RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian police said on Monday they seized 1.25 million packs of smuggled cigarettes — the largest seizure of its type in the country's post-Soviet history.
      Police seized the cigarettes, a car, a tractor trailer, and several sets of fake license plates in a raid last Thursday at an airplane hangar in Jekabpils, 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital, Riga, state police spokeswoman Sintija Kalina said.
      They also caught and detained two men in the hangar, who, if charged and convicted of conspiring to smuggle the cigarettes, could be sentenced to as long as five years in prison, she said.
      Investigators believe the cigarettes were meant for sale in Western Europe where smugglers could fetch up to 6 million euros (US$7.4 million), six times more than they would sell for in Latvia, Kalina said.
      Smoking among Latvian adults trails only Russia and Belarus as the highest in Europe, with some 55 percent of men and 27 percent of women claiming to be regular smokers, according to a government survey.
      A pack of cigarettes costs about 60 santims (US$1.10). In Norway, cigarettes cost as much as 7 euros (US$8.60) per pack.
      According to the country's Health Ministry, some 33 percent of Latvia's 2.3 million residents are regular smokers.
      Police are investigating where the cigarettes were brought in from, Kalina said. Half of the cigarettes were hidden in wooden briquettes while the other half were already boxed on wood palates, apparently ready to be loaded for shipment.

      BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — European Union governments deadlocked Monday on an application to allow imports of a herbicide-resistant corn for human consumption, but the bloc's executive body approved the same product's use for animal feed.
      The opposing decisions reflect continuing divisions on genetically modified products, despite the lifting last spring of Europe's de facto moratorium on new products.
      EU agriculture ministers failed to get a majority for or against allowing Monsanto Co.'s Roundup Ready corn, which is widely grown in the United States and elsewhere, to be imported for food or food ingredients, officials said. The application did not cover cultivation.
      Roundup Ready corn, which is engineered to resist Monsanto's Roundup herbicide, received a clean bill of health from the European Food Safety Authority last year.
      "Its safety is, therefore, not in question, and neither is the question of user or consumer choice," EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom said in a statement Monday. Wallstrom backed the application.
      But nine EU countries — Latvia, Denmark, Cyprus, Malta, Italy, Greece, Austria, Portugal and Luxembourg — voted against the license. Nine others — Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Britain — voted in favor.
      Hungary, Slovenia, Germany and Spain abstained, while Estonia and Poland expressed no view.
      Environment ministers split along similar lines last month when considering Roundup Ready corn imports for animal feed.
      That application was approved Monday by the EU's executive Commission. Under EU rules, if ministers don't agree in 90 days, the commission decides.
      However, imports for feed can't start until the equivalent approval has been granted for food. That means they will have to wait until after Sept. 29, when the food application is expected to go back to the commission as well.
      The political stalemate highlights continuing unease in Europe over biotech foods despite the resumption in May of new approvals, which had been on hold for six years due to public fears about perceived health and environmental risks. The EU lifted the moratorium after introducing the world's strictest labeling laws for genetically modified products.
      After a similar deadlock, the commission approved a biotech variety of corn made by Switzerland's Syngenta AG for import and sale, but not cultivation.
      The U.S. administration has accused the EU of violating international trade rules and exacerbating global hunger by hindering the marketing of genetically modified food for political, rather than scientific reasons.
      Washington has said it will pursue its complaint against the EU at the World Trade Organization until it believes applications are being handled in an "objective, predictable manner." An initial ruling is expected in September.

      MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed into law a measure that ratifies a 1990 arms treaty that sets limits on deployment of heavy, non-nuclear weapons throughout Europe.
      The agreement, modified in 1999 to reflect changes in defense postures after the breakup of the Soviet Union, is known as the Conventional Forces in Treaty and regulates deployment of military aircraft, tanks and other heavy non-nuclear weapons continentwide.
      The bill was approved by the lower house of parliament last month and by the upper house on July 7.
      Since the treaty was amended in 1999 it was ratified only by the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
      Moscow has pressured the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, former Soviet republics which joined NATO in March, to join the treaty, saying that their failure to do so would threaten Russia's security. The three countries, however, cannot agree to the treaty until it enters force.
      NATO has linked its ratification to Russian troop pullouts from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Moscow, which has dragged its feet on that issue, says its pledge to withdraw its forces from the former republics is not covered by the treaty.

      BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The head of a recently launched campaign to hunt down alleged Nazi war criminals in Hungary said Tuesday he would continue to send information on suspects to Israel, despite concerns over the legality of dispatching such information abroad.
      The "Operation: Last Chance" campaign was launched July 13 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights group.
      The program offers rewards for information on alleged Nazis and "we handle the data we collect with total discretion," said Ivan Beer, who runs the Hungarian part of the campaign. Information on alleged war criminal collected through the program is assessed at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's headquarters in Jerusalem.
      But the Hungarian parliament's ombudsman for data protection, Attila Peterfalvi, told Hungarian state television Tuesday that sending information about suspects to Israel — or any foreign country — was illegal. He called for an investigation into the campaign.
      "Personal data can only be sent abroad with the consent of the person concerned," Peterfalvi said, adding that Israel does not meet data protection standards set by the European Union.
      The campaign, already ongoing in Austria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, offers 10,000 euros (US$12,400) for information leading to the conviction of Nazi war criminals.
      Five people have called a hot line with information about suspects since the campaign was launched here last week, Beer said.

      STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Flanked by children, Latvian lawmaker Tatjana Zdanoka took her case for Russian-language rights to the European Parliament on Wednesday, demanding help from the European Union to guarantee minority rights in Latvia.
      Zdanoka led a silent protest with about three dozen school children outside the glass-and-steel EU assembly, handing out pamphlets..
      The children, flown in from Latvia, were dressed in white T-shirts emblazoned in English, "Hands off Russian schools."
      "They (the Latvian government) try to turn a blind eye to this problem," Zdanoka told reporters.
      She claimed a Latvian law that comes into effect this September would effectively put an end to the use of Russian language in Latvian schools in the years ahead. It will require at least 60 percent of classes in public schools, even those catering to Russophones, be taught in Latvian starting in September.
      "We all support the Latvian language but we want to remain a Russian-speaking minority in our own right," said Zdanoka.
      Other Latvian lawmakers have filed a lawsuit with their country's Constitutional Court to overturn the language law.
      Zdanoka added that the group had met with EU officials and officials working on minority rights at the Council of Europe, which is also located in Strasbourg.
      The 45-nation Council has warned Latvia to improve minority rights for its large Russian population.
      The EU made it a prerequisite before Latvia could join the European bloc, and now says Latvian language laws conform to European minority rights standards.
      The education reform has sparked a series of protests by Russian-speaking students and their parents, the most recent of which drew nearly 30,000 people on May 1, the day the former Soviet republic joined the EU.
      Partly to counterbalance the imposed dominance of Russian in many areas during decades of rule by Moscow, the Baltic state declared Latvian the sole official language after it regained independence amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
      That decision and other steps taken to entrench Latvian have angered Latvia's Russian speakers — mostly ethnic Russians — who make up more than a third of Latvia's 2.3 million residents. The language rule for schools has been among the most hotly debated reforms.
      Ethnic Russians and Moscow claim the new rules are discriminatory and an attack on their rights.
      The Latvian government, however, argues that the new law is meant to help integrate minorities, adding that those who don't learn Latvian will find it hard to secure good jobs.
      Zdanoka has made Russian-language rights one of her top priorities as a newcomer to the EU assembly. She has wide support in Latvia's large ethnic Russian community. As the leader of the For Human Rights in a United Latvia Party, she is the only left-wing politician representing Latvia of the nine Latvian EU lawmakers.

      By Boris Kagarlitsky — For Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, joining the European Union on May 1 was a break with the past. Paradoxically, both Baltic nationalists and members of the ethnic Russian population in the three countries have high hopes for life within a united Europe.
      Nationalists are convinced that membership in the EU and NATO signals a definitive reorientation to the West, an end to the Baltic states' historical ties to Russia, and provides a guarantee against future encroachment from their enormous neighbor to the East. Ethnic Russians, on the other hand, hope that their situation in Latvia and Estonia will change for the better. If EU laws on the rights of ethnic minorities were applied in full, both governments would be forced not just to grant full civil rights to all Russians living within their borders, but also to take their interests into account in matters of education, cultural policy and local government. For example, attempts by the Latvian government to drastically reduce the availability of Russian-language instruction in public schools flagrantly contradicts European norms.
      As it happens, both Baltic nationalists and the ethnic Russian minority in those countries are in for a big disappointment. Western Europe needs the Baltic states because it needs Russia. German knights and merchants of the Hanseatic League built Riga and Tallinn in the Middle Ages as gateways to the East. Russian raw materials and markets are no less important to Western businessmen today. The farther the EU expands to the East, the more important Russia becomes.
      It does not follow from this, however, that the situation of ethnic Russians in the Baltic states will improve. Simply put, the status of the Russian language and those who speak it in Latvia and Estonia is not affected by the state of those countries' relations with Russia.
      From Moscow's perspective, Baltic Russians are not especially interesting or valuable. Ethnic Russians in the Baltic states, on the other hand, recognize full well that they are better off than most people in their historical homeland. This applies not just to their higher standard of living. It is also true that noncitizens in Latvia and Estonia are likely to have more control of their lives than full-fledged citizens of Russia.
      Eurocrats in Brussels have no need for Euro-Russians, either. The expanded EU is a mass of contradictions and problems. The economies of its member countries are developing at different rates. Measures to contain inflation in the euro zone choke production. The Scandinavians don't like the single currency. The pro-American foreign policy of Poland and other countries in the new Europe frustrates attempts by France and Germany to stake out an independent position vis-a-vis the United States. The burgeoning European bureaucracy stifles initiative. The situation in the Balkans is still far from resolution. And to top it all off, the ranks of the euroskeptics are swelling. In this context, the problems of ethnic Russians in the Baltic states are just one more headache.
      The appearance in Strasbourg of Tatyana Zhdanok, the lone representative of the recently formed Russian Party of the European Union, will not change things. She will be regarded as one more exotic addition to an already colorful new European Parliament.
      It would be wonderful if the Russian problem were solved in Europe, but no one is going to take this task upon himself. If the interests of minorities were a concern for Western politicians, Latvia and Estonia would not have been admitted to the EU until they had brought their laws in this area into line with European norms.
      This does not mean that the situation of Russians in the Baltic states is hopeless. It does mean that their future depends on how successful they are in forging alliances with other groups within Latvia and Estonia themselves. Democracy will not function successfully until all members of society enjoy civil rights in equal measure. The burden of overcoming discrimination cannot and must not fall exclusively on those who suffer from discrimination. This problem affects Estonians and Latvians as well.
      In the end, Estonians, Latvians and Russians must build their future together. If they don't realize this soon, the prospects of all three groups will be equally gloomy.
      Boris Kagarlitsky is director of the Institute of Globalization Studies.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Following the lead of Ireland and Norway, Latvia's health minister said Friday he wants the country to ban smoking in most public places in a bid to cut back on the country's use of tobacco.
      In a speech carried live on the Latvian government's Internet portal Apollo, Health Minister Rinalds Mucins said the ministry wants lawmakers to approve a complete ban on smoking in all public places, including bars, restaurants, outdoor cafes, bus stops and stadiums, as well as on public beaches.
      "Bars and restaurants will be the first places where we ban smoking," Zaiga Barvida, a ministry spokeswoman told The Associated Press. "We have to think about nonsmokers who are forced to be passive smokers because of the places where they work."
      Mucins said he would ask the Saeima, or parliament, to debate the proposed ban when it reconvenes in August or September after the summer holidays. Any ban would have to be approved by a simple majority and, if passed, would likely take effect some time next year.
      Under Latvian law, only the Saeima can authorize such a ban. Earlier this month, the government said a local ban on smoking at a beach resort was illegal because it wasn't approved by lawmakers.
      The proposed ban didn't contain details about how the ban would be enforced or if there would be fines levied for places that don't enforce it. Ireland's ban calls for a maximum fine of US$3,600.
      Any smoking ban is likely to anger Latvia's many smokers. Some 33 percent of Latvia's 2.3 million residents are smokers, according to Health Ministry figures.
      Collin Francis, owner of Bar One, in the capital, Riga, said the ban would hurt business, just as it has in Ireland.
      "As a nonsmoker, I can understand the benefits of banning smoking, but it's going to affect business dramatically like it did to bars in Dublin and in Norway," said Francis. "If they're going to ban smoking, they've got to find the right balance."
      Ireland was the first country to outlaw smoking in enclosed workplaces, modeling its move on similar measures enforced in California and New York City as well as more than a dozen other U.S. states and cities. Norway began enforcing similar restrictions at the beginning of June.
      But Mucins said during his speech that the ban was needed, citing Health Ministry statistics that show an average of 12 Latvians die daily because of smoking-related illnesses.
      In 2003, 4,380 of the country's 2.3 million residents died from smoking-related ailments.
      "People can smoke as much as they want in their flats or their own places," said Barvida. "Just not in places where they're going to make others smoke with them."

      RIGA, July 22 (Xinhua) — France is willing to join the air patrolling mission over three Baltic countries, visiting French Defense Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie said in Riga on Thursday.
      France will send experts to help train Latvian patrolling officials and dispatch its own planes to help the mission, Alliot- Marie told reporters after meeting with her Latvian counterpart Atis Slakteris.
      France plans to launch a meeting on Baltic air security to be attended by parties concerned, the minister added.
      Four Belgian F-16 fighter jets conducted the air patrolling mission after the three Baltic countries, namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, formally joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in March this year.
      As of July 1, Denmark began to carry out a three-month mission with its five F-16 fighter jets.
      French participation in the air patrolling is part of a bilateral cooperation under a 1994 France-Latvia defense pact.
      During the meeting, the two ministers also exchanged opinions on the EU security and defense policies, as well as peace-keeping mission in Afghanistan.
      Alliot-Marie arrived at Riga on Wednesday after a visit to Estonia.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — After stealing seven cows from a farm near the Latvian town of Ogre, thieves ditched three of them in a nearby barn, but not before milking them for all they were worth — literally — a police detective said Tuesday.
      Thieves stole the seven cows on Sunday as they were grazing in a herd of about 150 cattle near a farm near Ogre, 34 kilometers (21 miles) southeast of the capital, Riga, State Police Detective Maris Rozans, told The Associated Press Tuesday.
      The farm's owners first thought the seven cows had simply wandered off, but after finding three of them tied by their horns in an abandoned barn about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away, it was obvious a theft had occurred, Rozans said.
      Before ditching the three cows, which sell locally for about US$400 apiece, the thieves milked them, Rozans said.
      "The people who care for the cows determined that the cows had been milked," said Rozans. "I think the cows were milked so that they wouldn't make noise, because if they hadn't been milked, they might have made a ruckus."
      Rozans said he didn't know what the thieves had done with the milk but that it was unlikely they would have tried to sell it. He said the other four cows were probably sold by the thieves and were butchered.
      Police have no suspects in the case yet, said Rozans.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Low-cost airline Ryanair announced it would begin regular flights to Latvia from three European cities in the company's first venture into one of the 10 new European Union member states.
      The no-frills airline said it would begin flights to the capital Riga from London, Frankfurt and Tampere, Finland, starting Oct. 31.
      The company also announced new flights to the Spanish cities of Santander, starting Sept. 20, and Zaragoza, starting Dec. 1.
      Ryanair has set its ticket prices for one-way travel to Riga at 4.99 euros (US$6.06) from Tampere, 3.99 pounds (US$7.35) from London, and 7.99 euros (US$9.71) from Frankfurt — hundreds of euros cheaper than similar flights currently offered by airlines flying to Riga. The fees don't include taxes and other charges, though.
      Ryanair's decision to fly to Riga was prompted by the Latvian government's decision on Monday to cut airport fees and passenger taxes in an attempt to make Riga Airport a regional hub.
      Ryanair's announcement angered Riga Airport's largest carrier, airBaltic, which said the government had not informed it about the specifics of the new fees.
      "It is sad and pathetic that the national airline, airBaltic, which is 52 percent state-owned and which is the most significant provider at Riga Airport, still has not been introduced to the new rules about airport tax discounts," airBaltic President Bertolt Flick said. "We are going to request transparency immediately about the signed deal and identical rules for our own passengers."
      Travelers in Riga, however, welcomed the news of a low-cost airline coming to Latvia, where flying is prohibitively expensive for most residents, who earn an average of about US$350 per month.
      "I think it's really great," said Sigita Kapaca, 22, a Latvian administrative assistant. "Flights will be so cheap that I'm looking forward to traveling more and seeing more places.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russian police have broken up a hacker ring that extorted money from British bookmakers, inflicting millions in losses on their Web sites in a series of attacks that attracted the British government's attention, officials said Wednesday.
      The suspects flooded online betting sites with false requests for information in so-called "denial of service" attacks. They would then send e-mails demanding money for stopping the attacks, said Yevgeny Yakimovich, the chief of the Russian Interior Ministry's Department K for fighting cyber-crimes.
      Yakimovich said the gang had caused over $70 million in damages to British bookmakers.
      "Their goal was to paralyze a company's work," he told a news conference.
      British police announced the breakup of the extortion ring last week.
      Most victims declined to report the threats to the police, fearing bad publicity, Yakimovich said.
      Valery Syzrantsev, the head of the Interior Ministry's Chief Investigating Department, said the hackers targeted nine betting companies, attacking each of them between three to five times and extorting between $5,000 to $50,000.
      "Two companies, which suffered especially big losses, agreed to pay $40,000 each," Syzrantsev said. He refused to say how the payments were made and he declined to name the companies.
      Bookmaker companies were the most convenient prey because the attacks could be timed to major sport events, Syzrantsev said.
      "This case was so significant for Britain and it inflicted such a damage that it reached (the) prime minister's desk," Yakimovich said.
      British and Russian cyber-detectives tracked down the attacks to several Russian cities and Russian police last week arrested two suspects and seized computers and software in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the Volga River's Saratov region.
      Two suspects remained in custody and investigators were working to track down other members of the group, Syzrantsev said.
      The suspects could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of extortion, he said.
      In a statement released to the media Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said that the ring also had launched attacks on unidentified British banks, but Yakimovich and Syzrantsev refused to comment on the reports.
      The ministry also said the gang included residents of other nations. Yakimovich said that several suspects had been briefly detained in Latvia last November, but wouldn't elaborate.
      Syzrantsev said the ring consisted of well-educated people in their early 20s who had found each other on the Internet and agreed to work together in the extortion.
      "There was no chief organizer in plain terms, each of them did his bit of work," he said. "And they didn't consider themselves criminals."

      VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Buzzing choppers, screaming sirens and bloodied victims from a train wreck — the sights of an international military exercise conducted by NATO this week — left some Lithuanians uncertain if it was real or fake.
      Officials with NATO reassured the residents of the port city of Klaipeda, 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the capital, Vilnius, that it was nothing more than drill.
      More than 300 military and civilian officials from 18 countries took part in the exercise, dubbed Rescuer/Medceur 2004. The two-week exercise ends this week.
      Hosted by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, the exercise was designed to test how well alliance members can integrate their individual medical and rescue resources if there is a crisis or catastrophe.
      On Wednesday, a major train crash was simulated and medics rushed in with bloody casualties on stretchers. Some of the "victims" were flown some 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Klaipeda to clinics in the city of Kaunas.
      Some residents saw the fake crash and weren't sure if it was real or not, but officials quickly told onlookers that it was just a drill.
      Lithuania's president Valdas Adamkus greeted troops before the final stage.
      "If we care about our future, there should be no doubt as to our role in the international alliance," Adamkus said.
      U.S. Air National Guard Col. Bruce Guerdan, who guided Adamkus at the exercise site, remarked that Lithuanian, and forces from Estonia and Latvia, all of whom joined NATO this year, were well prepared.
      "Lithuanians have two things I am very impressed with," Guerdan said. "They're well-organized and they are full of energy and positive attitude."
      The exercises are the biggest of the kind held in Lithuania after the three Baltic states joined NATO in April along with five other former Soviet bloc countries.
      Aside from NATO members, including U.S. military forces, Ukraine and Uzbekistan sent observers, NATO said.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvia's prime minister on Tuesday named Ingrida Udre, a former economy minister, as the Baltic nation's member of the European Commission.
      Udre, 45, a lawmaker from the Greens and Farmers Union, will replace interim Latvian EU Commissioner Sandra Kalniete, who was tapped after Latvia joined the bloc in May.
      Ilona Lice, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Indulis Emsis, said the premier was happy with Kalniete's performance at the European Union's head office but wanted to have his pick.
      Kalniete, who doesn't have a political affiliation, was nominated by the previous government, which stepped down in February after one of the coalition partners withdrew, leaving the government without a legislative majority in the Saeima, or parliament.
      Udre's appointment could create cracks in Emsis' own three-party minority governing coalition, which took power in March. The government only controls 47 of the 100 seats in the Saeima and relies on votes from left-wing lawmakers to pass important legislation.
      The three coalition partners — Latvia's First, the People's Party and the Greens and Farmers Union — each backed a different candidate to go to the Brussels, Belgium-based European Commission.
      The People's Party, the largest of the three groups with 20 seats, supported Kalniete.
      "Our party didn't agree with the move, but it's Mr. Emsis' responsibility to nominate the commissioner," People's Party parliamentary chairman Aigars Kalvitis told the AP. "Maybe there are no troubles yet (with the coalition's stability) but there soon could be."
      Udre, who speaks Latvian, Russian, English, French and German, was elected to the Saeima with the now-defunct New Party in 1998 and re-elected with the Greens and Farmers Union in 2002. In 1999, Udre served briefly as Latvia's economy minister.
      Udre has a degree in economics from the University of Latvia, and before her political career she worked as an auditor.
      The European Commission runs the EU's day-to-day affairs. It drafts EU law and ensures it is enacted in each of the 25 member states, as well as representing the union in world trade and other negotiations.

      LONDON, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Traditional beer drinkers are changing in substance, style and shape.
      Disappearing fast are the hairy, heavy-bellied beer-swillers of yesteryear, their place being taken by young urban professional men and women more normally associated with wine and working out.
      One-third of the 45,000 real ale enthusiasts expected to attend this year's annual Great British Beer Festival at London's Olympia run by the beer purists Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) are likely to be women.
      "CAMRA is often seen as sandals, beer-bellies and beards. But that is not true today," the organisation's chief executive Mike Benner told Reuters on the opening night. "The truth has changed. The image, unfortunately, has not."
      That does not mean they will hold back. Over the five days of the event, people will sink some 200,000 pints of beer.
      And it is not just in Britain, that sees itself as the guardian of traditional brewing, that real ales are making a comeback against mass-produced lagers.
      Even in the United States, where a handful of giant brewers like Anheuser-Busch have dominated the beer market for decades, the taste for distinctive real ales is rising.
      "Demand for cask-conditioned beer is small but it is growing," Jonathan Tuttle, U.S. representative of the Bieres Sans Frontieres (BSF) organisation told Reuters.
      "I guess the demand is mainly from young professionals and it is the micro brewers that are driving the change," he added.
      BSF groups small brewers from the United States, Africa, Asia and Australia as they move from one beer festival to another touting their wares and sampling the competition.
      Tuttle said he too had noticed a distinct slimming down of the classic beer drinkers' profile — including his own — and attributed the change in part to maturity and in part to a greater health consciousness among consumers of all ages.
      Across Europe too the demand for beers with a traditional taste is growing even as the overall market for beer stagnates.
      The European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU) boasts members in Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Poland, Austria and Italy, and anticipates that the Czech Republic and Latvia will also soon sign up.
      "Our membership is growing — mainly among people in their early 20s," EBCU representative Richard Larkin said. "But these are not binge drinkers. These are people who know what they want — and that is good food and drink."

      MOSCOW, Aug 6 (Reuters) — Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday expelled Lithuania's military attache, bringing this year's tally of diplomats sent back to Vilnius from Moscow to four.
      "Today Lithuania's acting charge d'affaires was ... informed that Lithuanian military attache Lt. Col. S. Butkus is declared 'persona non grata' because of activities harmful to Russia's interests and should leave Russian territory within two days," a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said. It added that it had refused to accredit Lithuania's choice of a new military attache, whom it named as Colonel R. Zhibas.
      In March, Russia threw out three Lithuanian diplomats for spying in an apparent tit-for-tat move a month after Vilnius expelled three Russians.
      A Lithuanian embassy spokesman declined to comment on the latest expulsion or to say if it was linked to the three in March. He said Butkus had been in Moscow for three years and had been coming to the end of his posting.
      Russia also traded expulsions with two other ex-Soviet states earlier this year, asking Lithuania's Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia to remove a total of three diplomats.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Passengers thirsty for cheap flights in and out of "New Europe" booked more than 8,000 tickets on low-cost airline Ryanair's routes to and from Latvia's capital in the first week of sales, a company spokeswoman said Monday.
      "This has been a very encouraging opening week for our Riga route, as bookings have been spread almost equally throughout all three destinations," Ryanair's Nordic region manager, Lotta Lindquist-Brosjo, said by telephone.
      The no-frills airline announced last month it would begin flying on Oct. 31 to Riga from London, Frankfurt, Germany, and Tampere, Finland, after the Latvian government cut airport taxes in an attempt to lure more tourism and make Riga International Airport a regional hub.
      It is Ryanair's first venture into one of the 10 new European Union member states.
      Ryanair, based in Dublin, Ireland, set its ticket prices for one-way travel to Riga at 4.99 euros (US$6.06) from Tampere, 3.99 pounds (6.02 euros, US$7.35) from London, and 7.99 euros (US$9.71) from Frankfurt — hundreds of euros cheaper than similar flights currently offered by airlines flying to Riga. The fees don't include taxes and other charges, though, which are about 25 euros (US$30) for a one-way ticket.
      It was unclear who is more excited about Ryanair's new Riga routes — Latvians looking to travel cheaply abroad or travelers from western Europe eager to see the expanded European Union.
      Lindquist-Brosjo would not say whether the 8,000 seats reserved in the first week were for flights entering or leaving Riga, citing company policy.
      Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said last month in Riga that the company hoped to sell 300,000 tickets on the Riga routes in its first year.
      Ryanair's move into the Latvian market has had little effect on airBaltic, the country's largest carrier, airBaltic spokeswoman Vija Dzerve said. According to Dzerve, airBaltic flight reservations for November and December are fine, and the company carried twice as many passengers in July 2004 than in July last year.
      "AirBaltic braced itself long ago to compete with low-cost airlines like Ryanair and planned accordingly," Dzerve said.

      RIGA, Aug 10 (Reuters) — Protesters rallied against Latvia's "eurosceptic" European Commission nominee Ingrida Udre on Tuesday, saying she was unfit for a top executive job in Brussels and slamming her surprise selection as undemocratic.
      Parliament Speaker Udre, leader of the Union of Farmers and Greens, is dogged by scandal at home ranging from a corruption probe into her party, wasting taxpayers' money by bringing her hair stylist on trips abroad and clashes with media.
      About 150 people, some from non-governmental organisations, protested outside parliament waving banners saying "Europsceptic Euro commissioner?" and "Step down from the post!."
      Udre was not immediately available for comment.
      Her nomination by Indulis Emsis last week, Europe's first Green prime minister, was a surprise in Riga and Brussels as it had been widely expected that Latvia's current commissioner Sandra Kalniete would stay on.
      Emsis has been heavily criticised for naming Udre, and the move is expected to contribute towards another coalition break-up after the last coalition fell this spring due to internal wrangling.
      Roberts Putnis, president of the Latvian arm of corruption watchdog Transparency International, who was at the protest, told Reuters: "The decision-making process behind her nomination clearly shows that Latvia is politically corrupt."
      The 45-year-old economist campaigned on an EU-sceptic ticket ahead an 2002 election, urging closer ties with Russia instead. She used her first meeting last week with Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, new president of the European Union's executive commission, to inform him about her "healthy euroscepticism."
      The small Baltic former Soviet republic was one of 10 mostly East European states to join the EU in May, clinching more than a decade of often painful post-communist reforms towards democracy and free-market economy.
      Maris Noviks, one of the protest organisers and member of the European Movement Latvia, said Emsis may have bowed to pressure from business interests eager to have Udre in the commission.
      "I think the prime minister was under a lot of pressure from non-political forces," he said.

      ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Saturday criticized NATO's expansion into three former Soviet states on the Baltic Sea and warned that NATO warplanes flying patrols over those countries create a risk of accidental incidents.
      Ivanov, speaking at a press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, questioned the need for the patrols but said they pose no real threat to Russia. The patrols are flown by four NATO fighter jets because the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have no air forces of their own.
      "We cannot understand how these four planes can intercept al-Qaida, the Taliban, or anything else," Ivanov said. "The only thing they can intercept is a mythical Soviet threat."
      Rumsfeld said there was no need for friction between NATO and Russia. He suggested Russia strike an accord with the Baltic nations to avoid any "unnecessary incidents" — a possible reference to what might occur if a warplane violates a country's airspace.
      Ivanov also questioned NATO's need for the three Baltic countries, which joined the alliance in April, saying through a translator, "The Baltic countries are consumers of security, not producers."
      Russia has expressed concern about NATO's expansion before. But since the expansion four months ago, some U.S. officials see Russia reasserting itself with its Soviet-era republics.
      Rumsfeld was in St. Petersburg on Saturday and Sunday for several meetings with Ivanov on a variety of security issues, including terrorism and weapons proliferation. Ivanov said one focus was establishing a joint effort to control and interdict the spread of shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles, a weapon that many fear could be used to shoot down airliners.
      During the press conference, Ivanov also seemed open to cooperating with the United States on missile defense programs.
      A U.S. anti-ballistic missile system, aimed at shooting down North Korean missiles launched over the Pacific, is expected to go online within months, and the U.S. military is beginning upgrades on a radar system in Greenland that would track missiles fired over Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. Some Russians are concerned the radar might somehow be a threat.
      "A radar of that type obviously doesn't threaten anybody," Rumsfeld said, saying it was being upgraded to track missile launches by rogue states.
      Indeed, Ivanov said Russia was interested in developing such a radar for itself.
      In recent years, Russia and the United States have been at odds over the Bush administration's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and its decision to proceed with building a missile defense system.

      LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) — Following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 21 since 1900 [excerpt]:
      1944 — Representatives of the United States, Britain, Russia and China met at Dumbarton Oaks near Washington to plan the formation of the United Nations.
      1991 — Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union.
      1991 — Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev declared he was back in full control after a 60-hour coup by Communist hardliners crumbled under popular resistance.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Arizona Senator John McCain called Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko a dictator Saturday and dismissed Belarus' planned October elections as "bogus" during a visit to Latvia on Saturday.
      Lukashenko, elected in 1994, has garnered Western criticism for ruling his former Soviet republic of 10 million people with an iron hand. The West accuses him of stifling dissent and the independent media.
      "President Alexander Lukashenko has manipulated the constitution to solidify his control," McCain said. "He has ordered the disappearances of opposition activists and journalists. He runs Belarus as if it was the Soviet Union, instilling a climate of fear, repression, and arbitrary rule."
      McCain was joined in Riga, the Latvian capital, by several Belarusian opposition leaders in condemning Lukashenko's government, including Valery Frolov, head of the Respublika opposition faction in parliament, who predicted Lukashenko's days as president were numbered.
      McCain and others in a delegation of lawmakers from the United States originally wanted to visit neighboring Belarus on their trip to Nordic, Baltic and eastern European countries, but were denied entry to Belarus earlier this month.
      Belarus' Foreign Ministry suggested that the senators might be allowed in after both countries had concluded their respective election campaigns. Parliamentary elections in Belarus are scheduled for October and the U.S. presidential vote takes place in November.
      McCain briefly addressed the U.S. race for president, reiterating his support for U.S. President George W. Bush. But the Arizona Republican hedged when asked whether he had his eye on the White House in 2008.
      "I had a very close friend that was a member of the United States House of Representatives and he once said, 'If you're a United States senator, unless you're under indictment or detoxification you can automatically consider yourself a candidate for president of the United States,'" McCain said, drawing a laugh from assembled reporters.
      "I have no plans to run for president of the United States," he said. "I am running for re-election to the United States Senate."
      The U.S. Senate delegation, which also included Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, John Sununu of New Hampshire and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, visited Ukraine earlier this week and urged its leaders to conduct a fair presidential election.
      Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York joined the group later Saturday in neighboring Estonia. She said U.S. policy toward the Baltics was unlikely to change significantly should Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry be elected president.
      In the Estonian capital, Tallinn, McCain expressed concern over reports of repeated Russian violations of Baltic airspace since the three countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, joined NATO in March.
      "We are concerned about the violations of national sovereignty," McCain said. "This has been discussed at NATO and it obviously is an issue of significant concern."
      The U.S. delegation has also scheduled visits to Iceland and Norway before returning to the United States.
      — — —
      Associated Press reporter Jari Tanner in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed to this report.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Monday sharply criticized a monument commemorating Estonians who fought in the German army against Soviet troops during World War II, calling it a disgraceful glorification of Nazi SS units and urging the European Union and NATO to take notice.
      In an angry statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the monument unveiled Friday in a northwestern Estonian town was part of what it called an increasingly visible process of honoring and "making heroes out of" Estonian volunteers who fought alongside the Nazis.
      The monument, financed by Estonian war veterans, features a sculpture of an Estonian soldier and a plaque reading "To Estonian men who fought in 1940-1945 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence."
      About 2,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony on the anniversary of the small Baltic Sea nation's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
      The Russian statement called the unveiling a "disgraceful act, insulting the memory of victims of fascism in all countries" and said it "looks particularly blasphemous against the background of the recent celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied landing at Normandy" and preparations for events next year commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany.
      The Foreign Ministry said that Estonia's recent accession to NATO and the EU "raises the question of how those in Brussels view the increasing activity in Estonia of former fascist henchmen, attempting to subject the results of the second world war to revision."
      Tensions between Russia and Baltic states over the World War II era are still high, and Russian officials have repeatedly accused Estonia and neighboring Latvia of persecuting former Soviet officials while lionizing the Nazis.
      The countries were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, following a secret pact in which Hitler and Soviet dictator Josef Stalin divided eastern Europe. But Germany violated the nonaggression pact, and after the 1941-44 Nazi occupation of the Baltic nations — during which a large majority of the Jews there were killed — Soviet troops returned and remained until the states gained independence in the Soviet collapse.
      In addition to the Russian government, the Estonian monument has also drawn criticism from Russian Jewish leaders, who last year appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to oppose what they called "the rehabilitation of Nazi criminals" in Estonia and Latvia.

      MOSCOW (AP) — Russia wants reforms in a top European security and democracy organization and will discuss the initiative with the leaders of France and Germany when they visit President Vladimir Putin next week, a report said Tuesday.
      Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia wants changes that would make the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe a "truly effective" and responsive to "the interests of all its participants," the Interfax news agency reported.
      Lavrov told Putin that the issue of OSCE reform would be on the agenda of his Aug. 30-31 summit with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Interfax reported.
      Lavrov said France and Germany expressed the willingness to discuss the issue after Russia and eight other former Soviet republics sharply criticized the Vienna-based organization last month.
      In what they called an "unprecedented collective demarche" in early July, Russia and the other countries accused the OSCE of double standards, saying it unfairly criticizes governments in some countries.
      The declaration, read by Russia's delegation, said that the 55-nation group spends too much money on field missions to promote human rights and democratic institutions in certain countries, while overlooking others.
      The OSCE was part of observing missions that said Russia's parliamentary elections last December and the presidential campaign that led to Putin's March re-election fell short of democratic standards.
      The OSCE's watchdog functions in Belarus have been limited after a confrontation with the authoritarian leadership there, and Russia has criticized OSCE representatives in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia.
      The July statement was issued by Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. At the time, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the OSCE focused its field missions in those countries and the Balkans and accused it of ignoring the rights of minorities in Latvia and Estonia — Baltic states that have significant ethnic Russian populations and strained ties with Russia.
      In a statement issued in July by the Netherlands, which holds the rotating EU presidency, the union said it would reflect on the issues raised by Russia and the other countries but had "serious concern about certain elements of the declaration."

      DFW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Texas, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ — DFW International Airport unveiled Texas's newest and most diverse public art program, called World of Wings, featuring hundreds of giant decorated airplanes by artists from around the globe. Chicago has its Cows. New Orleans has its Fish statues. Texas and DFW now have Art Planes.
      Nearly 300 of the intricately decorated and painted cardboard planes were on display today at a vast American Airlines maintenance hangar, awaiting their display in DFW's four existing terminals in anticipation of number five: International Terminal D. World of Wings is designed to raise awareness of the world's newest airline terminal and world's largest airport train — named SkyLink — opening at DFW in 2005.
      "These cardboard airplanes have traveled millions of miles and been decorated in art museums, garages, classrooms and hospitals," says Jeff Fegan, CEO of DFW. "They have been decorated in backyards and on battlefields. And they symbolize and reflect the world crossroads that International Terminal D will bring to Texas and the entire United States."
      Art planes were flown in from exotic locations such as Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lima, Peru; Brussels, Belgium; Paris, France; Sao Paolo, Brazil and Zurich, Switzerland. Two decorated planes are on the way back from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, of the U.S. Army and DFW's military assistance and Rest and Recuperation Program.
      American Airlines tucked cardboard planes in 777 aircraft and flew them around the world to DFW destinations for decorating.
      "We had an incredible response," said Tim Ahern, Vice President of the DFW Hub for American. "American Airlines shipped airplanes to 24 of our destinations around the world to be decorated by artists or employees in those cities. We're proud to be based here and are glad to help get the world involved in this project. These truly are works of art."
      The planes will be on display in DFW's four existing terminals with installation beginning in September. The Airport's 57 million passengers will see them in ticketing halls, concourses and in baggage claims. DFW will place locally-painted planes in public areas so school children and community groups will have easy access to see their work on display.
      Additionally the art planes are showcased online at http://www.dfwairport.com/wow . They are divided by category — schools, airlines, destinations, cultural groups, government — and include pictures of the artists with their work. The site will be updated with location information and more photographs once the art planes have been placed on display.
      Other participants include branches of the military, Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Safety Administration, cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Dallas Museum of Art, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, Ballet Folklorico Azteca de Fort Worth, Japan America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, Canadian Club of North Texas and the U.S. Mexico Chamber of Commerce-Southwest Chapter. Also participating in the program will be Fort Worth International Sister Cities (Reggio Emilia, Italy; Nagaoka, Japan; Trier, Germany; Bandung, Indonesia; Budapest, Hungary; Toluca, Mexico; Mbabane, Swaziland, South Africa) and the Dallas-based general consulates for Britain, Mexico, Canada, El Salvador and Spain and Dallas International Sister Cities Monterrey, Mexico; Riga, Latvia and Taipei, Taiwan.

      STOCKHOLM — The youngest sea on the planet, the Baltic Sea, is also one of the most polluted in the world.
      This year all countries around it, except Russia, have appealed to the International Maritime Organization to grant the Baltic the official status of a particularly sensitive sea area, or PSSA, so that they can join forces in tackling environmental threats in the region.
      In April, the whole Baltic Sea except Russian territorial waters, was designated a PSSA.
      However, it is doubtful that measures to protect the sea and its animal and plant life can succeed without Russia; it is a large contributor of pollution with the city of St. Petersburg the biggest single contributor.
      The Leningrad Oblast's new oil terminals, increasing oil traffic, the lack of sewage treatment and horrendous numbers of illegal spills poison the waters of the almost enclosed waters of the Baltic Sea.
      The World Wildlife Fund discussed the fate of the sea and measures to protect it at a special session this month in Stockholm. The discussion coincided with the Second Baltic Sea Festival, where Swedish, Russian and Finnish classical musicians campaigned to draw attention to the ecological plight of the region.
      WWF representatives plan to visits the governments of all countries around the Baltic this year to convince them to sign a list of protective measures aiming at saving the sea.
      But the group will not come to Russia. The only reason why we aren't coming to Russia is because it is the only country that hasn't applied for the PSSA status, said Anita Makinen of the Finnish branch of WWF.
      The measures include water traffic speed restrictions, closing of routes, seasonal suspension of certain routes to protect migrating marine mammals, tighter anchoring requirements, regulation of offshore bunkering, discharge restrictions and air pollution emission limitations.
      The amount of oil transported on the Baltic Sea has doubled since 1997 and is expected to increase to up to 160 million metric tons per year. Makinen said sub-standard shipping practices had significantly increased the risks of severe oil accidents. Since 1980 an average of one major accident a year has occurred in the Baltic.
      Oil traffic has been increasing enormously in the Gulf of Finland, Makinen said. Russians enlarge their existing oil terminals and build new ones.
      Not only has the number of tankers increased, but their size has also grown. At the same time, cruises between Helsinki and Stockholm have increased tremendously, and this route is crossing the main routes of vessels transporting hazardous substances.
      The WWF forecasts that the risk of an oil accident in the Gulf of Finland will quadruple as the amount of oil transported through it rises from 1995's 22 million tons to the 90 million tons expected in 2005.
      We recognize that the Russian economy is very dependent on oil, but we are extremely concerned, said Lars Kristoferson, secretary general of WWF Swedish branch.
      Globally, less than 0.5 percent of the world's seas have been designated as protected areas. The PSSA status is given in order to avoid accidents, intentional pollution and damage to habitats.
      Upon request from the countries involved, the International Maritime Organization can also decide about associated protective measures for the region.
      Top classical musicians from the Baltic region, including Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, Swedish conductor Manfred Honeck and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev have united in a special artistic event to draw attention to the ecological plight of the sea.
      Politicians from most Baltic countries have also acknowledged the problem.
      During the Cold War, the Baltic Sea separated people, Finnish President Tarja Halonen said in her welcome letter to the cultural festival. It divided people rather than united. Today, it has returned to its natural role. It unites rather than divides. The EU enlargement process is turning the Baltic Sea into the first EU internal sea.
      The first festival in 2003 was well received, attracted top cultural and political figures and introduced musicians from Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Russia, Denmark and Germany.
      The Financial Times wrote last year that the first Baltic Sea Festival had more than proved its artistic merit as a contender in the annual summer marathon of European music festivals.
      The ultimate goal of the Baltic Sea Festival is to get all countries on the coast involved.
      Music is a universal language, it has no political leanings, and it effortlessly crosses the language barrier to reach people everywhere, Salonen said. That is why a major festival of this kind can develop unity around the Baltic Sea.
      WWF's Kristoferson agreed. These may be so-called soft values but they unite people, he said. They help building confidence and trust in each other, while making the Baltic nations feel closer through the universal language of music.
      To spread the word, the organizers are considering a series of satellite events in other towns across the region.
      There is the possibility that next year a small series of events will be incorporated into St. Petersburg's annual The Stars of the White Nights summer cultural festival.
      Eventually the program is likely to become more versatile, with jazz, rock and popular musicians joining the event for a more embracing picture of the region's cultural scene.
      European environmentalists are pinning their hopes on the cultural heavyweights behind the festival.
      In my opinion, well-known and respected cultural people can establish a good contact with the governments of their countries, and can convince them to make a difference, Makinen said.
      As St. Petersburg contributes in large measure to the contamination of the sea, the participation of Gergiev and the Mariinsky Theater company in the festival has a further meaning beyond the obvious desire of including one of the world's greatest ensembles in the event.
      I am not naive to think that classical musicians can save the environment of a whole sea, Salonen said. But I do think that if we bring the ideas into the minds of the people with this ecological theme running through the festival, we have a better chance of improving the situation in the future.
      The arts can help build mutual trust but the decisions in the end will have to be political, Gergiev said.
      I don't mind being a bridge but it will be politicians who make the decisions, he said. Russian politicians may listen to me, because we have built an international reputation, but to keep their confidence in us we should concentrate on our artistic efforts, not political activities.
      Russia is the only country on the Baltic Sea coast that is not a member of the European Union, and in terms of environmental responsibility Russia's political isolation plays a crucial role.
      The EU countries share the same legislation, and naturally, they are all accountable to it, Kristoferson said. With regards to Russia, we don't really have an instrument of influence, apart from appealing to the government's goodwill.
      After all, every country should be interested in having a healthy environment for its citizens.
      Gergiev believes the political climate in the region has improved immensely and makes the musician hopeful about stronger integration in the future, in both cultural and political terms.
      For instance, the relations between Russia and Germany these days are better than ever the last 100 years, he said. The war 1/8World War II3/8 is behind us, and now it is the very time to build relationships.

      LIEPAJA, Latvia (AP) — After the ill-tempered guard clanged the cell door shut, the darkness was enveloping and complete. Then lights flashed and a voice barked: "Face the wall! Hands behind your back!"
      In the room, under pictures of Lenin and Stalin, a stern-faced Soviet army officer sat hunched over a desk, smoking. "What are you doing in a restricted military zone?" he demanded.
      So began an unusual Latvian exercise in retro-chic: a night in a Soviet-era slammer.
      Each weekend, about 25 people pay 5 Lats (7.46 euros, US$9.21) to spend the night being bullied and interrogated in a prison haunted by Latvia's 20th century miseries. Real and fake mix together in grisly harmony: Visitors witness the re-enactment of a prisoner being shot after his third escape attempt and visit the mass grave of 160 real inmates nearby.
      Those inmates were shot during the 1941-44 German occupation of Latvia. Then came the Soviet reoccupation which ended in 1991. Now, comes the age of nostalgia as this Baltic democracy of 2.3 million people moves ever further from its painful past.
      Tourists and locals alike can experience it in the prison at the Karosta, or "war port," in the coastal city of Liepaja.
      Built originally as a military hospital in 1903, the red-brick building was converted to a prison two years later and used until 1997.
      The prison sat empty until 2002, when a group of Liepaja residents led by tourism agent Liga Engelmane formed the Partnership to Save Karosta, whose well-chosen Latvian initials are KGB, and offered interactive tours.
      "Inmates" can pay 2 Lats (2.99 euros, US$3.68) for a 90-minute daytime tour that includes being locked in a cell and a trip to the infirmary, or buy the 5 Lats (7.63 euros; US$9.20) package billed as an "extreme night."
      Extreme nights are not for the fainthearted. The cubicles are damp and the "extreme toilet" is four holes in the floor. Visitors do calisthenics to stay warm and sleep on planks with fleas for company. Those who disobey orders may be sent to solitary confinement. "You are exiting Hell," says an inscription above the door, written by a real-life inmate long ago.
      Liepaja, like many Latvian cities, is losing many vestiges of its Soviet past as it becomes more westernized. Sunbathers now cover Liepaja's white sand beaches where Soviet tanks were once stationed with their guns pointed toward a possible Baltic Sea invasion.
      Even Karosta, for five decades a restricted military zone, now has an artists' commune occupying a former military headquarters and an art gallery nearby displaying their work.
      So why go through all this when you can lie on Liepaja's sandy beaches or enjoy the nearby art display?
      "It allows you to return to the past and to see how it was really done," said Martins Jaungailis, a 20-year-old college student from Riga, the capital.
      Jaunus Tammeaed, 39, came from neighboring Estonia with vacationing employees of the AGA industrial gas company. He said the experience brought back memories of his Soviet army service in the 1980s.
      "I don't feel threatened, so it's not so realistic in that way," Tammeaed said. "But it's a good idea for anyone who hasn't lived through those times."
      Gunta Insberga, the gas company's Latvian representative who arranged the tour, explained that the group wanted to do something other than visit art exhibitions, attend concerts and sit around in bars.
      "Sometimes it's more interesting in a pile of dung," she said, laughing. "We thought this would be a good way to end our trip."
      "I had never slept on a wooden plank before," she said. "Everyone is going to remember this for the longest time."
      KGB's Engelmane said the idea was to save a bit of history for future generations.
      "The Soviet era was painful for us," she said, "but we want to retain a part of it because there is already an entire generation in Latvia that has not grown up in the Soviet system."
      She said she has heard no criticism of the tours. In fact, former prisoners have walked KGB staff around the prison, handing out tips on how to make the experience more authentic.
      The tour revenues pay for salaries and have raised more than 3,000 Lats (4,500 euros; US$5,500) for badly needed renovations, said Engelmane. Business is good, she said; every "extreme night" this summer has been fully booked.

      RIGA, Sept 1 (Reuters) — The middle-aged teacher sweated and swore as he switched awkwardly between Russian and Latvian, taking his distracted class through the geography of China's Chang Jiang river valley.
      The bilingual lesson in a Riga classroom was in preparation for reforms which will force some 150 Russian schools in Latvia to teach 60 percent of high school classes in Latvian. Students have threatened a mass walkout in protest.
      "It has become difficult for us in the school," said Yarmina Hansen, a maths teacher at the 21st school in Riga. "On one side the state wants us to obey the law and we are doing our best. On the other side our students are hyped up for a fight."
      Almost a third of Latvia's 2.4 million people are Russian speakers and many view the school reform, due to be introduced on Sept. 1, as an attempt to undermine their cultural identity.
      Hansen, who is 57, was born here and speaks Latvian fluently. Her grandfather was Danish, grandmother Latvian, her father a Ukrainian Jew, but Russian was always spoken at home.
      "Often students don't understand why the teachers won't join them in anti-reform demos. They don't know a teacher just wants to keep his job. The result is tension in the classroom," she said.
      The government says the reform is meant to give minorities better job opportunities, but the protests have attracted crowds unseen since independence rallies in the late 1980s.
      This has angered Moscow, where politicians have cashed in on a Russian minority issue in Latvia, an ex-Soviet republic which joined NATO and the European Union this year. Fifty Russian students staged a protest at the European parliament in Strasbourg earlier this year.
      "Political interests have clashed around this issue. Education is no longer really the point," Hansen said.
      PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIER
      Latvian education takes 12 years, nine at primary school and three at high school, which is attended by those wanting to go to university where all courses are in Latvian. High school graduation exams will be held in Latvian after 2007.
      To sweeten the pill the government has raised teachers' pay this year to 160 Lats from 145 ($294-$266) a month and offered bonuses of up to 20 percent for teaching in Latvian or "bilingually."
      "When we teach in those "bilingual" classes we waste half of our time in translations. So it becomes a Latvian lesson, not a history lesson," said history teacher Natalia Arzhanovskaya.
      The move from Russian to Latvian is not easy as the two are not related. Latvian belongs to a Baltic branch of Indo-European languages like Lithuanian and extinct Prussian. Russian is Slavic.
      Until Latvia regained independence from Moscow in 1991 there was little need for immigrants to learn Latvian. They studied in schools and universities that taught in Russian then worked at factories or research centres where Lavtian was little used.
      When it opened its doors in 1963, Riga's prestigious 21st school offered its students only two hours of Latvian a week.
      "Some Russian teachers simply cannot cross this psychological barrier — to come to a classroom and speak to students in a language that is not their own. One Russian would talk to another Russian in a foreign language!" Hansen said.
      "When I am teaching in Latvian, I become stressed, I have to pick my words much more carefully and mathematics is already a difficult subject for children."
      NEED MORE TIME
      The 21st school is in a former industrial neighbourhood that used to host factories where many migrants worked. Most factories have now closed.
      The school's corridors are lined with black and white pictures of prominent graduates. "Our students are a mix. We have both orphans and children of the 'nouveaux riches'," said Hansen. This mirrors the social structure of the Russian-speaking community in Riga where many are poor and unemployed while others are wealthy and successful.
      "Children often take a point of view of their parents. If their parents succeeded in life, they are positive, if parents have lost out, they look at things differently," said history teacher Yelena Andropova, 40, who came to Latvia 17 years ago from St. Petersburg not speaking a word of Latvian.
      Teachers fear students from poorer families who cannot learn Latvian will end up on the streets furthering their education among criminals, drunks and drug dealers.
      "We just need more time. We started reform preparation in 1999, gradually adding hours in Latvian," said Tamara Bondareva, the deputy school head.
      An internal poll indicated that only 2 percent of the 680 students want to study in Latvian; 55 percent said they saw no choice.

      RIGA, Latvia (AP) — On the first day of school, thousands of Russian-speaking students and their parents converged around a Soviet-era monument Wednesday to vent their anger over a new law requiring a majority of subjects in public schools to be taught in Latvian.
      The protest was largely peaceful, but police detained seven young protesters for chaining themselves to the country's Cabinet of Ministers building. There were hundreds of police officers present to prevent clashes. Less than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away, thousands of teenagers gathered at a back-to-school celebration staged by the government in Riga's Old City.
      Many Russian speakers — more than a third of Latvia's population of 2.3 million — denounce the language law as discriminatory. Thousands massed late Wednesday in the shadow of the Soviet-era Victory monument glorifying the Red Army's liberation of Latvia from Nazi Germany.
      Large balloons reading "SOS! Save Our Schools!" in English floated over the crowd that massed around the Victory monument, a concrete pillar featuring three Red Army soldiers with their guns raised. Some people wore T-shirts reading "Hands off Russian schools" in English and Russian. They listened to speakers angrily denouncing the education law.
      "I want my daughter to study in Russian. It is necessary to know Latvian, but physics and math should be taught in a person's native tongue," said Lija Sulaikina, 34, from Riga, who accompanied her 8-year-old daughter Kseniga to the rally.
      Irina Falalejeva, a 19-year-old university student at the rally, said she believed the downtown concert organized by the Education Ministry was meant to draw people away from the protest.
      "Latvian culture and language are dying," she said. "They are few and they are afraid. We are not against their culture and we are interested in learning their language. But basic subjects should be taught in Russian" for Russian-speaking students, she said.
      Latvian officials argue the reform is needed to integrate minorities, help them find jobs and attend public universities, where Latvian is the language of instruction.
      Police said the crowd numbered about 5,000, but Latvian police frequently underestimate attendance at such gatherings and reporters on the scene estimated at least 8,000 protesters were at the rally. Organizers had expected about 30,000 people. They also called for a nationwide Russian student strike Thursday.
      The crowd of parents and students at the Victory monument gasped when they were told that several people had been killed in a hostage standoff Wednesday in a Russian region bordering Chechnya, where attackers wearing suicide-bomb belts seized a school and were holding hundreds of hostages. The protesters observed a moment of silence for the victims.
      Wednesday's demonstration was the culmination of a series of protests that began last January, a month before the country's Saeima, or parliament, passed a law requiring at least 60 percent of classes in public schools beginning this school year be taught in the Baltic country's official language, Latvian.
      Nearly 25,000 protesters showed up at the last major rally against the language law, on May 1. That same day, thousands filled the Old City to celebrate Latvia's admission into the European Union.
      Partly to counterbalance the imposed dominance of Russian during decades of Soviet rule, Latvia declared Latvian the sole official language after regaining independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse.
      The EU has said Latvian language laws, including the new school language law, conform to European minority rights standards.

      BRUSSELS, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) — Seven of the 10 countries which joined the European Union (EU) in May became new members of the European Police Office (Europol) Wednesday, according to a press release issued by Europol.
      The new members are Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania. The increased membership and geographical area of the EU will provide significant opportunities for Europol to enhance its service to law enforcement in the common effort to combat international organized crime, Europol acting director Mariano Simancas was quoted as saying.
      Joining the EU is the first step in becoming a member of Europol. Each new member state must formally adopt the Europol Convention and send notification to the EU of its intention to join the organization. An applicant finally becomes a fully fledged Europol member three months after that notification has been received. However, Europol has long recognized that international organized crime does not stop at borders and has been active in establishing cooperative networks with acceding states. This means that representatives from the acceding states have participated in Europol activities at a number of different levels. The last three member states of the EU — Malta, Poland and Estonia — are also expected to join Europol before 2005. Europol is the European Law Enforcement Organization which aims at improving the effectiveness and cooperation of the competent authorities in the member states in preventing and combating terrorism, unlawful drug trafficking and other serious forms of international organized crime.

      TALLINN, Estonia (Reuters) — The removal of a monument to Estonians who fought beside Nazi German forces in World War II sparked protests and the intervention Friday of the prime minister who defended his government's decision.
      Prime Minister Juhan Parts told a news conference his government was under pressure from European Union countries and the United States and the affair had harmed Estonia's image abroad.
      The monument was unveiled in the northwestern town of Lihula two weeks ago and attracted critics who said it glorified Nazi SS units that had Estonian volunteers. The strongest criticism came from Russia and from Jewish groups.
      "The most simple question asked was do you really support Nazism," Parts said. "We had to prove to our friends and allies that their values are our values."
      The monument contained the words: "To Estonian men who fought in 1940-45 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence." It featured an Estonian soldier in German uniform and was financed by Estonian war veterans.
      The order to take down the monument was given Thursday night and work began immediately. The monument, which was not damaged, is being stored at an unidentified location.
      Police said about 400 people protested the removal and witnesses said there were clashes between police and protesters who threw stones.
      Men from Estonia, as well as neighboring Latvia, fought on the German and Soviet sides during the war as both powers at varying times occupied the small nations.