Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations Lithuania is set to expand its military training infrastructure with the Defence Ministry considering the districts of Tauragė and Šilalė as potential sites for new training centres amid growing demand for military training either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Rural Affairs Deputy Defence Minister Renius Pleškys (TS-LKD/EPP) stressed the importance of new military training infrastructure In mid-July, the Lithuanian parliament started debating a new bill, drafted by the Defence Ministry, on the establishment of two military training areas in Tauragė and Šilalė Districts. The State Defence Council has already given its approval on the matter. “We will try to look at the proposed areas and move them at least 100 meters in some places. The activities in that zone would have to be coordinated with the ministry. We understand that it would be inconvenient, so where we can, we will try to move it so that the military zone does not interfere with the activities,” Pleškys told the Parliamentary Committee on Rural Affairs on Tuesday. “The areas are minimised to the maximum, without encroaching on private areas, and there are other interests of different public groups, as they still want to reduce them. In principle, there is nothing further to say. We will not be able to satisfy everyone,” he added. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas has said that new training areas are needed because the military lacks space for training. He has also vowed to enshrine in the law that training areas will be used for manoeuvres. This was also echoed by the deputy minister on Tuesday. “Since the training areas are small enough, we do not plan any shooting ranges or other activities that would significantly interfere with the activities of the surrounding population. We will try to find some wording,” Pleškys noted. Such an expectation has been expressed by local residents and the mayors of Šilalė and Tauragė Districts. They fear that the status of the training areas might change in the future. Some local communities and hunters are also opposed to the creation of these military areas, as hunting would be prohibited in them. The new training areas will accommodate military units ranging in size from a company to a battalion, but they will not have the status of a military territory, so they will not have firing ranges, will not be used by heavy military equipment, and will be open to the public with the military’s permission. Following the adoption of the law, the training areas in Tauragė and Šilalė Districts will be recognised as projects of special national importance. This status would help speed up their construction, Pleškys pointed out. In his words, the existing training areas in the country are insufficient, and the need for new ones has arisen due to the increase in the number of allied troops in Lithuania, the growth of the number of conscripts and the number of reserve personnel, as well as the acquisition of new military equipment. The training area will cover an area of 4,304 hectares in Tauragė District and 2,677 hectares in Šilalė District. The first Solaris electric bus in Lithuania will hit Tauragė’s roads in March 2020. At least, this is the expected timing. On 21 March, Solaris signed a contract with the municipal transport operator of Tauragė for the delivery of one unit of Urbino 8,9 LE electric. The first battery Solaris will hit the streets of the Lithuanian town in March 2020 at the latest, states the […] The first Solaris electric bus in Lithuania will hit Tauragė’s roads in March 2020. At least, this is the expected timing. On 21 March, Solaris signed a contract with the municipal transport operator of Tauragė for the delivery of one unit of Urbino 8,9 LE electric. The first battery Solaris will hit the streets of the Lithuanian town in March 2020 at the latest, states the manufacturer. The Solaris Urbino 8,9 LE electric is the first electric bus of Solaris commissioned in Lithuania. The début vehicle was bought by the Tauragė city operator UAB Tauragės autobusų parkas on 21 March 2019. Passengers in this city will be able to experience the comfort of riding an uncommonly low-noise and eco-friendly electric bus of Solaris in March 2020 at the latest, as the vehicle is slated for delivery within 12 months. The nearly 9 meter long electric bus will be fitted with 120 kWh batteries charged by a plug-in using an on-board charger. The bus will feature a 160 kW central electric motor. The Urbino can carry up to 34 passengers, including 24 seated ones. A bay for wheelchair-bound passengers and those with prams will be located at the same level as the second door. Air conditioning, CCTV cameras, and a modern passenger information system will provide for the convenience and safety of travellers. The Solaris brand has been present in Lithuania since 2004. Including the nearly 130 trolleybuses, there are nearly 380 vehicles cruising around the cities of Vilnius, Kaunas and Panevėžys. Over the next months, the fleet will see the addition of yet another 85 trolleybuses as a part of the order from Kaunas from last year. © Copyright 2012 - 2025 | Vado e Torno Edizioni | All rights reserved | P.I. : 08514160152 There were 94 votes in favour and one against the territory of Tauragė training area was cut by 565 hectares and that of Šilalė by 335 hectares This was a result of the bill’s deliberation in parliamentary committees which ended in approving respective proposals of local communities and municipalities Tauragė and Šilalė military training areas will cover 3,730 and 2,260 hectares of land respectively with only training rounds to be fired and no heavy military equipment to be used there The Seimas also designated the construction project a status of particular importance and decided to provide for a legal framework to speed up the development of the necessary infrastructure MPs also backed a draft amendment to the Law on Hunting to offer compensation for the hunting areas that fall within the training areas and are taken for public use “We will have further discussions with other municipalities as we will need much more space for training areas and we will certainly have situations with local residents where we will have to talk about relocation,” Budrys said on the LRT RADIO show Aktualijų Studija on Tuesday With the increasing number of conscripts and reservists and the arrival of more allied troops the need for military infrastructure in Lithuania will only grow which means additional inconveniences for local populations and everyone in Lithuania needs to understand that not only those who live in the districts with the existing or planned training areas,” he said Despite opposition from some residents of Tauragė and Šilalė Districts the Lithuanian parliament gave its initial backing to plans for new training areas in these districts last week Local authorities and residents are concerned that the legislation did not specify that the areas would be used for tactical manoeuvring The training areas to be established in Tauragė and Šilalė will accommodate military units ranging in size from a company to a battalion but they will not have the status of a military area and will not have firing ranges will not be used by heavy military equipment and will be open to visits by people with permissions The training area in Tauragė District will cover 4,304 hectares The underground rapid transit lines have been under construction for almost two decades due to various project delays The cross pinnacle on the Tower of Jesus Christ will be ready to receive visitors in 2026 on the centennial of Gaudi’s death Now you can get your wine in Talence by paying directly in Bitcoin That’s because the state has to spend money on updating the railway infrastructure rather than subsidizing the cost of the popular pass Steffen Romstöck said that he would respect the residents’ choice and would take over the helm of the municipality which will come into force from 1 January 2025 Rethinking renewable energy sources for the urban landscape But operating them is still illegal under the country’s legislation can inform and inspire communities and entrepreneurs that still feel trepidation at the prospect of energy transition it has a unique modular design that allows it to be shortened and lengthened like a train that’s the promise made by the mayor of Paris the district has long been known as the hangout spot for the artsy crowds Hostal de Pinós is located in the geographical centre of the autonomous region the ranking considers several distinct but essential factors these quiet areas will now be available on all main routes in the country The academic institution shows a deeper understanding of the well-being of its students Tauragė District Municipality is implementing a variety of energy efficiency solutions Tauragė deems itself the greenest area of Lithuania This district is home to the largest wind farm in the country while the Balskai Dam is the country’s second largest hydropower plant that has sludge processing facilities there are solar power plants on the roofs of the public facilities in Tauragė district Tauragė District Municipality implements various energy efficiency solutions becoming a member of the ESO Intelligent Energy Club the initiative to turn Tauragė into the greenest area both in Lithuania and in the Baltic region was raised by Sigitas Mičiulis the initiative has become one of the priority tasks of Tauragė Municipality Administration and its employees Tauragė is completing one of its most important projects aiming to modernize the city lighting All old city luminaires are being replaced by new LED light lamps About 3,500 city lighting lamps are to be replaced New LED lamps are being installed in Tauragė Photo by Tauragė District Municipality  “We are sure that after the modernization of the street lighting residents will notice and appreciate that the city streets have become brighter and safer this will ensure a longer lifetime of the luminaires and lower costs for the city We expect to save up to 40% to 50% for the power consumed in the city lighting,” the mayor of Tauragė district Dovydas Kaminskas assumed “The project value exceeds 1 million Euros but the supplier will be paid in instalments from the savings for the power and the after-sales service will be provided throughout this period.” This year the installation of solar power plants on the office buildings of Tauragė district institutions was launched aiming to contribute to the environment protection and the use of green energy Solar power plants have been already installed on the building of Tauragė Hospital shared with a kindergarten as well as on the building of the municipality administration solar power plants will be installed on the roofs of another 6 institutions this year an institution is expected to produce approximately 40,000 kWh per year or approximately 30% to 90% of its consumed power (depending on the size of the institution) One of Tauragė's e-buses. Photo by Tauragė District Municipality  The mayor of Tauragė explains that the municipality is relying on the sustainable mobility plan which prioritises public and environmentally friendly transport The city with 22,000 residents is completing 5 electric vehicle charging stations It is expected to launch the use of the first two electric passenger buses by the end of this year Next year the bus fleet should be supplemented by another 3 similar electric buses Such vehicles will cost the city 4 times less than those using diesel in terms of fuel consumption and operation Among the other energy projects that have been implemented it is worth mentioning the sludge processing facilities constructed in 2015 The biogas produced during the process is used for power and heat production sludge drying and the needs of the local sewage treatment plant and approximately 1,256 million kWh of heat used for the activities of UAB Tauragės vandenys were produced biofuel makes 99% of fuel used for the central heating in Tauragė Tauragė District Municipality is one of the leading municipalities in the apartment building renovation The renovation of individual apartment buildings is actively moving to the quarterly renovation According to data obtained from 50 renovated apartment buildings their energy consumption has decreased threefold as of 2014 The residents appreciated that the modernization of buildings in residential areas contributes to both significant savings of money and improvement of the quality of life – the level of comfort is increased; the view of residential areas is changed "We have several times higher heat and power generation capacity than it is actually consumed in Tauragė district,” the mayor says “And when preparing the District Strategic Plan for 2020-2030 we intend to build it on the Sustainable Development Goals.” The Tauragė District Council has approved two special plans for the construction of 166 MW wind turbines presently one of the most ambitious goals is to attract 160 million Euros of private investment to expand the wind farm alongside Pagėgiai district which is currently the largest wind farm in the country There are also plans for 2020 to install even more solar power plants on the roofs of institution offices and to expand the network of electric vehicle charging stations we must keep in mind that the aim is not only to produce as much renewable energy as possible but also to reduce energy consumption,” D “Many green energy projects are coming to a conclusion this year and the most important goal for the coming year would be to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures such as the lifetime of the batteries in the buses and the distances they cover how much electricity solar panels would generate and whether residents would use electric vehicle charging stations This will determine how we’ll continue to actively pursue new energy saving measures We will also be actively collecting various statistics and installing smart data collection systems in the city.” Tauragė District Municipality has set ambitious goals to change the vehicle fleet of all state institutions from the ones using internal combustion engines to electric vehicles by 2030 “We care not only for technical solutions that save and create green energy in cooperation with the technological universities from Klaipėda we are planning to open a STEM clean power laboratory college and university students for learning about the future of clean and renewable power technologies,” D “We as a small municipality want to set an example that in order to make a difference we have to start from ourselves; and if we can make it that means the other municipalities can do it as well.” The mayor of Tauragė notes that green energy solutions reduce environmental impact fossil fuel combustion and pollutant emissions conserve natural resources and reduce energy and electricity costs while savings can be used to improve the infrastructure and service quality The 10th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns (ESCT) sets the stage for stronger cooperation between the EU national and local level to fast track Europe's transition to climate neutrality Urban dwellers across the EU are having a say in making their surroundings friendlier to people and the environment Forests in the EU can help green the European construction industry and bolster a continent-wide push for architectural improvements Apply by 10 November and do your part for the transformation of European public spaces An interview with the Mayor of a Polish city that seeks to reinvent itself An interview with the newly elected ICLEI President and Mayor of Malmö A conversation with the Mayor of Lisbon about the spirit and dimensions of innovation present in the Portuguese capital This is Radio Schuman, your new go-to podcast to spice up your weekday mornings with relevant news, insights, and 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From the economy to the climate and the EU's role in world affairs, this talk show sheds light on European affairs and the issues that impact on our daily lives as Europeans. Tune in to understand the ins and outs of European politics. No agenda, no argument, no bias, No Comment. Get the story without commentary. Dare to imagine the future with business and tech visionaries Deep dive conversations with business leaders Euronews Tech Talks goes beyond discussions to explore the impact of new technologies on our lives. With explanations, engaging Q&As, and lively conversations, the podcast provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and society. Europe's water is under increasing pressure. Pollution, droughts, floods are taking their toll on our drinking water, lakes, rivers and coastlines. Join us on a journey around Europe to see why protecting ecosystems matters, how our wastewater can be better managed, and to discover some of the best water solutions. Video reports, an animated explainer series and live debate - find out why Water Matters, from Euronews. We give you the latest climate facts from the world’s leading source, analyse the trends and explain how our planet is changing. We meet the experts on the front line of climate change who explore new strategies to mitigate and adapt. The Interior Ministry of Lithuania has confirmed the findings of an investigative journalism centre that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich's children have Lithuanian passports.  According to Siena, at least two children of the Russian oligarch have Lithuanian citizenship. “Those persons, the children, have Lithuanian citizenship, which was acquired before the beginning of the war” said the director of the Migration Department, which continues to investigate whether more of the oligarch’s children could have Lithuanian passports. Earlier this year, an investigation by The Guardian newspaper found out that just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after which sanctions were imposed on Abramovich himself, the Russian oligarch transferred part of his assets to his children. According to the information from the Migration Department, citizenship was granted on the basis of Abramovich’s descent. “Grandparents of Mr Abramovich were from Lithuania, from Taurage region. Therefore, under the law, Roman Abramovich and his children and even his parents have a right to a Lithuanian citizenship,” Sarunas Cerniauskas, a journalist and author of the investigation, explained. Security analysts warned that these kind of operations could be used not only to evade sanctions, but also to influence the Lithuanian political system. The Interior Minister Agne Bilotatie emphasised that Lithuanian passports cannot be a cover to circumvent sanctions. Bilotaite said that legislation is being prepared that would allow stripping persons of Lithuanian citizenship on the grounds of a threat to national security, including for those who have acquired their passports on the basis of their descent.  She has also asked officials to find out how many of the sanctioned individuals or their relatives have Lithuanian citizenship. Currently, Lithuanian laws don’t allow the removal of Lithuanian citizenship, which was granted on the basis of descent. According to the Migration Department, acquiring Lithuanian citizenship, on the basis of descent, could only be blocked, when the person provides information that does not correspond to reality, of if the person has committed war crimes. The businessman's children's documents were found in the Cyprus Confidential investigation sparking speculation about his potential citizenship Local media suggested he was exploring the possibility because his grandparents were born near the Lithuanian town of Taurage which could be a basis for obtaining a Lithuanian passport Investigators confirmed that at least two of Abramovich's children held Lithuanian passports A leaked photo from Cypriot company Meritservus revealed Arkady Abramovich's Lithuanian passport The journalists also published an image of a document from one of the Cypriot legal entities listing Anna and Arkady Abramovich as beneficiaries with Lithuanian citizenship Other members of the Abramovich family on the list of beneficiaries have British passports In early 2023, a report by The Guardian confirmed that Roman Abramovich had redistributed most of his wealth to his children before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine The leaked documents raised questions about whether changes to trusts holding billions of dollars of assets were made in an attempt to shield the oligarch’s vast fortune from sanctions and freezes We really need your help! 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Сделано в Charmer устарел и не позволяет корректно отображать сайт the American writer best known for his 1951 novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” was honored Friday with a sculpture featuring a rye field near the Lithuanian village where his ancestors lived whose book was popular among the post-World War II generation of college students in the United States but also was banned for decades there joined other another figure with a statue there: singer Leonard Cohen The history of the Salinger family goes back to Sudargas a small Jewish settlement on the Lithuanian-Polish border in what was then the Russian Empire Village records show that the Salingers had lived in Sudargas at least since 1831 after the writer’s great-grandfather moved there from the nearby town of Taurage The village still exists but the Jewish settlement does not His grandson emigrated to the United States in 1881 during famine and married a Lithuanian immigrant in Pennsylvania Jerome David Salinger was born in Manhattan it became an immediate success in the Western world Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union Life during the Soviet-era was dominated by staged images of happiness and success and was contrasted to grim images of capitalism with wars freedom or other things that young Americans enjoyed,” said Rolandas Skaisgirys The sculpture is of a human silhouette cut out in a steel plate that is bent before a void The metal plate is attached to a concrete block that carries the name J.D Salinger above a rye field printed on the side of the block that is sticking out from a hill surrounded by a forest rewritten or redistributed without permission This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas thanked MPs for their decision and pointed out that the new government will have to establish a division-sized training area so our military has all the conditions it needs,” he said Several Seimas committee members visited the sites and met with local communities the training area in Tauragė District was reduced by 565 hectares and the area in Šilalė District was cut by 335 hectares the training areas will not involve live ammunition firing and will be used for manoeuvring the training areas have also been moved further away from residential zones some forested land and homesteads will be taken from local residents with property valuations conducted by the National Land Service Some areas within the planned training zones are protected so the Environment Ministry will conclude a protection agreement with the land and forest managers This will specify areas where negative impacts It is also proposed to allow the military to begin using the training areas immediately after the law is passed without waiting for land division procedures to be completed a procedure will be set up to compensate hunters whose hunting grounds will be taken for public use the Seimas is also expected to approve amendments to the Law on Hunting to ensure that hunters who lose their hunting grounds due to the training areas will be assigned new hunting areas without a competition process It is planned that the new training areas will accommodate units ranging from company to battalion size but will not have military territory status meaning there will be no shooting ranges or heavy military equipment and people will be allowed to visit with the Armed Force’s permission The Tauragė and Šilalė training areas will be granted the status of projects of special national importance Defence Minister Kasčiūnas has said that the existing training areas in Lithuania are insufficient and there is a growing need for new ones due to the increasing numbers of allied troops as well as purchases of new military equipment President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security adviser has said that the Tauragė and Šilalė training areas will not be enough to meet the Armed Force’s needs adding that Lithuania needs two more such areas The Grand Duke Kęstutis Motorised Infantry Battalion is based in Tauragė District and Šilalė District is home to the Brigadier General Motiejus Pečiulionis Artillery Battalion “The members of the State Defence Council approved the establishment of two military training areas in Tauragė and Šilalė districts The envisaged locations would be suitable for manoeuvres of a company-sized unit,” Kęstutis Budrys the president’s chief national security adviser The council also recommended that the two sites be given the status of national importance and that the legal framework “You know that our need for training space is huge and our military forces need training spaces,” said Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas the military training area will cover 4,304 hectares in the Tauragė district and 2,677 hectares in Šilalė Kasčiūnas noted that the search for land for the new training locations focused on areas where state land dominates and there are few private homesteads the Defence Ministry has already drafted special bills on the establishment of the training areas They are set to be submitted to the government soon and lawmakers will debate them during the extended spring session Kasčiūnas hopes that the laws will be adopted during the parliament’s fall session and that work on the establishment of the new training areas will start in the fall Lithuanian officials are looking for new training locations as the country receives more and more allied forces and the country’s own armed forces expand Lithuania is establishing a national army division which is expected to reach full operational capability by 2030 Vilnius and Berlin also agreed on the permanent deployment of a German brigade to Lithuania with the bulk of the brigade to be based in the Rūdninkai training area Lithuania has vowed to have the necessary infrastructure in place until then A battalion of American troops is also stationed in Lithuania on a rotational basis Lithuania also intends to gradually prepare for universal conscription The country’s parliament adopted a conscription reform in June and it will increase the number of conscripts TALLINN - The Latvian national airline Air Baltic the largest airline company in the Baltic countries on Friday announced the conclusion of its special voting contest which invited participants to name 48 aircraft of the company's Airbus A220-300 fleet after cities from Latvia The 16 Estonian cities that received the most votes in the contest are Elva The cities of Latvia chosen by the voters are Aizpute The Lithuanian winners are Anykščiai held in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Baltic Way attracted significant interest and participation both within the Baltic states and beyond the contest received more than one million votes said: "We are delighted by the overwhelming enthusiasm and engagement this contest generated The 35th anniversary of the Baltic Way is a momentous occasion celebrating unity across the Baltic states By naming our aircraft after cities in Latvia we honor this event and strengthen the connection among nations It is a privilege to have our fleet carry the names of these cities worldwide Participants could vote for any city in Latvia or Lithuania that holds official city status The Baltic Way was a peaceful political demonstration which took place on Aug when an estimated two million people joined their hands to form a 600-kilometer human chain through the Baltic countries to demonstrate their unity in the efforts towards freedom from the Soviet Union A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy If the Cabinet gives the go-ahead, the money will be allocated from the already-provided European Regional Development Fund.Read more: Climate activists to rally in Vilnius after warmest year on record Some 22.9 million euros were spent on environment-friendly buses in 2018 and 2019 five small electric buses were purchased by Vilnius and three by the western town of Tauragė Klaipėda, meanwhile, bought the first Lithuanian-made electric buses. The Dancer city buses were produced by Vėjo Projektai, a company owned by Lithuanian and German investors.Read more: Lithuania not ready to 'swallow huge green economy bite' – president The spa resort of Druskininkai is also planning to purchase at least six electric buses this year Chinese Yutong's official representative in the Baltic countries and Poland expects to sell electric buses to Lithuania 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 Employers are happy the newcomers are taking up jobs while the local authorities offer free Lithuanian-language classes Tania from Ukraine came to Lithuania with her four-year-old son around a year ago and found a job in a Norwegian company based in the region the first month was very hard,” she tells LRT TV and now I already like the job and that’s why I stayed Wages start at 500 euros a month after tax The minimum wage in the country is a little under 400 euros and the average wage stood at about 800 euros.Tauragė Municipality is one of the first local authorities to organise free Lithuanian language courses for Ukrainians “Tauragė receives people who pay taxes [...] which is very important for the town that someone can take up jobs that Lithuanians maybe don’t want,” says Tauragė District Mayor Dovydas Kaminskas Around 10 Ukrainians come to the twice-weekly Lithuanian classes an acute lack of text books and exercise books is hindering the learning process “There were some [exercise books for Russian-speakers] published between 2000-14 I even phoned the publishers,” says the Lithuanian-language teacher and I will need to communicate with people,” says Andrei Donchenko from Ukraine “The most complicated parts are the pronunciation and spelling,” adds another Ukrainian accordind to the head of a local recruitment agency The procedure takes around a month and a half the process can take as little as a few days Temporary residence permits in Lithuania are also struck by delays in two months and it costs several hundred euros,” says Tomas Juodikis director of recruitment agency ‘Darbo turo’ the number of Ukrainians in the country is increasing around 20,000 have arrived in Lithuania so far Both the Boys and Girls sides opened with assured performances on the first two days of the competition, with the girls beating Kungsholmen BBK and Team Gothenburg and the Boys seeing off Køge BBK and Salon Vilpas at the Farum Arena the invitational has been recognised by FIBA as one of the best international youth tournaments 15 other teams from 7 different countries played in four divided groups before a round of playoffs England were in Group E together with Next Hoops The competition format for the girls was a league with England pitted against four Swedish teams: Alviks BBK Head Coaches were Annie Scanlon (girls) and Charles Vuong (boys), both coming fresh from leading their England teams to U14 Tri-Nations titles at the NBPC in Manchester earlier this month The physiotherapy and sports science team for both squads is Jason Laird and Lauren Adams The aim of the trip to continue the players’ development as part of the England Talent Programme by exposing them to new challenges and different styles of basketball Players were chosen following  last week's selection camp at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester Copyright Basketball England 2024. All Rights Reserved. „There is still a shortage of training areas in Lithuania We will have to continue actively exploring where more of them could be established Both Lithuanian military and allies in Lithuania have to train and do this under the best possible conditions,“ Budrys told public radio LRT on Tuesday The adviser did not rule out that some residents may have to relocate once new training areas are created „We will have further discussions with other municipalities as we will need even more space for training areas And we will surely have a situation with local residents when we will have to talk about relocating home owners,“ said Budrys parliament considered legislation to establish training areas in Tauragė and Šilalė districts The proposal will be further considered in parliament’s autumn session A 4,300 hectare training area should be established in Tauragė district and a 2,600 hectare one in Šilalė district The death toll was the highest in the country since the start of the pandemic Some 314 cases were recorded in Vilnius County The biggest clusters of new infections surround the administrations of local municipalities in Biržai District Outbreaks have also been recorded in 16 hospitals – in Švenčionys Clusters have also been recorded in care homes across the county the backlog of untraced cases has increased to 1,100 meaning that health officials are yet to analyse where the people got infected with the virus Read more: Health officials under pressure: instead of funding, we were told to ‘optimise’ Some 28,262 people have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic 21,339 people are still ill with the virus A total of 235 people have died of Covid-19 in Lithuania and another 80 coronavirus-infected people have died of other causes Some 78,306 people remain in isolation and 846 are hospitalised The country has since June 1 registered 432 cases of coronavirus infection contracted abroad A total of 1,132,514 tests for Covid-19 have been carried out in Lithuania so far, including 13,092 over the past 24 hours.Read more: Lithuanian healthcare system close to collapse, doctors warnCORRECTION: Due to an editing error the earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the number of active coronavirus cases I believe that now these pleasant discoveries will be even more frequent because I discovered Facts About Kaunas tours conducted by 15min journalist Karolina Stažytė Last year Karolina led people in search of the great desires of humanity and introduced them to Vilties pharmacy’s history and the most unique houses of prayer of the New and Old Town Karolina promises to establish herself even more as a guide and look deeper into the important historical highlights of Kaunas One of the most important things in my life is football most of the men in my family are football players and coaches Travels are also important because they provided me sometimes having up to eight flights a year The whole mix of interests is topped by my main activities: writing and working as a guide You worked on Tauragė radio and a local newspaper I was a nerd at school and completed all the tasks that were expected from an exemplary student I used to write about football for Tauragė’s newspapers for free I am grateful to my Lithuanian language teacher I believe that my ability to write is her contribution since I did not study journalism in university When I graduated from school with the highest grades my parents and teachers demanded that I choose to study law I chose law because it is the closest to humanities of all the three although at the time I was more interested in studying psychology I still did not feel at home in the capital despite having lived there for seven years I even received a job offer but I realized that both the city and the job were not for me A radio station was established in Tauragė and I received an offer to host a show about football That’s how we became the only father-daughter duo on air in Lithuania My father and I had a radio show for three years and we have even received an award from the Lithuanian Football Federation Then I got a job as a journalist in Tauragės kurjeris (the main newspaper of the region football again determined the direction of my life The first football match between Lithuania and England took place in London in 2015 and I shared a photo of the purchased tickets on social media After that a journalist from 15min contacted me She wanted to talk about my enthusiasm for football and my radio show called and asked to prepare a report about it because I did not want to return to the capital but after some time I received an offer to join the Kaunas department already as a journalist covering the city’s current affairs Was it easy to make your debut in Kaunas as a journalist I have heard that there is a bit of competition in Vilnius I am happy that I was really lucky with my colleagues some of them have even become close friends You have been living and working in Kaunas since September 2015 How have the topics you write about changed so I am very happy with my editor Raimundas Celencevičius who gives me a lot of freedom and understands my weaknesses and strengths The diversity of topics is very important to me the morning starts with an interview with the mayor of Kaunas on some political topic where I talk to the head of CERN about dark matter or the particle accelerator I go to court and prepare a text about a high-profile murder case and I finish the evening by writing about the opening of a new restaurant but I have the opportunity to maintain balance and diversify the content by including uplifting articles about interesting personalities and places I recently filed a police report because I received a threat after publishing an article I try not to forget the good parts of this job: the opportunity to taste because the door is often open for a journalist and you can interview many interesting people you completed Mūsų odisėja course for tour guides and people quickly started introducing you as a collector of first times Where did the wish to become a tour guide come from While participating in tours I always observed how the guides communicate with people what grabs their attention and what doesn’t Another contributing factor was that before becoming a guide I took many guests around the city It’s also thanks to journalism because I have accumulated a lot of knowledge about city spaces When Mūsų odisėja’s offer reached me by chance I took it immediately and completed the course for tour guides The administrator did not stop the reservation in time There was so much going on that I felt like I was in some pleasant space but then I didn’t do anything for 5 months because I couldn’t find the time I am very grateful to one big company in Kaunas whose representative called me in the summer and asked me to organize a tour for its employees It turns out that the head of the company attended my first tour This prompted me to finally acquire an Individual activity under a business certificate and get started How did you manage to fit into the competitive environment Every month I meet a few course mates with whom I completed the guide course We always choose a new restaurant or go to try out something fun I cooperate with the founders of Gražinkime Kauną and Diana who has worked as a guide in Kaunas for many years (Ekskursijos Kaune) There is no competition between us; other guides come to my tours we all have different things that we focus on and different people participating in our tours We also carry out tours differently – some with humor The tours I lead always have to have some food-related surprises I will always remember one of my tourists from Suvalkija: a 92-year-old Bronius who lives – if I remember correctly – 12 kilometers from Vilkaviškis He rode a bicycle from his homestead to Vilkaviškis and arrived in Kaunas with the whole company 3.5 hour-long tour was only part of the whole plan I found out that Bronius looks after a hundred rose gardens in Suvalkija one large work of art that a Courtyard Gallery is Vytenis Jakas came to live in Kaunas and created the most photogenic courtyard in the city If I had to choose the most important building in Kaunas I think it would be the Darius and Girėnas Stadium From the stadium to the bus station or the Žalgiris Arena where almost all major sports tournaments or concerts are organized And let’s not forget the successful tourism projects like Art Deco and Amsterdam School museums What tours can we expect in Kaunas in 2024 I want to take my time and polish those rocks into diamonds Now I have 5 tours and it seems to me that this is a sufficient number for the first year I would like to show not only the beautiful face of Kaunas but also a darker I see that the most read reports are related to crimes so I really want to touch on interwar period crimes Now I just wish to find time for all this next year facebook.com/KaunasByKarolina Roman Abramovich and Faina Kukliansky in Vilnius Russian billionaire and owner of London Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich visited Vilnius this week the 15min.lt news website reports on Thursday The businessman stayed at the Hotel PACAI which was under heavy protection Faina Kukliansky, chair of the Jewish Community of Lithuania told the website she had a brief meeting with Abramovich refusing to disclose what they talked about and just saying that he was interested in Tauragė from where his grandparents hail I spent little time with him so I have nothing to say," Kuklianksy said She told the delfi.lt news website that Abramovich "was very much interested in the life of the Jewish community Abramovich is proud of his Litvak roots Abramovich is the 140th richest person in the world The businessman became an Israeli citizen earlier this summer after it took longer than usual for him to get a British visa The ministry won the call for projects together with the Refugee Reception Centre and the municipal administrations of Tauragė district and Panevėžys The project aims to bolster the capacity of the EU’s external border and ensure reception and accommodation conditions for arriving refugees “This additional investment from the European Commission is of paramount importance to enable the responsible authorities to create decent conditions for persons arriving in Lithuania and seeking asylum,” said Deputy Social Security and Labour Minister Justina Jakštienė “Lithuania must remain open and safe for asylum seekers,” she added The project will involve upgrading the Refugee Reception Centre and the VSAT infrastructure for the accommodation of asylum seekers Additional investments will be made in renovating the Foreigners’ Registration Centre in Kybartai to ensure that it can cope with a potential increase in migration flows Plans also call for expanding storage and transportation infrastructure at the Foreigners’ Registration Centre in Rukla The project also foresees additional investments in creating accommodation for refugees in the city of Panevežys and the district of Tauragė "The permanent residence permits are already in the hands of the Afghans," Raseiniai District Mayor Andrius Bautronis posted on Facebook head of the Tauragė Division of the Migration Department and her colleagues handed over the official documents to all the people," he added The Afghans themselves will now be able to choose where they want to live Over 170 Afghans – interpreters who had worked for the Lithuania contingent and their family members – were evacuated to Lithuania in August They were then temporarily accommodated in the western district of Raseiniai the Migration Department decided to grant them political asylum the Afghans are entitled to an integration programme and have the right to work in the country Read more: In the words of Afghan translator in Lithuania: ‘The Taliban I know’ RKL A diviziono antrosios vietos laimėtoja 2013 2002-2003: 10 vieta LKAL čempionate (7-29) 2003-2004: 11 vieta LKAL čempionate (13-23) 2004-2005: 14 vieta LKAL čempionate (4-48) 2005-2006: NKL čempionate 16 vieta 2006-2007: 8 vieta NKL A pogrupyje (12-30) 2007-2008: 17 vieta NKL čempionate (6-26) 2008-2009: 16 vieta NKL čempionate (7-29)2017-2018: 10 vieta NKL čempionate (18-21) ketvirtfinalyje 0-3 nusileista Marijampolės Sūduvai-Mantingai2018-2019: 13 vieta NKL čempionate (17-23)2019-2020: 15 vieta NKL čempionate (8-30) prieš nutraukiant sezoną The proportion of people living at risk of poverty has dropped across almost all European countries over the last five years 30 percent of people in Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas are living at risk of poverty Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas has the highest risk of poverty in the country Fewest people are living at risk of poverty in Vilnius County Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas is a statistical division used by the EU People are at risk of poverty when their income is significantly lower than that of the population as a whole The European Union considers a person at risk of poverty if their disposable income is under 60% of the country’s median income In Lithuania this was roughly €6,895 in 2018 which means people earning less than €4,137 fall into this category There are clear regional patterns to the risk of poverty in Europe Most people are at risk in southern and eastern Europe with the southern parts of Italy worst hit Three of the regions with the highest risk of poverty in Europe are found in Italy more than half of the population is living at the risk of poverty five of the regions with lowest risk of poverty are in Czechia with fewer than one in 10 living at risk of poverty in Prague It’s important to note that this is a relative measure of poverty where the threshold will vary from country to country This shows how incomes compare to the rest of the country the trend is clear: the proportion of people living at risk of poverty has decreased in almost all European countries over the last five years There are only six countries bucking the trend and these are mostly wealthy countries in Northern and Western Europe where the risk of poverty is relatively low but has increased somewhat Luxembourg has had the greatest increase in people living at risk of poverty since 2013 Although Eastern and Southern Europe both have some of the continent’s highest risks of poverty today the two regions are heading in quite different directions In Eastern Europe the risk of poverty has dropped significantly in recent years There is no historical data available for Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas so it is not possible to say anything about how poverty rates have changed over time The gap between rich and poor regions is considerable in many countries Both countries have a significant north-south divide over four times as many people are living at risk of poverty in southern Sicily and Campagna than in northern province South Tyrol The chart above shows the gap between different regions of the same country It only includes countries with regional data available for five or more NUTS 2 regions In Lithuania there isn't a noteworthy gap between regions Different groups in society are more exposed to risk of poverty almost half (48%) of unemployed people across EU member states fall into risk of poverty Single parents are also especially at risk: almost half (46%) of people in single person households with dependent children were classified as at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU in 2018 Text, research and charts:: Clara Guibourg, clara@newsworthy.se Newsworthy är en nyhetssajt som gör lokal journalistik baserat på data Vi är datajournalister som analyserar och tolkar världen på siffror Alla artiklar lokalanpassas ner på kommun- och länsnivå fertility rates have already fallen below the critical threshold of two children per woman Not even the European countries with highest fertility rates are reaching replacement-level fertility Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas has a relatively high fertility rate compared with the rest of Europe as each woman gives birth to on average 1.7 children regions with relatively high fertility rates for Europe can be found in France only 13 out of 328 regions passed the replacement rate threshold of 2.1 in 2017 This is the fertility rate needed to sustain the current population level without immigration Nine of the regions above 2.1 are in Turkey The average fertility rate for all EU countries is 1.59 children per woman European fertility rates grew in the first decade of the 2000s This was then followed by a slight dip in 2013 and a modest rebound in the last couple of years The areas where fertility rates are lowest also tend to be the ones where the average age at childbirth is higher Areas in Northern Europe are the exception to this trend where for instance Sweden has some of the continent’s highest fertility rates despite the average age of mothers at childbirth being relatively high Women in Vidurio ir vakaru Lietuvos regionas have children on average when they are 29.6 years old which is younger than most regions in Europe The overarching trend is clear: First-time mothers are getting older Just a handful of all the regions analysed had younger mothers in 2017 compared to five years previously Countries with fertility rates below replacement level must adapt to the challenge of a population that is both ageing and shrinking A 2018 fertility study in the Lancet said countries would need to consider mitigating the effects with liberal immigration policies higher retirement age or policies encouraging women to have more children Although declining populations are a demographic challenge for societies they could also be beneficial for the environment