Saudi Arabia ranks 2nd globally in average daily video game playtime: MPL Arab game developers seek greater inclusion in video game industry According to the initial data from the Central Electoral Commission, liberal Gediminas Čepulis, who has so far served as acting mayor, was elected mayor of Joniškis District, having received 49.71 percent of the vote and beating ex-Social Democrat MP Liudas Jonaitis (48.67 percent). Joniškis needed a new mayoral election after Vitalijus Gailius was elected to the Seimas last year. Meanwhile, residents of Panevėžys elected Loreta Masiliūnienė as their new mayor. The member of the Atsinaujinantys Panevėžys political committee received 71.73 percent of the vote on Sunday, and 27.51 percent backed Ignas Gaižiūnas of the conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD). Panevėžys had to hold the election as its previous mayor Rytis Mykolas Rackaukas was found guilty in a criminal case. Liberal Gediminas Čepulis while Loreta Masiliūnienė of Atsinaujinančiam Panevėžiui political committee was voted as the next mayor of Panevėžys No contender secured absolute majority in the first round of the early mayoral elections held on 16 March Čepulis secured support of 50.53% of the voters against SocDem Liudas Jonaitis with 49.47% preliminary estimates of the Central Electoral Commission (VRK) show Masiliūnienė won a landslide victory against Conservative Ignas Gaižiūnas – 72.28% against 27.72% Official results are yet to be confirmed and announced by the VRK The early mayoral election took place in Joniškis after its mayor Vitalijus Gailius stepped down following his election the Seimas in October 2024 needed a new mayor after Rytis Mykolas Račkauskas was fined and barred from the civil service for three years for abusing public procurement procedures '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/the-slaughter-of-the-jews-in-joniskis\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=Bh1gFxdQa_AeemVm3c9vlKsDEZKQTRxhnxblzFtcMf4-1746519543-1.0.1.1-1YDDwqPYTi6dLnkwTWJKovmUweAfhthiRo4uHRXuLoc" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); This work, First Lithuanian Soldiers to graduate from NCOA, by SFC Christopher Stewart, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright a unique complex made up of two 19th-century synagogues opened to the public in the Lithuanian town of Joniskis The Joniskis Synagogue Complex made its official debut earlier this month the Russian Jewish news agency AEN reported Wednesday The complex in northern Lithuania comprises the Red Synagogue “The unique complex of Joniskis synagogues is an important cultural but within Lithuania and Eastern Europe as a whole,” the fund wrote on its website the complex was declared a Cultural Heritage Object by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage in Lithuania Countless Lithuanian synagogues were destroyed by the Nazis and later by the Soviet government with the Star of David decorating one of its facades escaped a similar fate because it is surrounded by residential buildings meaning that “would-be vandals passed right by them without realizing they were there,“ the fund wrote the buildings were abandoned and reused for various purposes The synagogues were in a “serious state of serious disrepair” when restoration efforts began in 2007 The roof of the White Synagogue was replaced and the false upper-level facades on the sides of the building have been restored to their original configuration the Red Synagogue’s foundations were repaired and made waterproof I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association Katsina United are set to enter into a partnership with Lithuanian clubs Both teams play in the Lithuanian Premier League The Chanji Boys made the disclosure on their X handle Dan’lami Rimi is currently in Lithuania to finalise the arrangements The partnership will provide an avenue for Katsina United to move players abroad through the two clubs Katsina United are currently enjoying a good run of form after a sluggish start to the 2023-24 NPFL season Bala Abubakar’s side are placed in 8th position on the NPFL table EPL: Guardiola issues rallying cry to Manchester City ahead of crunch Liverpool clash EPL: ‘It’s impossible not to love him’ – Mikel Arteta hails Arsenal star NPFL: Heavy defeat to Katsina United wake-up call for Abia Warriors – Amapakabo NPFL: Audu commends Katsina United players after win over Abia Warriors Abiam pens farewell message to NPFL after joining Lithuanian club Transfer: Nelson Abiam seals move to Lithuanian club Copyright © Daily Post Media Ltd "All available services in Joniškis were mobilised the road workers worked very professionally and very promptly heavy machinery was used to push the trees off the roads,” Mayor of Joniškis Vitalijus Gailius told LRT.lt “Today [on Tuesday] volunteers have joined in The district continued the clean-up operation on Tuesday communications and water outages persisted for many of the region’s residents a woman in the Joniškis district was killed by a falling tree farmers in the region say their crops have been destroyed In the town of Žagarė in Joniškis district a woman was crushed to death by a broken tree the Fire and Rescue Department (PAGD) confirmed to LRT.lt “At around 14:30 firefighters were informed that a tree on Kęstučio Street in Žagarė fell on a woman standing under it and caused injuries,” said Edita Zdanevičienė it turned out that two trees had fallen on the woman the severe storm caused a lot of damage in northern Lithuania as hail broke windows and wind uprooted trees “Huge damage has been done to the infrastructure and to people,” said Joniškis Mayor Vitalijus Gailius who announced a municipal-level emergency situation in the district 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 As Lithuania gears up to mark 2020 as the year of the Vilna Gaon and the History of the Jews of Lithuania LRT English together with Vilnius University and Jewish Heritage Lithuania bring you a series of stories exploring Litvak history Mousha Shatenshtein was the first to take up the initiative and build a petrol station in Joniškis As the representative of the London-based Shell company in Lithuania he concluded an agreement with Joniškis council in 1928 and rented a plot of land in the Market Square for five years The contract allowed him to install an underground petroleum reservoir for which he had to pay an annual rent of 200 litas and a one-off payment of 1,500 litas.This marked the humble beginnings of Lithuanian petrol stations including Litvaks Chaim Ziv and Hilel Pinksis also engaged in petrol trade in Joniškis in the 1930s and all of them had their stations in the single most important economic centre of the town Although automobile use grew continuously in the 1920s and 30s just over 2,300 automobiles were registered in the whole country Prices of petrol were also quite high in Lithuania – one litre of petrol cost almost 1 litas in 1929-1934 while the average monthly salary of an office clerk was only around 150-380 litas making cars an out-of-reach luxury for many the main consumers of petrol in Lithuania were passenger buses a network of regular intercity bus services had been established strove to have their stations along their routes as Joniškis was where the buses from Šiauliai to Žagarė and from Riga to Tauragė would stop the Lithuanian government dampened the growth of petrol station industry the government instituted a requirement to add 5 percent locally manufactured ethyl alcohol to imported petrol.This inflated the prices by around a dozen cents over plain petrol products gave rise to a Lithuanian petroleum phenomenom – 'Motorin' nothing but this mixture of petrol and alcohol was sold in Lithuania Stories of other Litvaks and their Lithuanian histories Splendour, music and uproar at Vilnius' historic Bristol Hotel Visionary Litvak family caught between wars, international relations, and the Holocaust Bunimovich chocolate factory that was once the pride of Vilnius The story of a real Dr. Dolittle in Jewish Vilna Vilna Ghetto Theatre, a form of resistance in the presence of horror The series is prepared by Vilnius University's Faculty of History and the association Jewish Heritage Lithuania You can find more stories on the mobile app Discover Jewish Lithuania aims to promote Jewish heritage in Lithuania encourage local and international tourism to Lithuania Lithuania plans to enact 70 different projects throughout the year of the Vilna Gaon's synagogue from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York