Army, 575th Marine Battalion, Army, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins, School, International Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ukraine, London, Finland, Finnish, Russia, Sweden, Guam, Estonia, Wyoming, Europe, Swedish, Johns

[1/5] German Patriot air defence system units are seen at the Vilnius airport in Vilnius, Lithuania July 7, 2023. Many are also providing advanced air defence systems which the Baltic states lack. But for the region with total population of about 6 million people, this is not enough to sustain large militaries, invest in their own fighter jets or advanced air defence. NATO is NATO, and we feel ourselves safe because we are in NATO. He added that he feared waves of migrants at the border, or border violations, or military vehicles appearing at the border without explanation.

Persons: Janis Laizans, Joe Biden, Biden, Gitanas Nauseda, Caesar, Wagner, Edvard Rynkun, Elena Tarasevic, Col Steffen Lieb, Rustamas Liubajevas, Sabine Siebold, John Irish, William Maclean Organizations: Patriot, REUTERS, NATO, Belarus Allies, Baltic, European Union, Reuters, Wagner, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, Belarus, KANIUKAI, Russia, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Spain, France, Finland, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, Kaniukai, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Russian, Minsk

TALLINN, June 20 (Reuters) - Estonia's parliament approved on Tuesday a law to legalise same-sex marriage, making it the first central European country to do so. Same-sex marriage is legal in much of western Europe but not in central European countries which were once under communist rule and members of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact alliance but now members of NATO and, largely, the EU. In the largely secular Baltic country of 1.3 million, 53% of the population supported same-sex marriage in a 2023 poll by the Centre for Human Rights. Same-sex marriage is opposed by the ethnic-Russian minority, which constitutes a quarter of the country, with only 40% of them supporting it. Latvia and Lithuania, the other two Baltic countries which were previously annexed by the Soviet Union, have same-sex partnership bills stuck in their parliaments.

Persons: Kaja Kallas, Kallas, Tomas Jermalavicius, Janis Laizans, Terje Solsvik, Ed Osmond Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Centre for Human Rights, Gay, International Centre for Defence, Security, Andrius Sytas, Thomson Locations: TALLINN, Europe, Moscow, Warsaw, EU, Baltic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Soviet Union, Tallinn, Andrius, Vilnius

VILNIUS, May 29 (Reuters) - Latvians woke up to go to work on Monday morning, only to find they didn't have to. Their parliament had met at midnight to declare a holiday after the national ice hockey team chalked up its best-ever result at the world championship. Latvia, where hockey is the national sport, was co-hosting the men's championship with Finland, and the Latvians' extra-time victory over the U.S. for third place was greeted with wild jubilation. At quarter to midnight on Sunday, sporting red and white national team jerseys, members of parliament convened for a ten-minute session to unanimously declare the holiday. The bill was introduced by a smiling member of parliament with her face painted in the colours of the national flag.

☆ NATO reaches back to Cold War past with first major defense plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/6] The Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer listens during an interview in Tallinn, Estonia September 16, 2022. By outlining what it calls its regional plans, NATO will also give nations guidance on how to upgrade their forces and logistics. Finland's accession last month has alone doubled NATO's border with Russia to some 2,500 km, forcing a more flexible approach to deployments than in the past, when Germany was seen as the main battlezone. "We don't envision the type of war that the Cold War was, where allied forces ... would be hit simultaneous with large-scale Warsaw Pact attacks," he said, pointing rather to regionalised conflicts that needed to be contained by quick force deployments. NATO agreed in 2022 to put 300,000 troops on high alert, up from 40,000 in the past.

☆ NATO reaches back to Cold War past with first major defence plans in decades
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Sabine Siebold | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Teacher Inese Rudzite stands in front of Russian citizens during the Latvian language learning class in Riga, Latvia May 2, 2023. Speaking Russian instead of Latvian has not been a problem until now, but the war in Ukraine changed the picture. He said the test was needed because Russian authorities justified their invasion of Ukraine by the need to protect Russian nationals abroad. "I think that learning Latvian is right, but this pressure is wrong," Sevastjanova said. But now I end up learning Latvian instead.

[1/2] A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits in a hanger at Amari Air Base, Estonia, July 1, 2020. Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone before one of them collided with it at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GMT). The U.S. military said the incident followed a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots operating near aircraft flown by the U.S. and its allies, including over the Black Sea. The Black Sea lies between Europe and Asia and is bordered by Russia and Ukraine, among other countries. "The State Department will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts, and expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept," said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

[1/8] A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits in a hanger at Amari Air Base, Estonia, July 1, 2020. On the diplomatic and economic fronts, talks continued to extend a deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that is due to expire this week, the United Nations and Turkey said. DRONE CRASHTwo Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone while flying in international air space. The accounts of the incident in the Black Sea, which is bordered by Russia and Ukraine among other countries, could not be independently verified. RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONEDRussia's Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned by the U.S. State Department to discuss what happened over the Black Sea, said spokesperson Ned Price.

☆ Latvia donates drunk drivers' cars to Ukraine's war effort
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A general view of a trailer loaded with vehicles to send to Ukraine, which were confiscated from drunk drivers, in Riga, Latvia March 8, 2023. REUTERS/Janis LaizansRIGA, March 9 (Reuters) - Latvia began seizing cars from heavily drunk drivers this year, and as hundreds of vehicles began overfilling impound lots, decided to send them to Ukrainian military and hospitals. Two hundred cars were taken from drivers found with blood alcohol levels over 0.15% in two months in the Baltic nation of 1.9 million people. So that's why I came with the idea – send them to Ukraine," Poznaks said. He laughed as he found a Russian flag pinned in one of the confiscated vehicles, left there by its owner.

BUCHA, Ukraine/VILNIUS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The brightly painted nails were what gave the identity of the body away. A year on from the full-scale invasion, her family and friends have parted ways, their lives upended by the conflict. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of war crimes in Bucha, an allegation the Kremlin denies. February 24 is the day when life was taken away from all Ukrainians, but we are trying to get it back." Additional reporting by Yiming Woo in Bucha; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Andrei Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group poses for a picture during an interview in Oslo, Norway February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Janis LaizansOSLO, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Norwegian police said on Friday they intend to continue to interrogate former Wagner mercenary group commander Andrei Medvedev, who fled from Russia to Norway last month after fighting in the war in Ukraine. "Medvedev gives the impression that he wants to continue to say more" about his time with Wagner, police said. Wagner forces have been locked in a bloody battle of attrition against Ukrainian forces in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. Wagner has said Medvedev had worked in a "Norwegian unit" of Wagner and had "mistreated prisoners".

[1/3] Andrei Medvedev, a former commander of Russia's Wagner mercenary group poses for a picture during an interview in Oslo, Norway February 1, 2023. Andrei Medvedev, who fled by crossing the Russian-Norwegian border on Jan. 13, says he witnessed the killing and mistreatment of Russian prisoners taken to Ukraine to fight for Wagner. Medvedev said he wanted to speak out about his experiences in the war so "the perpetrators are punished" for their crimes in Ukraine. A special report published by Reuters last week found a graveyard in southern Russia buried with men who were convicts who had been recruited by Wagner to fight in Ukraine. Kripos, Norway's national criminal police service, which has responsibility for investigating war crimes, has begun questioning Medvedev about his experiences in Ukraine.

☆ Lithuanian pipeline blast blamed on rupture not attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Workers inspect the aftermath of a gas pipeline explosion in Pasvalys, Lithuania January 14, 2023. REUTERS/Janis LaizansPASVALYS, Lithuania, Jan 14 (Reuters) - A rupture in an old natural gas pipe has emerged as the most likely cause of Friday's blast in the Lithuania-Latvia pipeline, the head of its operator said on Saturday. The explosion yielded flames up to 50 meters high, but there was no immediate evidence of an attack. "The initial survey showed that a welding seam simply tore open", Nemunas Biknius, head of Lithuania's gas transmission operator Amber Grid, told BNS wire. The fire emanating from the more than 40-year old pipeline was put out on Friday but a highway next to the blast site remains closed.

☆ Latvia cancels license of Russian independent television station TV Rain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

VILNIUS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The Latvian broadcasting regulator cancelled the license of Russian independent television station TV Rain on Tuesday, the regulator's chairman said. "In connection with the threat to the national security and public order, (the regulator) has made a decision this morning to annul the broadcast license of TV Rain", Ivars Abolins said on Twitter, adding the broadcasts will cease on Thursday. (This story has been refiled to add the dropped word 'of' in paragraph 1)Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius and Janis Laizans in Riga, editing by Stine JacobsenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Latvia cancels licence of exiled Russian television station TV Rain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Andrius Sytas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Summary Russian TV station moved to Latvia after Ukraine invasionLatvian regulator says it poses security threatTV Rain calls accusation "absurd"VILNIUS, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Latvia has cancelled the licence of Russian independent television station TV Rain after the company was branded a threat to national security, the state broadcasting regulator said on Tuesday. TV Rain said it programmes could still be seen on YouTube. Abolins said the regulator was convinced TV Rain did not understand "the essence and gravity" of its alleged violations. TV Rain apologized to its viewers and fired a presenter on Friday after Latvia's State Security Service launched an investigation into comments he made on air. TV Rain editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko called the comments "misleading", tweeting last Friday: "TV Rain did not, does not, and will not act to help supply the Russian army".

☆ Estonia turns back to shale oil as it cuts off Russian power
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Janis Laizans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AUVERE, Estonia, Oct 19 (Reuters) - When Baltic states switched off Russian power and halted other imports in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Estonia restarted its shale oil power plants and set back its efforts to phase out heavily polluting fuels. "This is just to replace the missing power supplies and compensate for high power prices." "This is just to replace the missing power supplies and compensate for high power prices," Stutter said of the shift back to shale oil. About 80% of cost of power from the power plants are environmental taxes. Eesti Energia said it had hired 600 people this year to ramp up shale oil production and to staff the power plants.

☆ 'I am leaving Russia': young men flee draft, Finland to restrict entry
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Essi Lehto | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Cars queue to enter Finland from Russia at Finland's most southern crossing point Vaalimaa, around three hour drive from Saint Petersburg, in Vaalimaa, Finland September 23, 2022. Two days later, he was crossing the border into Finland. I am just for freedom, Russia (free) from Putin, democracy in Russia," he said, breaking into tears. Nikita was one of a dozen young men Reuters spoke to at the Vaalimaa border crossing in southeastern Finland, their number growing in the days since Putin announced the call-up of 300,000 military reservists. Traffic into Finland over its border with Russia was heavy on Friday.

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