Sunday, 7 May 2000
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Latvian Mailer for Sunday, May 7th, and AOL Chat Reminder File:
D:\+www.latvians.com\Oct94\Picts\Perlu-dzirnavas-5130-09.jpg (91895 bytes)
DL Time (32000 bps): < 1 minute
Yes, we're running a bit late this weekend... we've been busy moving
and doing home construction projects... Also, it took QUITE a while to sift
through all of this week's news, as you'll see! Our sincere apologies for this
week's huge mailer...
First, we start you off with a bit of commentary from Silvija regarding Russia's reaction to
their defeat in the Ice Hockey World Championship, being held in St.
Petersburg. Continuing in that vein, we follow with a link to the
championship's official web site, featuring a write-up on
Arturs Irbe, followed by the sports section.
Following that is the news. Most newsworthy is that
Latvia's new coalition government has been approved.
This week's
picture is from October, 1994, and Peters' trip to see his grandfather's first
water mill, "Perlu Dzirnavas" (the Pearl Mill), in
Vidzeme.
Remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every
Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until
11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link:
Town Square - Latvian chat.
IN ACCORDANCE WITH AOL'S MAIL POLICY and good manners, please let Silvija (Silvija) know if you wish to be deleted from our mailing list. Past mailers are archived at latvians.com. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
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We're sure most of you have enjoyed the news of Russia's
defeat by Latvia in ice hockey; certainly it has spurred much spirited
discussion on the Latvian Sveiks mailing list! Among others, we're including
one of the more "entertaining" articles about Russia's defeat. We're used to
Russia whining constantly, but the quotes and comments in this article take the
cake, so to speak. Little bitty Latvia ganging up and picking on poor, great
big Russia.....claiming the game was a "well-prepared and well organised
political and nationalistic action from the side of Latvia against
Russia." Give me a break! It was a hockey game!! In the same article the
Russians admitted they put together a "dream team" — bottom line? The
Latvian team was just better. End of story. And end of our
editorializing....enjoy the article!! Savor the victory!
(Article
follows in the Sports section under the lead: Ice
hockey-Beaten Russia slammed by media, fans, MPs.)
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You can find the official home page of the Ice Hockey
World Championship 2000 in St. Petersburg at:
http://www.ihwc.net/hockeyPages/Spotlight/199.html
This particular link spotlights Arturs Irbe, the sensational Latvian
goalie.
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Ice hockey outshone nearly everything else this week,
even delaying ratification of the new Latvian government!
- Ice hockey - Latvia celebrate first win in world championships
- Latvia hands Russia third successive hockey defeat
- Thousands take to streets after Latvian hockey win
- Ice hockey - Beaten Russia slammed by media, fans, MPs (subject of this week's commentary)
- Russia Out After Swedes Draw With Swiss in Hockey [excerpted]
- World Hockey [excerpted] (Latvians tie U.S. team Sunday, today)
Ice hockey - Latvia celebrate
first win in world championships
© 2000 Reuters Ltd.
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, May 2 (Reuters)
— Alexandrs Belavskis and Juris Opulskis scored two goals each to power
Latvia to a 6-3 win over Belarus on Tuesday in a tense world championship match
between the two former Soviet republics.
Belavskis opened the scoring on a breakaway at
5:13 of the first period when he was able to lift the puck over Belarus
goaltender Andrei Mezin despite being tripped from behind. The momentum carried
Belavskis into the net just as the puck went in. It took several minutes for
officials, looking at the replay, to award the goal.
Late in the period with the Latvians on a
powerplay, defenceman Karlis Skrastins made it 2-0 with a powerful blast from
the blue line.
Opulskis gave Latvia a 3-0
lead at 27:44 and after Andrei Kavalev pulled one back for Belarus a minute
later, he restored a three-goal cushion with his second at 33:40.
Both teams exchanged goals in a wide-open second
period but the game changed to a tight defensive battle in the third.
Belavskis scored the lone goal and netminder
Arturs Irbe shut out the Belarus attackers in the final 20 minutes to give
Latvia their first group A win to the delight of several thousand Latvian fans,
who made the short bus ride from the Baltic state to St Petersburg.
"It's very important to score the first goal when
you have two equal teams on the ice," said Belavskis. "It gave us enough
confidence and we also had some luck in the final period."
Sweden, who beat Latvia 3-1 in their opener on
Sunday, were playing Ukraine later.
Latvia
hands Russia third successive hockey defeat
© 2000 Reuters Ltd.
ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) —
Alexandrs Semjonovs scored two second-period goals and Arturs Irbe made 37
saves to lead Latvia to a stunning 3-2 win over Russia Friday, leaving the
hosts on the brink of elimination from the hockey world championship.
Following defeats by the United States and
Switzerland in their opening two pool A matches, the Russians were desperately
in need of a win. But the disciplined Latvians and Irbe, in particular, stole
the show.
"I have waited for this game all my
hockey life," Irbe said.
"We are a small
country and had to play Russia in their own building. Such a game required the
ultimate effort from every one of our guys."
With Valery Kamensky in the penalty box for
hooking, Latvia's Alexandrs Belavskis opened the scoring 1:58 into the second
period.
He skated around the Russian goal and
lifted the puck over the shoulder of Ilya Bryzgalov for his fourth goal in four
games.
Then, just two and a half minutes
after Oleg Petrov levelled the score for Russia, Bryzgalov dropped a wrist shot
by Semjonovs and it trickled over the goal-line for a 2-1 lead for Latvia.
Less than two minutes later the Russians suffered
another disaster.
With the Latvians on a
powerplay, Sergei Gonchar tried to clear his zone but the puck ricocheted off
Semjonovs's stick, hit Bryzgalov in the back and went into the net. The goal
led to Bryzgalov being replaced by Yegor Podomatsky.
Russia captain Pavel Bure, the NHL's top
goalscorer this season, gave his team a chance with just 35 seconds left in the
second period when he stole the puck from Andrejs Maticins, went around the
goal and on his third attempt stuck the puck inside the near post.
Irbe took center stage in the final period,
making several outstanding saves. But Russian defenseman Igor Kravchyuk missed
two excellent chances to level the match with about six minutes left.
Latvia had Rodrigo Lavins in the penalty box for
a questionable elbowing penalty when Kravchyuk's shot came back off the post
and seconds later he fired over the empty goal after Irbe was knocked down.
As the game ended the Latvians hugged Irbe,
joining him in an impromptu dance to the delight of several hundred noisy
fans.
"We've got ourselves in a very
difficult situation," said a dejected Bure. "But we still have two more games
remaining and we'll try whatever we can to get the best out of it."
Thousands take to streets after Latvian hockey
win
© 2000 Reuters Ltd.RIGA (Reuters) —
Thousands of Latvians took to the streets of the capital Riga Friday after the
former Soviet republic scored the biggest hockey win of its history with a 3-2
defeat of Russia at the world hockey championship.
Minutes after the underdogs beat a high-powered
Russian team hundreds of people, holding flags or with the national colors
painted on their face, began to gather at the Freedom Monument in the center of
the capital.
Inside parliament, a vote on a
new government was delayed as deputies crowded around televisions to watch the
final minutes of the game.
Thursday Latvia
celebrated a decade of independence which came after five decades of Soviet
rule.
As the crowds grew, an impromptu parade
started toward the nearby Russian embassy where Latvian fans sang the national
anthem as police kept their distance.
Police
said they had made no arrests although eyewitnesses said they saw several minor
skirmishes between Latvian and Russian youths.
Tensions between Latvians and the country's large
Russian-speaking population rarely occur, although Moscow and Riga have been
locked in a bitter war of words over what Russia sees as official
discrimination against the minority.
Ice
hockey-Beaten Russia slammed by media, fans, MPs
[emphasis is ours]
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, May 6 (Reuters)
— Russians were feeling a sense of shame and shock on Saturday after their
team crashed to a third successive defeat at the ice hockey world
championship.
Even worse, Friday's defeat was
at the hands of tiny Baltic neighbour Latvia, with which political relations
are at a low.
"Shock!" read the headline in
daily Sovietsky Sport following the 3-2 loss, which left the host nation with
only a slim chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
"The city of St Petersburg has not seen such a
nightmare since 1917," said daily Sport-Express, referring to the Bolshevik
Revolution.
This was supposed to be a year of
revival for Russian ice hockey. Having assembled probably their best team for
the championship, filled with some of the NHL's top names playing at home, the
Russians thought they would march through the first week without any
difficulties.
But defeats by the United
States and Switzerland in the opening round and by the Latvians in the first
match of the second round left the hosts on a brink of elimination.
The Russians have never lost three matches in a
row since they began participating in the world championships in 1954 and have
never finished lower than seventh place.
"We
were robbed. We are in pain and ashamed. All of us have been desperately
searching for the long-awaited triumph of our national hockey team on our home
soil," Sovietsky Sport wrote.
"But the team,
which had many NHL superstars, including (Pavel) Bure and (Alexei) Yashin, and
was named the 'Dream Team', stole with its pitful play one of the rare moments
of happiness in the otherwise difficult lives of our people."
Russian politicians also got in on the act.
Alexander Shokhin, a member of the State Duma
lower house of parliament, said the loss was "a shame for our country."
"This is a national humiliation and our
players had no right to lose, especially to Latvia, with which we have
fairly tense relations," Shokhin said.
Fellow MP Anatoly Lukyanov said
the game was a "well prepared and well organised political and
nationalistic action from the side of Latvia against Russia." [He
couldn't admit Latvia out-played Russia; he had to ascribe political
motivations...sounds like Soviet-speak from a poor loser!]
Ties with Latvia are complicated by allegations
the Baltic state discriminates against its Russian-speakers. Latvians are still
angry after 50 years of occupation by the Soviet Union.
Most Russian sports fans have already seen their
national soccer squad fail to qualify for any major championship in the last
four years but ice hockey was always different.
It was said the Canadians invented the game but
Russia perfected it by winning 22 world and eight Olympic titles, more than any
other country.
But since the fall of the
Soviet Union, Russia has lost its supremacy, failing to win a world
championship medal of any colour since 1993.
The last time Russia hosted the world
championship, in 1986 in Moscow, they finished undefeated with five of their
players voted into the tournament's first team.
One of them was star defenceman Alexei Kasatonov,
a St Petersburg native, who is the general manager of this team.
"In my days it was always a great tragedy for the
whole nation if we didn't win gold medals. I think it would still be a tragedy
now if we didn't win, especially playing at home."
Russia Out After Swedes Draw With Swiss in
Hockey
© 2000 Reuters Ltd. By Gennady Fyodorov
[excerpted]
ST PETERSBURG, Russia
(Reuters) — In the worst possible scenario for Russia, Kristian
Huselius scored late in the third period to earn Sweden a 1-1 draw against
Switzerland at the world ice hockey championship on Saturday.
The second round draw clinched a place in the
quarter-finals for Sweden but means Russia are now out of contention.
They cannot finish any higher than ninth in the
final standings after disastrously losing their first three matches.
In what was supposed to be a year of revival for
Russian ice hockey, home fans thought they would get through the first week
easily.
But defeats by the United States,
Switzerland and Latvia left the hosts in disarray.
It is the first time they have lost three matches
in a row since they began taking part in the world championships in 1954 and
previously they have never finished lower than seventh.
The draw in the Swedish-Swiss game put the nail
in the coffin.
World Hockey
© 2000 The Associated PressBy ERICA BULMAN, Associated Press
Writer [excerpted]
ST. PETERSBURG,
Russia (AP) — Sean Haggerty's late goal pulled the United States into
a 1-1 tie with surprising Latvia at the World Hockey Championships on Sunday,
keeping intact the Americans' unbeaten streak.
Latvia stunned their rivals and fans alike,
jumping to a 1-0 lead just 6:33 into the game. Aleksandrs Kercs made a perfect
pass from the American net to Rodrigo Lavins, who fired a slapshot from the
blueline through heavy traffic in front of the crease and past American goalie
Robert Esche.
The small Baltic nation kept
the Americans scoreless until midway through the final period, when
Haggerty rushed the Latvian net, scoring as he crashed into the prone Arturs
Irbe. [Shucks! Almost!]
The Americans
will now face 1998 champion Sweden in a fight for the top spot in the
group.
Russia, meanwhile, continued to
self-destruct in front of its furious home fans, losing 1-0 to the former
Soviet republic Belarus for its fourth straight defeat.
The latest loss leaves Russia stranded at the
bottom of its group table. Its medal hopes had already been snuffed out on
Saturday.
It marked the first time either
Russia or the Soviet Union failed to make the quarterfinals since their first
world championships in 1954. Russia was heavily favored at the beginning of the
competition as they boasted an impressive all-star cast of NHLers that includes
the Florida Panthers' Pavel Bure, Ottawa Senators holdout Alexei Yashin and the
Chicago Blackhawks' Alexei Zhamnov.
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After the hockey match, everything else paled in comparison! Given the Latvian president's comments on Russia's political motivations these days, it's not surprising the Russians felt beseiged this week!
- Latvian President Says Russia Trying To Undermine Baltic Unity
- Russia Denies Latvian Accusation Over Foreign Policy
- Russia hits back over Latvian leader's remark
- On this Day, May 4th [excerpted]
- Latvia fires shot at former master
- Russian pensioners in Baltic states to get Russian stipend
- Latvian Government Approved
- Latvian Premier aims to restore confidence in authorities
Latvian President Says Russia
Trying To Undermine Baltic
Unity
TALLINN, Estonia
(AP) — Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said Tuesday that Russia
has singled out her country for diplomatic pressure to drive a wedge between
the ex-Soviet Baltic republics and thwart their Western integration.
The Latvian president, speaking at a news
conference during a three-day state visit to Estonia, accused Moscow of trying
to restore its Soviet-era influence in the region by undermining Baltic unity.
"The more united the three Baltics stand in
their foreign policy the more they move away from their earlier state of forced
incorporation in the Soviet — or Russian — sphere of influence," she
said.
She underlined the Kremlin's opposition
to Baltic membership in NATO and the European Union, which all three nations
have made a top foreign policy goal. Russian officials have said Baltic
membership in NATO would constitute a threat to Russian security.
"It would not be in Russia's interest for
these countries to stand united, particularly in their movement towards the
West, towards the E.U. and NATO," she said.
The Baltics cooperated closely during their
drives for independence from Moscow ten years ago and have continued to work
closely in pursuing pro-West, pro-reform policies since regaining independence
following the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Moscow at
various times has criticized Estonia and Latvia for allegedly mistreating their
large ethnic-Russian communities and for prosecuting agents of Stalinist-era
crimes.
The Latvian president said Tuesday
Russian officials had a pattern of criticizing one Baltic state at a time
— never all once — in order to upset their cooperation.
"For a while complaints are made about
Estonia, and for a period there is an intensity of comments about the situation
in Latvia," she said. "There seems to be a program about making remarks about
interstate affairs in regard to Latvia which go well beyond those commonly
acceptable in international diplomacy."
Vike-Freiberga said she thought Latvia was being targeted now because it was
the geographic center of the three small, Baltic-coast nations.
"Geographically and strategically, Latvia is
an appropriate wedge," she said.
© 2000 Dow Jones & Co., Inc.
Russia
Denies Latvian Accusation Over Foreign
Policy
MOSCOW (AP)
— Russian officials on Wednesday denied Latvian accusations that Moscow is
trying to unduly influence the Baltics, the Interfax news agency reported.
During a visit to Estonia on Tuesday, Latvian
President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said Russia was trying to extend its influence
in the Baltics and drive a wedge between the three Baltic states to keep them
from gaining NATO membership.
Leonid Ivashov,
chief of international military cooperation at the Russian Defense Ministry,
said Russia has "no aggressive aspirations toward its neighbors."
Vike-Freiberga was "trying to dramatize the
situation and whip up militaristic hysteria," Ivashov said, according to
Interfax.
Relations between Russia and its
Baltic neighbors have been tense since Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained
independence after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Tensions are particularly high
with Latvia, which has introduced a law making it more difficult for ethnic
Russians to get citizenship.
Latvia and
Russia have also squared off over the small Baltic country's recent prosecution
of Stalin-era crimes. Latvia accuses Russia of denying human rights abuses
during the period of Soviet control.
© 2000 Dow Jones & Co.,
Inc.
Russia hits back over Latvian leader's
remark
© 2000 Reuters
Ltd.
MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters)
— Russia blasted Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Wednesday over
an interview in which she accused Moscow of harking back to the Cold War,
saying her remarks were "unprecedented in their anti-Russian
tone."
Moscow and Riga have been locked in a
war of words over the case of Vasili Kononov, a 77-year-old former Communist
partisan sentenced to six years last year for his role in killing nine
civilians in 1944. Russia regards him as a persecuted hero of the Soviet Union
struggle against Nazi German invaders.
In her
interview with the BBC on Monday, Vike-Freiberga said recent statements by
Russia, which opposes Latvia's bid to join NATO, were reminiscent of the Cold
War.
"The statements heard from Riga are
unprecedented in their anti-Russian tone and follow the worst Cold War
traditions," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a
statement.
"We could not help but be alarmed
that this rude and unfriendly rhetoric towards our country has given Latvia
grounds for giving NATO no alternative but accept it as a
member."
Vike-Freiberga said in the interview
that NATO and the European Union protection against Russia should already
extend to Latvia, which gained independence in
1991.
Latvia's Supreme Court recently released
Kononov for the duration of his appeal, in which has asked for a review by
international experts, and Moscow has granted him
citizenship.
On
this Day, May 4th
[excerpted] 1990 — Latvia declared itself an independent democratic
republic in the first stage of withdrawal from the Soviet
Union.
Latvia
fires shot at former master
© 2000 Reuters Ltd. By
Martins Gravitis
RIGA, May 4
(Reuters) — Latvia celebrated a decade of independence on Thursday,
firing a shot at former colonial master Moscow for its "inadequate
understanding" of the Baltic nation's foreign
policy.
On May 4 1990, Latvia's Supreme
Council voted to restore the independence the Baltic state lost in 1940 under a
secret Nazi-Soviet pact dividing up Eastern Europe as spoils of
war.
Though not a national holiday —
Moscow officially recognised Latvian independence in September 1991 —
officials took the opportunity to reiterate the country's early goals of
"rejoining Europe."
But the celebrations come
against the backdrop of a bitter diplomatic dispute with Russia after Moscow
officials on Wednesday blasted Latvian president Vike-Freiberga for her recent
statements that they said were "unprecedented in their anti-Russian
tone."
Latvia responded in
kind.
"Politics of good neighbourly relations
between Latvia and Russia will not be possible until the Russian Federation
gives up on its acid and ungrounded rhetoric, replacing it with a willingness
in both shaping a dialogue and cooperating," the Latvian foreign ministry said
in a statement.
In an interview with the BBC
on May 1, Vike-Freiberga said recent statements by Russia opposing Latvia's bid
to join NATO were reminiscent of the Cold
War.
Moscow and Riga have been locked in a war
of words over the case of Vasili Kononov, a 77-year-old former Communist
guerilla sentenced to six years in prison last year for his role in the killing
of nine civilians in 1944.
Russia regards him
as a persecuted hero of the Soviet Union's struggle against Nazi German
invaders.
Latvia, which has been persuing
suspects for participation in communist-era attrocities, says such crimes
should be punished regardless of ideology.
Latvia's Supreme Court recently released Kononov for the duration of his
appeal, and Moscow has granted him
citizenship.
Despite the bitterness of the
dispute, Latvian politicians still celebrated the 10 years since they declared
independence, which have seen difficult economic reforms pay off in an
invitation to start European Union entry talks this
year.
"We have restored a state not for its
own sake but a state for the individual to live in and freely, otherwise it
would have made no sense," said Ivars Godmanis, head of the first Latvian
government following the declaration.
"Just as
important, we irreversibly established a market economy. There is no way back
to socialism," he added.
Russian pensioners in Baltic states to get Russian
stipend
MOSCOW, May 4
(Itar-Tass) — Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin has signed a
decree on paying lump-sum grants to Russian pensioners residing in Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of Russia's
victory in the Great Patriotic War of
1941-1945.
The sum to be paid to the war
veterans will be three times as high as the size of the minimal pension fixed
by the Russian legislation; the widows of servicemen who were killed during the
war will receive a sum equal to the minimal pension on condition they have not
remarried.
All the payments will be made out
of the Russian federal budget.
© 2000 ITAR-TASS
Latvian Government Approved
©
2000 Reuters Ltd.
RIGA, Latvia
(Reuters) — The Latvian parliament approved the government of Prime
Minister Andris Berzins Friday, ending weeks of negotiations and giving the
former Soviet republic its ninth government in less than 10 years of
independence.
Berzins has pledged to maintain
a tight fiscal policy as the former Soviet republic heads along the path to EU
and NATO membership.
His new four-party
centrist government, which holds 69 of the 100 seats in parliament, easily
carried the confidence vote, which divided along party lines, with all 69
coalition deputies approving the government.
Twenty-four voted against. Seven abstained or were
absent.
Voting went off without a hitch,
although it was delayed slightly as deputies watched Latvia beat Russia 3-2 at
the world ice hockey championships in St.
Petersburg.
"(The coalition parties) have
agreed to form a government that will work until the next parliamentary
election," the government declaration
said.
"The government will continue the work
started by the previous administration to achieve faster state development so
that the improvement of macroeconomic indicators reflect on the higher living
standard for all Latvians," it added.
Berzins
put together the coalition after former Prime Minister Andris Skele resigned on
April 12 when his Cabinet unraveled over the sacking of Economy Minister
Vladimirs Makarovs in a row over
privatization.
The government declaration
pledged to keep the lat currency stable and to maintain the previous
government's tight fiscal policy. Membership in the EU and the NATO military
alliance remain key foreign policy goals.
But
the thorny issue of privatization, which has felled two governments since the
last general election in October 1998, remains a potential flashpoint,
especially between the Peoples' Party, which holds 24 seats, and the
nationalist Fatherland Freedom party, which has 16
seats.
Berzins, a member of Latvia's Way with
21 seats, was chosen to lead the government because of his reputation as a team
player. He is expected to draw heavily on his diplomatic skills to keep the
coalition together.
The final coalition
member, the New Party, has just eight seats and is in government for the first
time. But it could be a key player in keeping Fatherland from making excessive
demands since Latvia's Way, the Peoples' Party and the New Party would still
hold a majority if Fatherland left the
coalition.
Latvian Premier aims to restore confidence in
authorities
RIGA, May 5
(Itar-Tass) — Latvian Prime Minister Andris Berzins has announced as
the key goal of his Cabinet to restore people's confidence in the authorities.
He spoke at the national parliament, which approved the new government of
Latvia on Friday.
Society is tired of
unexplained changes, Berzins said. He thinks that all the reforms should be
made in a dialog and discussions. "My principle is to see that people, who wake
up in the morning, do not learn that their pensions are halved, the morning
coffee costs more and all education has to be paid for," he said. The
authorities' knack to listen to the people and the knack of everyone to hear
the other should become a political norm in Latvia, he
noted.
The coalition has overcome differences
that ruined the former cabinet, Berzins said. "We must prove that the top
priority is given to interests of the country and the people, and personal
interests must be forgotten," he added.
Berzins expects his Cabinet to work till the next parliament election. All the
previous governments stayed in office for no more than 8-9
months.
As for the foreign policy, the Premier
said they would target "at strengthening and improvement of the relations with
neighbor-countries."
© 2000
ITAR-TASS
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Peters visited his family's former homestead, Perlu Dzirnavas, in Vidzeme, in 1994. The current owners (whose family had bought it from Peters' grandfather) had just started to face the monumental task of rebuilding. [When we eventually visited again some years later, we found they had given up the good fight. We were warmly welcomed by the new residents despite their appearing, discouragingly, to be largely living off the land.]