Latvia,officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states,along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east,Belarus to the southeast,and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi),with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian,one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country,at almost a quarter of the population.
The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament,the Saeima. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Latvia a "flawed democracy" in 2022.
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is a Latvian politician who served as the sixth President of Latvia from 1999 to 2007. She is the first and to date only woman to hold the post. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the second term in 2003.
Sandra Kalniete is a Latvian politician,author,diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture,Rural Development and Fisheries in 2004. Since 2009,she has served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the European People's Party.
No comment is a phrase used as a response to journalistic inquiries which the respondent does not wish to answer. Public figures may decline to comment on issues they are questioned or have nothing to say about the issue at the time.
Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism,often translated as "Don't let the bastards grind you down". The phrase itself has no meaning in Latin and can only be mock-translated.
Margaret Brennan is an American journalist based in Washington,D.C. The current moderator of Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on CBS News,she is also a fill-in and substitute anchor for CBS Evening News,and the network's chief foreign affairs correspondent. Brennan was previously a White House correspondent for CBS and has covered Washington since 2012.
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš is a Latvian politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 2019 until 2023. A linguist and businessman by profession,he previously served as Latvia's minister of Economics and a Member of the European Parliament. Born in Wilmington,Delaware,United States,to parents who had left Latvia during the Soviet occupation,he was active in the American Latvian community throughout his youth.
Valérie Pécresse is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans,she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and Research from 2007 to 2011 and Minister of the Budget and Government Spokeswoman from 2011 to 2012 under Prime Minister François Fillon. Pécresse represented the 2nd constituency of Yvelines in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and again from 2012 until 2016.
Morning Joe is an American morning news talk show,airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former US Representative (Independent) Joe Scarborough reporting and discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist,who regularly co hosts from Tuesdays to Fridays,along with recurring and special guests.
Human rights in Latvia are generally respected by the government,according to the US Department of State and Freedom House. Latvia is ranked above-average among the world's sovereign states in democracy,press freedom,privacy and human development. The country has a relatively large ethnic Russian community,which has basic rights guaranteed under the constitution and international human rights laws ratified by the Latvian government.
Francis Martin Patrick Boyle is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical,surreal,graphic and dark,often controversial sense of humour.
The 2008 Latvian financial crisis,which stemmed from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009,was a major economic and political crisis in Latvia. The crisis was generated when an easy credit market burst,resulting in an unemployment crisis,along with the bankruptcy of many companies. Since 2010,economic activity has recovered and Latvia's economic growth rate was the fastest among the EU member states in the first three quarters of 2012.
Responsibility –Social Democratic Alliance of Political Parties was a political coalition in Latvia,until 2010 called Libertas.lv,which was the local branch of Declan Ganley's Libertas Party. Unlike Libertas in other countries,Libertas Latvia was not a political party in its own right. Instead,candidates from Mūsu Zeme,SociālāTaisnīguma Partija and Latvijas Atmoda contended the 2009 European Parliament elections in Latvia under common lists branded with the Libertas identity. The candidates retained their membership of their national parties and the national parties retained their legal identity.
Dalia Grybauskaitė is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be reelected for a second consecutive term.
Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Nikonov is a Russian political scientist.
5 Days of War is a 2011 action film directed by Renny Harlin. The story is about the Russo-Georgian War over the Russian-backed breakaway autonomous republic of South Ossetia in Georgia,including the events leading up to the conflict.
Edgars Rinkēvičs is a Latvian public official and politician serving as the 11th and current president of Latvia since July 2023. He previously served as the minister of foreign affairs of Latvia from 2011 to 2023,and head of the Chancery of the President of Latvia as state secretary of the Ministry of Defence,as well as a deputy of the Saeima.
Bruce Aylward is a Canadian physician and epidemiologist. Since September 2017 he has been Senior Advisor to the Director-General of the World Health Organization. He is part of the implementation of the WHO's COVAX Facility. He has past experience in the areas of polio eradication,Zika virus,and Ebola.
Susanne Hennig-Wellsow is a German politician. She was federal co-chairwoman of The Left from 2021 to 2022 and has served as a member of the Bundestag for Thuringia since 2021. Previously,she was a member of the Landtag of Thuringia from 2004 to 2021,leader of the Thuringia branch of The Left since November 2013,and leader of the state parliamentary group since December 2014.
