Representatives of the Klaipėda District Municipality told LRT.lt that the Christmas tree in Gargždai broke at a height of about one metre above its stand. Many of the tree’s toys broke, garlands got tangled, and branches broke off. According to the municipality representatives, the tree is expected to be lifted and the damage assessed in the afternoon when the wind is expected to die down. It will be assessed whether it is still possible to restore the Christmas tree in Gargždai. If the damage is critical, the contractors who decorated it will be asked to install a new tree with a frame. Šilalė Mayor Tadas Bartkus also informed that the town’s Christmas tree had fallen due to strong winds. “Christmas trees are falling in western Lithuania. Our town’s Christmas tree could not withstand the strong wind. The restoration work will start as soon as the weather conditions allow,” the mayor wrote on Facebook on Monday morning. Residents also reported fallen Christmas trees in Raseiniai, Mažeikiai, and Vilkaviškis. The Christmas tree also fell in Alytus in southern Lithuania. Alytus Mayor Nerijus Cesiulis shared a video on Facebook. In the port of Klaipėda, gust winds reached the speeds of 31 m/s on Monday morning. Due to the weather conditions, shipping has been restricted since 6:00. There is one ship waiting to sail off and three waiting to enter the port. Since midnight on Monday, firefighters in Lithuania have received around 100 reports of fallen trees blocking roads. At least 32,000 people are also reported to be without electricity due to strong winds. In their respective Women’s and Men’s leagues Sports Center Gargzdai and N.Z. have been newly crowned Lithuanian champions. Sports Center Gargzdai hailing from Gargzdai claimed victory in the women’s group of the season with a hard-fought 5:4 win over Red Black from Kaunas. The third-place honor was secured by Vilnius University’s women’s team. 1st place Sports Center Gargzdai – Aukse GECEVICIUTE Andzelika PETRAUSKIENE Brilita JUREVICIUTE Kornelija SCIGLAITE. 2nd place Red Black – Karina IVANAUSKAITE Kristina TAURIENE Sabina MUSAJEVA Monika MAZUR. 3rd place Vilnius University – Medeine STANKEVICIUTE Meida SEREIKAITE Viltaute ADAMONYTE Elze DANILKEVIČIUTE. N.Z. representing Vilnius emerged as the champions of the top division in the men’s league after enduring battles against the Rytas-1 team from Vilkaviškis. A team from Brones Balaisienes in Vilnius clinched third place by defeating Naminiai Jolantos sakociai from Kaunas with a score of 5:2. 1st place N.Z. – Vilius SAMAKALJEVAS Klaidas CEPAITIS Amirreza ABBASI Ehsan SHAFREH Eligius KLARENBEEK Mohamed Javad SOHARABI. 2nd place Rytas-1 – Vytautas RYBAKAS Edvinas TAMOSIUNAS Karolis KASPARAITIS Ignas NAVICKAS. 3rd place Brones Balaisienes – Valdas MARTINKUS Ernestas MINCEVICIUS Ignas SISANOVAS Konstantin ORESKIN. The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level, including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations, and the organization of continental table tennis competitions, including the European Championships. BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa barged through to the quarter-finals last night of the Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop Two basketball tournament, currently being played in Beauvais, France. The kingdom’s squad secured their spot in the knockouts after splitting their two preliminary round games in Pool A. Riffa first suffered an upset 18-21 defeat against Gargzdai of Lithuania in their opening fixture, but then bounced back with a convincing 21-13 win against Ermont Senef of France in their second assignment. Those results were enough for them to claim first place on their division standings at the end of the stage. Ermont Senef were 18-8 winners in their clash with Gargzdai yesterday, and that helped push them through to the last eight to join Riffa. In Riffa’s narrow loss to Gargzdai, their opponents held a slim advantage heading into the game’s closing stages, and then Darius Tarvydas banked in a stunning three-pointer to seal the result for the Lithuanians. Against Ermont Senef, Riffa faced an early deficit as they fell behind 6-8. But a driving lay-up by Jonas Foerts, and then a two-pointer from Dennis Donkor gave them a 9-8 lead, and although they went behind once more, Riffa put in a decisive 7-0 run, sparked by a pair of Donkor charity shots. That gave them a 16-10 advantage, and they never looked back. At the end of the event’s preliminaries, Riffa topped the Pool A table with a superior points total of 39 from their two games. Ermont Senef followed with 31, edging out Gargzdai who finished on 29. Riffa will next face off with the third-placed squad from Pool B in the quarters, while Ermont Senef will play the winners of Pool C. Pool B is composed of Los Angeles from the US, Partizan from Serbia, and Saint-Denis SEC from France. Pool C comprises Toulouse and Bordeaux Ballistik of France, and Vienna of Austria. There are only nine teams in the tournament, which continues today with the quarter-finals, semis, and final. Riffa are gunning for their second successive crown in Beauvais, having clinched the title last week in the Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop One. Joining Foerts and Donkor as part of their squad in France are Thibaut Vervoort and Vic Van Oosterwyck. The Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop Two is one of three events on Riffa’s April schedule. The others are a Superquest event in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday later this week, which will then lead up to the opening meeting on the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour – the game’s biggest and most prestigious street basketball competition with stops all over the world, including Bahrain. The first round will be held in Utsunomiya, Japan on April 26 and 27. After 13 other stops all through October of this year, the Fiba 3x3 World Tour finale will then take place in Bahrain on November 21 and 22. This will be the first time ever that the kingdom will be staging the season-ender, which will crown this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour champions. 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Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. had created a center of Jewish cultural life in eastern Europe that had lasted for 150 years Jews had amounted to about 7 percent of the country’s population; with an influx of refugees that figure had risen to about 10 percent by 1941 where some 800 Jews were killed on June 23 and 24 more than 70,000 people were killed at Paneriai (Ponary) Most rural Jewish communities in Lithuania had been wiped out by October 1941 The entire Jewish populations of towns such as Eishishok and Rakishok were rounded up and massacred only about 40,000 Jews of the original 250,000 or so remained alive after the depredations of the Germans and their Lithuanian auxiliaries They were concentrated in ghettos in Vilnius eventually to be deported to concentration camps The 2024 Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) season will be Ward’s second consecutive season with the Bandits Following his first year with the Bandits last summer Ward has brought his talents to three clubs suiting up for Sigal Prishtina in Kosovo and BC Gargzdai in Lithuania before later signing with Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 in the LNB Pro A French League Additional stops in his decorated international career include NBA Summer League (Atlanta Hawks Fans of the international basketball season will recognize Metropolitans 92 as the former club of current NBA rookie sensation and 2023 NBA first overall draft selection Ward averaged a team-high 18.5 points and 7.9 rebounds (second on the team) through 19 regular season games with the Bandits last summer Ward’s field goal percentage and offensive rebounding prowess ranked him first and fourth among the league’s top players In recognition of his stellar 2023 campaign the Bandits named Ward the club’s “Team MVP” and “Offensive Player of the Year'' as part of the organization’s annual team awards proceedings "I am excited to return to Vancouver this summer to run it back with the Bandits family We are building something special on the court and in the community I can't wait to pick up where we left off in our quest to win a CEBL championship," Ward said 2024 will be Ward’s third season in the CEBL after previously playing for the Ottawa BlackJacks in 2021 where he was named a member of the All-CEBL First Team after leading the team in both points (17.3) and rebounds (9.1) per game During three seasons of NCAA Division I basketball at Michigan State University from 2016-19 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game on 60.5 per cent shooting from field goal range Ward’s field goal percentage ranks him third all-time among Big Ten Conference men’s basketball players he was named an All-Big Ten third-team selection and led the Spartans to an NCAA Tournament Final Four appearance “Nick is an extremely unique player and a great guy to be around and work with He was one of the most efficient players in our league and consistently forced other teams to adjust their match-ups and game plans to deal with him He draws double teams and produces at a high level,” said Bandits head coach and general manager Kyle Julius he consistently improved as the season went on.” Fans will get their first opportunity to watch Ward and the Bandits on Thursday PT when Vancouver opens its sixth CEBL season at home when the Montréal Alliance visit Langley Events Centre Vancouver will play a total of 10 regular season home games in 2024 between Thursday The Bandits wrap up regular season action on the road against Montréal on Sunday The Vancouver Bandits are British Columbia’s professional basketball team in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) the Bandits offer an entertainment experience that combines a fast-paced game day atmosphere with a presentation of some of Canada’s top professional athletes within a world-class venue at Langley Events Centre (LEC) Sign up with your email address to receive news offers and more via email from the CEBL and its partners [email protected] | 289.649.1121 It took Germans a week to occupy nearly all of Lithuania director of Lithuania’s state-funded Genocide and Resistance Research Centre (LGGRTC) Nazi Germany sent operatives to take care of everyone that was seen as a threat to the Third Reich Nazis began persecuting the Jews almost immediately the commander of one of the special force groups ordered the local security service leader in Tilsit – currently Sovetsk in Russia’s Kaliningrad – to murder Jews and communists The first massacre in Lithuania took place in Gargždai He believes that the Nazis chose Gargždai because it took longer to occupy the region and they lost some 100 soldiers during the clash with the Red Army Jewish men living in Gargždai were separated from women and brought to a field near the German border as well as Memel Schutzpolizei from Klaipėda “These two groups shot all of the 200 Jewish men and one woman arrested in Gargždai.” Among those shot were some Jewish people that moved to Gargždai from Klaipėda in 1939 adding that one of the Jews recognised a German officer during the shooting “It was the first massacre of Jews in Lithuania or maybe in the whole Soviet Union,” according to Bubnys Nazis robbed the Jews of their belongings and clothes ordered them to bury the dead Red Army soldiers officers from the Gestapo shared glasses of vodka with the policemen and took photos Lithuanians did not take part in the first Gargždai shooting when the local Jewish community was completely eradicated was mainly carried out by the local forces more shootings followed along the border as well as in Kaunas Stahlecker’s death squad arrived at Kaunas with the aim to involve Lithuanian volunteers in the shootings some 4,000 Jews were murdered and 60 houses burnt in the Kaunas pogrom Bubnys believes that these estimates are an exaggeration Most of the murders took place in Vilijampolė Several dozen Jewish men were publicly tortured and executed in a garage of the former Lietūkis company it is believed that the killings were perpertrated by local Lithuanians “Several dozen Jews were murdered in a cruel way Algirdas Klimaitis’ squad also participated in the Kaunas pogrom Klimaitis was arrested and tortured during the first Soviet occupation Historians theorise that former prisoners contributed the most to the Kaunas pogrom in Vilijampolė Bubnys points out that shootings near the border were mostly carried out by the Nazi security services while in Kaunas the Jews were largely murdered by locals lecturer at Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) in Kaunas argues that the Holocaust was a systematic process Nazi Germany government officials and security service leaders held the Wannsee Conference during which they discussed the implementation of the Final solution to the Jewish question This date marks the beginning of systematic killing of Jews in Western Europe those continuous shootings” prior to the conference “constituted the Holocaust,” he says with the so-called Aryans being at the top of it adding that the Nazis also looked at Western and Eastern Europe differently The rules did not apply to Nazis when it came to shootings since they saw the Soviet Union as not only a savage “The Bolsheviks were the biggest enemy of the Nazis were considered Bolsheviks,” explains Venclauskas and the death squads that started the killings were deeply affected by it.” with Nazis scheduling trains for deportation of Jews to concentration camps Some 80 percent of Jews in Lithuania were already murdered before the Holocaust had even reached its peak in Western Europe in January 1942 This was a relatively peaceful period for Jewish survivors in Lithuania “Sometimes we imagine that the Nazis just bulldozed everything It was quite the opposite: they were calculating “They didn’t know how many Jews would resist Nazis hoped that every second Lithuanian citizen would spontaneously start attacking Jews with sticks and stones The number of mass shootings in Lithuania also decreased because the Nazis were short on workforce Jews were still being murdered on the local level Looking for culprits after Soviet deportations Deportations to Siberia were an unprecedented event in Lithuanian history The people were seeking revenge and looking for culprits Nazis also propagated the myth that the Jews were communists “There were many Lithuanians who thought that the Jews and the communists were to blame for all their troubles,” says Bubnys “This influenced many to join various security services and squads that would later arrest and murder Jews.” The first mass killings of the Jews took place in Tauragė and Kretinga Nazis used anti-Soviet propaganda so that they could be seen as saviours “The first Soviet occupation led to a false impression of the Jews being supporters of bolshevism so many Lithuanian citizens saw the Nazis as liberators,” says Venclauskas Nazi Germany knew that it could strengthen its position as a liberator by taking action against the Jews in Kaunas which was an important strategic point and a symbol of Lithuania’s independence “Deportations inflicted a psychological trauma on the Lithuanian society while the [Soviet] occupation eradicated all symbols of statehood took away belongings,” explains the historian [...] were a clear message that the totalitarian Soviet regime won’t limit itself with just erasure of statehood and religious restrictions.” The largest shootings took place between August and October in 1941 since Nazis wanted to eradicate the Jews as soon as possible as “German civil officers needed Jewish experts so they opposed Gestapo’s and Security Service’s aim to murder all Jews” Nazis then began murdering those that could not be hired “The June uprising and the beginning of Holocaust are related but they are not one and the same,” says Bubnys and points out that the uprising ended much earlier during the first week of the Soviet–Nazi war “The aim of the uprising was to restore independence while [the aim] of the Holocaust was to completely eradicate the Jews both in Lithuania and across the entire Nazi-occupied Europe,” he adds some rebels joined German police battalions or squads and contributed to massacres of Jews “The Holocaust began after the uprising ended while it took five to six days in northern and eastern Lithuania,” says Bubnys “I don’t know any facts that say that the rebels took part in mass shootings of local Jewish residents before the Germans came,” says the historian “It all happened after the German army occupied Lithuania.” The Soviet–Nazi war and the June uprising led to mass panic Some Jews had already heard about the ghettos in Poland and Nazi Germany and fled Lithuania Rebels mostly targeted the retreating Red Army soldiers and Soviet activists “Those were armed actions with the aim of persecuting political and military opponents but it wasn’t based on nationality or race.” Asked about the connection between the June uprising and the Holocaust Venclauskas points out that both the rebels and the auxiliary volunteers under th Nazis claimed they fought for freedom “The Soviet occupation made a big impact on the division between Lithuanian and Jewish communities such as the claim that the massacres of Jews are the sacrifice we need to make to regain independence adding that the locals falsely believed Jews to be bolsheviks and murdered them out of jealousy and revenge The article previously incorrectly stated that the killings in the Lietūkis garage massacre were executed by Nazis Eurovoix Made for Eurovision fans, by Eurovision fans. The sixteenth artist in our Who Is series for the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is Monika Linkytė from Lithuania. Monika Linkytė was born on June 2 1992 in Gargždai in western Lithuania. After graudating high school, she moved to Vilnius to study public health at Vilnius University but dropped out after three semesters. In 2014, she began studying law but left in 2016 to study music education at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in London. Monika first tried to participate in a Eurovision contest when she finished third in the Lithuanian selection for Junior Eurovision 2007 with “Vaikystės pasaka”. Three years later, she attempted to participate in the adult contest for the first time with “Give Away”, finishing tenth in the final. She returned for the Lithuanian selection in 2011 and 2012; placing fourth and third in the final with “Days Go By” and “Happy” respectively. In 2013, Monika participated in the Lithuanian selection again with “Baby Boy” and reached the semi-final before withdrawing due to illness. Later that year, she finished second in the second season of Lietuvos balsas. In 2014, Monika participated in the Lithuanian selection once again and finished fourth. The same year, she represented Lithuania in the New Wave Festival in Jūrmala in Latvia. She also finished fourth. In 2015, Monika was selected alongside Vaidas Baumila to represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2015. The duo finished 18th in the final with “This Time”. Monika was selected to represent Lithuania at Eurovision 2023 after winning Pabandom iš naujo! 2023. As there was a tie for first place in the final, Monika was declared the winner as she had received a higher score from the jury. The song that Monika will perform in Liverpool is called “Stay”. It was written and composed by Krists Indrišonoks, Jānis Jačmenkins and Monika herself. Monika will perform in the second half of the second semi-final on May 11. Neil is from Ireland but has lived in several countries around Europe. He has has been an editor for Eurovoix since May 2017. He has been following the Eurovision Song Contest since 2005 and attended every contest as press since 2019. He also follows other Eurovision contests, such as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which he has watched since the very first edition in 2003. 12 Apr 2025 14:00:00 GMT?.css-1txiau5-AnswerContainer{color:var(--GlobalColorScheme-Text-secondaryText2);}FK Kauno Zalgiris vs Suduva on Sat Predicted lineups are available for the match a few days in advance while the actual lineup will be available about an hour ahead of the match The current head to head record for the teams are FK Kauno Zalgiris 9 win(s) Have scored 7 goals in their last 5 matches Have kept the most clean sheets in the competition (3) Who won between FK Kauno Zalgiris and Suduva on Sat 12 Apr 2025 14:00:00 GMT?FK Kauno Zalgiris vs Suduva on Sat 12 Apr 2025 14:00:00 GMT ended in a 0–0 tie.InsightsHave scored 7 goals in their last 5 matches FK Kauno Zalgiris is playing home against Suduva on Sat Nostra.lt – RKL B division finished in Trakai where the four strongest teams of the season entered the final battles The small and large finals of the Final Four became the culmination of a long and intense season where each team sought to prove its worth and end the season victoriously determination and performances of true leaders on the field Gargždai's dominance in the final capped an impressive season In the grand final of the Nostra.lt – RKL B division two teams that had already been promoted to A division – Gargždai Gargždai-SC and Širvintos-UHB Group – met special goal – the Champions Cup and the crowning of the season 24:15) clearly reflected the advantage of the Gargždai team The first half still promised a tough fight – after ten minutes and the outcome of the match was practically determined before the long break.The Gargždai team demonstrated that the entire season was no fluke – they remained undefeated in a single playoff game and suffered only two defeats throughout the season Gargždai had a lead of as much as 33 points at one point completely dominating the Širvintos team in both offense and defense.Širvintos were not successful in shooting from the three-point zone - they only made 3 three-pointers out of 24 attempts (12%) while Gargždai maintained a higher shooting percentage and won the battle for rebounds (49 vs The most outstanding player of the final was Tadas Augustauskas grabbed 9 rebounds and collected 25 efficiency points.Final Four MVP Arvydas Toliušis also contributed scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds This triumph finally confirmed Gargždai's title as the strongest team of the season Gargždai Gargždai-SC's most prominent players:– Tadas Augustauskas – 22 points 25 efficiency points– Arvydas Toliušis – 11 points Širvintos-UHB Group's most prominent players:– Titas Pundinas – 11 points– Gytis Auruškevičius – 12 points Vilnius district basketball club won bronze medals in its debut season BC Radviliškis and Vilnius District Basketball Club met in the Nostra.lt RKL B Division Minor Final but the league's debutants managed to write a beautiful story - they won bronze medals in their first season The match was fierce and changeable. After the first half Vilnius region had a 5-point lead BC Radviliškis had built up a solid 12-point lead and it seemed that the bronze medal was already in their hands Vilnius District Basketball Club showed character and managed to recover through team play The team was not driven forward by individual players but by the entire squad – every basketball player who appeared on the court contributed to the comeback after which Vilnius District Basketball Club took the lead the initiative did not change again – Vilnius District Team closed the game victoriously This victory allowed the league's newcomers to win bronze medals in their debut season The most prominent players of Vilnius District Basketball Club:– Tadas Poska – 22 points– Gytis Valickas – 14 points– Dovydas Sakalnikas – 11 points BC Radviliškis most prominent players:– Lukas Pipiras – 16 points– Aivaras Kvedaravicius – 15 points– Daivaras Pakarklis – 13 points reproduction and distribution are permitted only with the written consent of UAB "Naujosios medijos grupė" BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN representatives Riffa are set to compete in Pool A in the preliminary round of the Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop Two tournament in Beauvais The competition is set to be held today and tomorrow and it follows the Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop One where Riffa secured the coveted crown amongst a highly competitive field of 12 squads from around the world Riffa are this time amongst a line-up of nine squads They are in Pool A alongside Ermont Senef of France and Gargzdai of Lithuania Pool B is composed of Los Angeles from the US while Pool C comprises Toulouse and Bordeaux Ballistik of France Riffa first take on Gargzdai in their opening fixture today and then face off with Ermont Senef in their second game The top two in Pool A at the end of this preliminary round schedule move on to the quarter-finals along with the three teams from Pools B and C The knockouts are scheduled to be held tomorrow who compete in the annual Fiba 3x3 World Tour secured the championship in the first competition following a thrilling 17-16 victory at the buzzer against Partizan in the final Riffa are once again set to feature a squad of Dennis Donkor The Superleague Pro 3x3 Stop Two is one of three events on Riffa’s April schedule The others are a Superquest event in Lausanne which will then lead up to the opening meeting on the 2025 Fiba 3x3 World Tour – the game’s biggest and most prestigious street basketball competition with stops all over the world The first round will be held in Utsunomiya After 13 other stops all through October of this year the Fiba 3x3 World Tour finale will then take place in Bahrain on November 21 and 22 This will be the first time ever that the kingdom will be staging the season-ender which will crown this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour champions arrived in Lithuania earlier in September after signing a contract until the end of the season His arrival was received with much fanfare due to his legendary status in Japanese football – he previously played in three world cups with the national team and also represented Moscow CSKA and AC Milan He arrived after finishing his season in Azerbaijan “There are two reasons why I have arrived here,” Honda said during a press conference on September 14 the season will finish by the end of the year and I wanted a short-term challenge the club has a chance to become a champion [of the national league] “I am here to become the champion this season,” Honda aded He joked about his recent arrival in Lithuania saying he did not know much about the Baltic countries "Maybe you guys also [find it] difficult [to identify] Korea covered in 12 metres of lights was unveiled in Anykščiai Christmas mail can be found inside the Christmas tree in Marijampolė The Visaginas Christmas tree is unique – it grows in Santarvės square where it was decorated Kretinga’s silver Christmas tree is covered in 20,000 white lights The Christmas tree in Naujoji Akmenė was unveiled during a light show The Joniškis Christmas tree is growing next to the town’s Cultural Centre Ten smaller trees hold the shroud of the main Christmas tree in Ignalina The Gargždai Christmas tree is covered in more than 8,000 LED lights The Mažeikiai Christmas tree is decorated with a shroud of golden lights Druskininkai unveiled a Christmas tree decorated with a golden crown Alytus has decided to go for a more modest Christmas tree to emphasise “community and not decorations” The Panevėžys Christmas tree features huge decorations The Christmas tree in Palanga is one of the most innovative this year The main Christmas tree is accompanied by a 25-metre-long Christmas train