
Mārtiņdiena: how Latvia marks St Martin’s Day and the start of winter
Latvians celebrate Mārtiņdiena on Tuesday, the folk holiday that closes the farming year and opens winter. Here are the customs, the name days and what is on in Riga.

Paris is summoning Iran's ambassador and promising European-level sanctions. Hackers heated freezers to 50C in October; similar incidents hit Estonia in November.

The two-day trilateral meeting is the first since February. Security guarantees top the agenda, but the sides remain split over a ceasefire.

Riga honours Latvia’s freedom fighters on Wednesday, 11 November, with events from morning until late evening. Here is the programme announced by the city council and museums, hour by hour.






Latvians celebrate Mārtiņdiena on Tuesday, the folk holiday that closes the farming year and opens winter. Here are the customs, the name days and what is on in Riga.

Paris is summoning Iran's ambassador and promising European-level sanctions. Hackers heated freezers to 50C in October; similar incidents hit Estonia in November.

The two-day trilateral meeting is the first since February. Security guarantees top the agenda, but the sides remain split over a ceasefire.

The non-party minister, originally nominated by New Unity, told Latvian public television that he would accept if the incoming prime minister asked him to stay. Otherwise, he said, one option is a return to the army.

Hundreds of people and heavy vehicles turned out for the “No to blood grain!” protest. The government says it will bar new transit contracts but warns that a ban by one country acting without the European Union could prove costly.

Riga honours Latvia’s freedom fighters on Wednesday, 11 November, with events from morning until late evening. Here is the programme announced by the city council and museums, hour by hour.

Most of the council’s 33 collection points take leaves only at weekends, but this week leaves can also be brought on weekdays in Torņakalns, Jaunciems, Vecdaugava, Vecmīlgrāvis and on Ogres Street.

Bus routes in Āgenskalns will change from Monday evening until Thursday lunchtime, and on the evening of 11 November the 11 November Embankment will be closed to traffic.

The Latvian athlete finished third in Senegal on Monday evening with a throw of 52 metres. One throw made the difference — on her third attempt she moved up from seventh to third.

Lauris Strautmanis, Emīls Vasermanis and Ernests Erbs beat South Korea by three points in the 25m rapid fire pistol team event in Doha.

In the revised schedule for the IIHF World Junior Championship, Russia replace Norway. Latvia’s under-20 team would face them in Edmonton on 30 December, but Latvian law does not allow such a match.