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METEORITE

Swedish telecoms firm admits to Latvia meteorite hoax

Swedish-owned telecoms company Tele2 admitted on Monday it was responsible for staging a meteorite crash near a small village in the Latvian countryside.

Swedish telecoms firm admits to Latvia meteorite hoax

“Our goal is to inspire the people of Latvia,” Janis Sprogis, a spokesperson for Tele2’s operations in Latvia, told the Latvian news agency LETA regarding the motivation behind the company’s hoax.

Residents in Mazsalaca, a town located near the Estonian border, were startled on Sunday evening by a streak of light that zoomed across the sky, followed by a loud crash, setting the ground on fire.

Emergency crews arrived on the scene to find a 10 metre-wide crater, still smoldering at the centre.

The scene led some officials to speculate the explosion had been caused by a meteorite, according to several media reports.

But experts soon cast doubt on the meteorite theory, citing the supposed meteorite’s all-too-perfect characteristics.

“This is not a real crater. It is artificial,” Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, told the Associated Press.

On Monday, telecoms operator Tele2 confirmed its role in carrying out the stunt, which Latvian Interior Minister Linda Murniece called “cynical mockery”, according to the AFP news agency.

According to Tele2’s Sprogis, the stunt was a ploy to help direct the world’s attention toward the troubled Baltic country as it struggles with a prolonged economic downturn.

“As we can see, with this Latvia made the news all over the world, everyone wants to know about Latvia, and this is not because of the crisis, the hard times and so, but because there is something creative and exciting happening here. It is a unique achievement and part of our communication,” he said.

While Sprogis added that Tele2 will reimburse Latvian emergency services who responded to the fake meteorite, Latvian police have said they are launching a formal investigation which could lead to formal criminal charges.

But a spokesperson for the Latvian embassy in Stockholm attempted to play down the incident.

“The most important thing is that no one was hurt, no damage was done and Tele2 has promised to reimburse the government for all expenses incurred by the police and fire department personnel,” embassy press attaché Zane Malniece told The Local.

A YouTube clip recorded at scene of the bluff meteorite crash-site:

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LATVIA

Protestant Latvia welcomes pope

Mainly Protestant Latvia on Monday welcomed Pope Francis on a visit many hope will put the small Baltic country on the map and bring its people closer together.

Protestant Latvia welcomes pope
Pope Francis greets the faithful from his popemobile during a mass at the Shrine of the Mother of God in Aglona, Latvia, on September 24, 2018. Handout / Vatican Media / AFP

“I'm happy he's here. I recognise him even though I'm Lutheran,” lawyer Ketija Strazda told AFP.

“He's the head of a major religion… He'll make my country known abroad.”

The Latvian government declared Monday a public holiday so that as many people as possible could welcome the pontiff.

A couple of hundred turned out to greet him at the freedom monument in downtown Riga, a huge statue of a woman with arms raised towards the sky, on a cold rainy morning.

Many were grateful to the pope for visiting this year, when the three Baltic countries celebrate 100 years of a sometimes precarious independence.

Occupied by Nazi Germany, then by the Soviets for nearly half a century, Latvia is now tied to the west as an EU and NATO member.

But it is still in the process of building a national identity, wary of its huge Russian neighbour and sometimes at odds with its own population of Russian-speakers.

READ ALSO: Pope to honour Baltic martyrs amid abuse crisis

Faith unites

Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis told Francis that “faith brings countries together beyond their national differences.”

Protestants make up 25 percent of the Latvian population, followed by Catholics at 21 percent and Orthodox 11 percent.

Early Monday, Francis met Christian leaders — Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian — at Riga's Lutheran cathedral.

The immense red-brick building is the largest medieval cathedral in the Baltic states and houses one of the world's largest organs. 

Shuttered by Soviet authorities in 1959, the cathedral became a concert hall before the Lutherans got it back in 1989.

Francis lauded what he said was a country marked by “friendship between the different Christian churches, which have succeeded in building unity while preserving the unique and rich identity of each.”

For some, this tolerance also extends to Latvians' ties to Russians.

“We have no problems with Russians on a personal level. I have Russian neighbours. We get along great,” Strazda said. 

Yet new legislation to impose Latvian as the main teaching language in minority schools has created tension among some of the country's ethnic Russians.

There have been several protests over the change, mostly called by politicians from Latvia's Russian Union party, ahead of a general election in October.

The country of 1.9 million people is also struggling with an exodus of young people moving abroad. 

Francis on Monday encouraged Latvians to “generate employment opportunities, so that no one will need to be uprooted in order to build a future.”

Tabita and Helga, two young Catholic volunteers, were handing out little flags in the Vatican colours.

“Thanks to the pope's visit, perhaps more people will find the way to God,” Tabita said.

Before arriving in Latvia, Francis spent the weekend in Lithuania — the only Catholic-majority country of the three Baltic states. He was due to end his tour in Estonia on Tuesday. 

READ ALSO: Baltic pagans ask pope for help over religious status battle