H-line

Church outraged in Vilnius

2005-05-15T19:52:00.000+03:00

Church has been angered by Vilnius authorities' decision to propagate oriental fitness practice in public places in the city(LNK reports). According to priests it is not compatible with Christian world-view.

For a half a year every morning and evening in 10 places around Vilnius (bigger parks of the city) citizens will be able to come and join 1-hour-long free Thai Chi sessions, lead by Lithuanian instructors. Vilnius municipality has budgeted 50 000 Litas for this activity. According to the municipality representatives, the idea appeared since this practice is so popular abroad and in Lithuania's sport centers it is too expensive for most of the citizens to attend. Municipality's Deputy Head of Administration Vytas Karsokas told LNK, that Thai Chi classes that are to be held publicly in Vilnius have nothing to do with any other religion and no religion is propagated during the practice.

Meanwhile Catholic Church is worried about this sort of "entertainment" contrived by the Mayor of Vilnius - according to them, besides the exercising there will also be lectures. Vilnius's archdiocese believes that Thai Chi, as fitness and spiritual practice, is inconsistent with Christian beliefs. Priests don't like the fact that some of the sessions will be organized close to church or priest seminary. They claim that this way city's governance demonstrates disrespect for Christians.

Fifteenth in the crib!

2005-04-26T22:56:00.001+03:00

Just last year Lithuanian government was desperately calling the country for a "baby-boom" since the birth rate in Lithuania is upsettingly low, and so is the number of children in families. But not in all families!

Yesterday (Monday) Stravinskas's family in Vilnius was increased by one more baby - the fifteenth. Daina Starvinskiene, 44 year-old mother of 1 daughter and 14 sons, claims that everyone of them, including the last son, were planned in advance. She told LNK that to raise a big family is not as difficult as it seems. The eldest son is 23 and the youngest - 2.

The family is provided for by father Tomas Stravinskas, who works as a mechanic. Daina also used to work but once she left for maternity leave for the first time, she never came back to work because children were born one after another. The family told BTV that they do not get much support from the state. After delivering the fifteenth baby, Vilnius municipality gave them a onetime grant of 5000 Litas.

Daina does not doubt that her family is the biggest in Vilnius. She doesn't give away weather she will be back to the maternity hospital again in the future. However she didn't hide that she would like one more girl in the big band of sons.

According to the data of Lithuania's Department of Statistics biggest families in Lithuania have been registered in Klaipeda and Ukmerge - 20 children in families. Nowadays statistically less than 1,5 child falls for one family in Lithuania.

2005-04-26T21:56:00.000+03:00

On the 22nd of April the "NATO" appeared in the Lithuania's TV headlines for the second time last week, but this time - in a slightly different context. Apparently, around 50 fighters of Royal Netherlands Air Force, stationed by NATO near Siauliai, during their free time are renovating Kursenai orphanage bathrooms that until now hadn't been reconditioned for almost 70 years.

According to LNK, seeing the bathrooms that haven't been fixed since 1939, NATO soldiers were wonder-struck and decided to fully renovate the place. They got free equipment from one company, ordered some decoration materials and accessories straight from Netherlands and are determined to allocate up to 100 thousand Litas for the reconstruction.

LNK reporter Agne Vederyte claims that the orphanage would have to pinch and save for 15 years to renovate the bathrooms themselves. There are 95 children in the orphanage. Yearly only 150 Litas is allocated for clothes and bedding per child, still the institution barely saves up 2000 Litas per year for renovation (which is also sometimes spent on urgent repairs). Therefore, the orphanage director Feliksas Rudzinskas told LNK, the visit of NATO soldiers was not only pleasant but also useful.

The soldiers claim they have rendered similar support in other countries they'd been stationed, namely Italy and Kirghizia. In the future they are planning to also renovate the kitchens of the 8 so-called families in the Kursenai orphanage.

... Thank you! ...

NATO meeting in Vilnius

2005-04-24T19:57:00.000+03:00

Last Thursday (20Apr.2005) the ministers of foreign affairs of the NATO member states and Russia and Ukraine gathered in Vilnius for a two day unofficial meeting. It was one of the biggest international forums that ever took place in Lithuania. According to BTV, it was also the first NATO meeting taking place not in Brussels.

TV3 reported(20Apr.2005) that Condoleezza Rice was one of the most welcomed guests in Vilnius and in the airport was greeted not only by Lithuanian soldiers but also by country's young basketballers. Around 600 guests arrived to Vinius for the meeting therefore extreme security measures were required.

Head of the VIP Protection Department told LNK that this visit was extremely complex. It was the first time that so many protected people arrived to Lithuania and they all traveled in separate corteges. Nevertheless, the guests' security was assured by more than 500 extra policemen, around 200 VIP Protection Department officials, snipers on the roofs, reinforced traffic and residential area control in the city, as well as NATO fighter planes, stationed in an air base near Siauliai and ready to take off in minutes in case of alert.

According to LNK news, extra security had its benefits for Vilnius citizens as well-having almost half of Lithuania's policemen patrolling in the city signally decreased the level of crime during the days.

100-million-euros support

2005-04-21T13:01:00.000+03:00

On 15th of April Lithuanian TV news stunned the nation - Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko claims that hundreds of million Litas have been laundered through Lithuanian banks and used to fund the election campaign of the pro-russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich in 2004 presidential election.

The ministry insists that around 350 million Litas (more than 100 million Euros)were transferred to Lithuanian bank by a company, named "Semereka", and cashed by a natural person. Supposedly the money were cashed in small amounts not to cause suspicion.

Lithuanian officials argue that not to notice an operation of such magnitude is impossible. Head of the Lithuanian Bank Reinoldijus Sarkinas told LNK that Lithuania has a strict bank control system and money laundering is extremely complicated. Commercial banks are obliged to report to the Financial Crime Investigation Service about any transaction greater than 50 000 Litas. Lately no signals about suspicious transactions were received from Lithuanian banks. According to the General Prosecution Office (BTV news, 15Apr.2005),if a bank failed to report as obliged, it would lose the license to operate in Lithuania and the workers would face criminal charges. In addition, R.Sarkinas told BTV that at the time no bank in Lithuania would have such an amount of cash (3,5 million Litas).

There are different speculations why Ukraine would come up with such accusations. TV3 claim (news, 15Apr.2005) that unofficially this is construed as provocation before the two-day informal NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Vilnius on 20th of April. According to BTV, the spokesperson of the Financial Crime Investigation Service Ruta Andriuskaite says that they don't yet deny the possibility that Ukraine's Internal Affairs Minister might have confused the names of the countries and said Lithuania instead of for example Latvia. Meanwhile Lithuania has sent a note to Ukraine demanding more detailed information about the claims of their Ministry of Internal Affairs.

20LT for an eye

2005-04-13T00:29:00.000+03:00

Siauliai Tuberculosis and Lung Decease Hospital last Sunday was not as peaceful as usual. A patient put out a ward mate's eye with a knife - LNK news announced on Monday.

During an argument between a 42 year-old clinic patient and his 58 year-old ward mate the former threw a kitchen knife at the man. The knife sank into the latter's right eye. LNK claims that, according to unofficial information, the disagreement sparked off by the fact that the victim borrowed 20 Litas to go home and returned drunk and with no money to give back.

The injured man was examined by doctors and taken to Kaunas University Hospital. It is still to be determined whether he will get the sight back. Meanwhile the younger patient was taken to the police station and his sobriety was checked. Once it was confirmed that the suspect is sober, he was brought back to the tuberculosis hospital. Later he will be officially questioned.

The hospital leadership cannot believe the incident. They claim that the patient has been disgruntled because of the illness, but not aggressive. "He is very worried. He cannot understand how it all happened" the hospital's director Vita Globyte told LNK news.

Lithuania without healthcare

2005-04-13T00:27:00.000+03:00

LNK news (11Apr.2005) confirmed that through secret vote Lithuania's medical faculty unitedly support the full-scale strike that is due to start on the 17th of May. The chairperson for of the Medics' Professional Union Aldona Baublyte claims that more than 70 percent of Lithuania's medics took part in the vote and 98,6 percent thereof supported the protest.

The aim of the strike is to have the salaries of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff raised 50 percent this year and 30 percent next year. State officials claim (LNK , 2Apr.2005) that to fulfill the doctors' demands the government would need 100 mln. litas (around 29 mln. Euros) this year and 200 mln. next year...

Medics claim that strike will definitely start in May as expected. The organizers however do not try to forecast when it should end. Medics made it clear that they wouldn't end the protest until all the demands are met. During the strike, all the medical faculty will be in their work places and will provide emergency treatment for patients, but cold surgeries and non-urgent treatment will be postponed until later.

Minister of Health Zilvinas Padaiga warned that government is not willing to bargain. Salaries will be raised but way less that medic's demand. He said patients and doctors themselves would be the ones who suffer because of the strike. Meanwhile Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas confirmed that government doesn't plan to fulfill the requirements of the protesting medics. "Today we do not have any additional financial possibilities" he told LNK, "we'll see in a month."

Dolphins - midwives

2005-04-03T03:10:00.000+03:00

Women of Lithuania have a new option for childbirth - now they can receive help from the dolphins at Lithuanian Sea Museum -LNK reports (1Apr.2005). Construction of a special water tank is nearly over. The museum psychologist Ieva Kirkutyte will be the first woman to be in labor in the dolphinarium in around a month. She believes that dolphins will help to decrease the labor pains.

According to specialists infants born in the water don't experience stress of going from fluid environment of the mother's womb to air environment. They claim that babies, born surrounded by dolphins develop faster. According to research, they tend to have a gift - an ability to write and work with both hands. After delivery , female dolphins are supposed to treat the human baby as their own and help it reach the surface for the first breath. The mother and the baby should stay in the water to play with dolphins for around a half an hour after delivery.

Labor with dolphins has already been available in Odessa and Israel. Future mommies in Lithuanian Sea Museum are wellcome once a month.

MPs' sanity worries?

2005-04-03T01:11:00.000+03:00

Politicians offer to legitimize compulsory medical check-up for all MPs. According to LNK(1Apr.2005)this idea was brought up because 11 days ago a member of Seimas Petras Grazulis, later joined by Egidijus Klumbys, went on hunger strike and have only been having water ever since. By their strike these two MPs pursue the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister A.Valionis and Chief of State Security Department A.Pocius.

Thirty members of the Seimas have signed an appeal to end the hunger strike. The Chairperson of the Seimas Arturas Paulauskas did not undertake to decide whether Grazulis and Klumbys still can represent the electorate.

Meanwhile in the parliament, it was offered to legalize compulsory physical and mental health check-up for the members of Seimas, results of which should be announced publicly. It was already suggested once last year but never was implemented.

Relations with Russia

2005-04-03T00:27:00.000+03:00

"Russia and Lithuania try to soften the tension" claim LNK headlines on Thursday, March 31st. The foreign affairs ministers of the two countries started acting - Lithuanian minister Antanas Valionis contacted Sergey Lavrov and agreed about a meeting in Moscow in a week.

The tension hasn't stifled since President Valdas Adamkus decided not to go to Moscow for the 9th of May celebrations. It has been intensified by undiplomatic statements of Russian Federation's Ambassador to Lithuania Boris Cepov, when he declared that Lithuania is not a country but a rally of scandal fanciers.

It is believed that the "diplomatic pause" between Lithuania and Russia should end after the meeting of the ministers in Moscow next week. Meanwhile, their newt meeting in Vilnius is already planned for the end of April.

International Baltic Academy v. the government

2005-03-31T16:19:00.000+03:00

International Baltic Academy(TBA) in Vilnius warns that it will turn to court if Lithuanian Government decides to close it - BTV reported(25Mar.2005)

Lithuania's Ministry of Education and Science has suggested to the government to close the higher education school which belongs to Baltic Russian Institute founded in Latvia. The suggestion was based on the fact that, according to the ministry, TBA has constantly been disobeying laws and regulations set by Lithuanian government and has inadequately organized the studies. The management of the Baltic Academy believe that this is just foul schemes of the local state higher education institutions. They claim that since Lithuania is "5-7 years behind Latvia and Estonia in the level of private school development", the state universities are afraid to lose potential students.

TBA leadership claims that Ministry of Education never met neither the students nor the leaders of the school and never cared about their opinion. According to BTV, Minister of Education Remigijus Motuzas denied it, saying that Education and Studies' Department workers visited the school many times. TBA management was addressed a number of times and was asked to confirm whether all programs are accredited and all licenses obtained. However, they failed to answer and provided insufficient documentation. Meanwhile, the rector of International Baltic Academy stated that they have all necessary accreditations and licenses and that they will turn to court if government decides to close the school.

Adoption through abduction

2005-03-25T01:01:00.000+02:00

On Monday a 24-year old woman abducted an almost 2 year-old boy from and orphanage in Vilnius.(LNK reported on 22Mar.2005) The woman came to the institution in the evening with a fake chit of request for adoption. She claimed she wanted to adopt a baby, but she would like to know him first. Thus when she asked for some time with the child, a possibility to play and try on the clothes she had brought for the baby, no one saw any danger in leaving her alone with the boy. According to the orphanage workers she looked neat and trustful.
As soon as it was noticed that both - the woman nad the baby are gone, police was called. The 24-year-old Kaunas resident herself brought the baby back the following day. She claimed that she loves kids and that she doesn't have any of her own. Thus she wanted to adopt some baby. According to TV3 news, the woman claims that the idea to take the baby away came spontaneously. However when the next day she learned that she is wanted by the police, she got scared and brought the 21-month old boy back.
After signing a warrant and having her passport taken away by the police, the young woman was released from the custody.

Seimas v. President

2005-03-23T18:06:00.000+02:00

"President was slapped on the face by the Seimas" LNK news announced last week (15Mar.2005) after the Seimas of Lithuanian Republic (Lithuania's parliament) rejected President Valdas Adamkus's nominated appointment of Toma Birmontiene to the Judges of Lithuania's Constitutional Court.

President V.Adamkus, who at that time was visiting Israel (14th-17 March), was surprised to hear that. So was his advisor T.Birmontiene who, according to LNK, during the meetings with factions before did not receive any criticism.

The criticism voiced by the Liberal Democrats in the Seimas on the day of the secret vote, however, was quite strong - Birmontiene was called a "faithful servant of the Soviet ideology". These accusations were connected Toma Birmontiene's dissertation "The founding of Soviet militia in Lithuania" at the Lomonosov
Moscow State University in 1989. The members of parliament also remembered that the candidate's father used to belong to NKVD.

The opposition who supported Birmontiene's nomination believes that the rejection of her candidacy was Liberal Democrats' revenge for her criticism towards former president Rolandas Paksas during his impeachment process. They also believe that this is also a way for the coalition in power to requite President Valdas Adamkus for not going to Moscow's 9th of May celebrations. Meanwhile parliament's vice-chairman Ceslovas Jursenas claims no one is trying to get square with anyone here.

President V.Adamkus has no doubt that T.Birmontiene is suitable for the position, but according to LNK news (22Mar.2005)he hasn't yet decided whether to suggest her candidacy again. He has asked Chair of the Seimas Arturas Paulauskas to find out what the Seimas's vote would be if he did. Paulauskas said he still has no good news for the President. Meanwhile Toma Birmontiene herself does not show much enthusiasm about it any more.
____________________________________________________

For more information about Lithuania's court system please check Lithuanian Constitution.

Lietuva- tai ne Rusija!

2005-03-21T17:23:00.000+02:00

Jau daugiau nei pusantro mėnesio BBC World “Living Heritage” laida rodo filmą apie Lietuvos medžio drožybos tradicijas. Šis filmas pribloškė ne vieną mažosios valstybės pilietį – dėl Latvijos TV gamybos firmos, vienas žymiausių šalies dievadirbių Adolfas Teresius priverstas pasauliui kalbėti rusiškai. (Dalia Gudavišiūtė, Lietuvos Rytas , Kovo 7, 2005)
Nors rusų kalba yra viena iš šešių oficialių UNESCO kalbų, Lietuvos ambasadorė UNESCO Ina Marčiulionytė kreipėsi į šią organizaciją bandydama juos įtikinti kaip svarbu, turint galvoje mūsų istoriją, yra pranešti pasauliui jog Lietuva turi savo kalbą.
Latvijos kūrybinė grupė , atsiųsta BBC, nesiteikė atsivežti net vertėjo. Nors Teresius siūlė kalbėti Lietuviškai ar bent Žemaitiškai, filmavimo komanda prieštaravo, teigdami jog tai techniškai neįmanoma ir jie galį bendrauti tik rusiškai. Pasak Lietuvos Ryto, A. Teresius tikina, kad Latviai žadėjo jog meistro kalba nesigirdės ir viską užgoš komentarai anglų kalba.
Lietuvos Ambasadorė UNESCO paprašė organizacijos perfilmuoti filmą, kad būtų ištaisyta klaida. Tačiau jai buvo pranešta jog to padaryti nebegalima. Tuo tarpu, pamačius filmą per BBC, Živilė Gelumbauskaitė, Geologijos ir Geografijos Instituto mokslininkė, nusiuntė BBC World elektroninį laišką, prašydama daugiau jo neberodyti ar bent netransliuoti jo Vasario 16-ąją. BBC atsakė padėka už tai, jog Ž.Gelumbauskaitė žiūri jų programą, ir pažadu, jog bus pranešta atsakingiems asmenims.
Tuo tarpu A.Teresius vis dar kalba rusiškai apie Lietuvos tradicijas milijonams pasaulio žiūrovų, kurių daugelis vis dar mano jog Lietuva tėra Rusijos dalis...

Lithuania is NOT Russia!

2005-03-17T23:59:00.000+02:00

For more than two and a half months BBC World "Living Heritage" program has been broadcasting a film on Lithuania's wood carving traditions. The film has stunned many citizens of this little country - due to the Latvian production company one of the most famous country's craftsmen Adolfas Teresius is forced to speak to the world in Russian.(Dalia Gudaviciute, Lietuvos Rytas,7.Mar.2005)
Although Russian is one of the six official UNESCO languages, Lithuania's ambassador to UNESCO Ina Marciulionyte has addressed the organization trying to make them understand how important, considering our historic background, it is to tell the world that we Lithuania has its own language.
Latvian creative team, sent by BBC, did not bother to bring a translator. Although Teresius offered to speak Lithuanian or at least Samogitian (West Lithuania's regional language, similar to Latvian), the team objected saying that it is technically impossible and they can only speak Russian. According to Lietuvos Rytas, A.Teresius claims that the Latvians promised the craftsman's speech would not be heard - everything would be dubbed in English.
Lithuania's Ambassador to UNESCO asked the organization to re-shoot the film in order to correct the mistake but was told that it's impossible.
Meanwhile, after seeing the clip on BBC Zivile Gelumbauskaite, a Geology and Geography Institute scientist, e-mailed BBC World asking not to show it any more or , at least, not to show it on the 16th of February, Lithuania's Independence Day. BBC answered by thanking her for watching their program and promised to inform responsible people.
However, A.Teresius still keeps talking in Russian about old Lithuanian traditions to millions of viewers around the world, many of who still think that the little country is just a part of Russia...

Kindergarten or a Boot Camp?

2005-03-17T00:19:00.000+02:00

Monday night(15Mar.2005) the public was shocked by the local TV reports of an unprecedented violence in a kindergarten in Lithuania.
Several parents have withdrawn their children from a kindergarten in Juodkrante (West Lithuania)as the kindergartners are accused of drinking, harassing and torturing four-year-olds. According to the parents, the children were forced to kneel on the floor and hold stools over their heads and even to eat vomit... According to LNK report, parents claim that children who did not sing when asked to, had their heads dipped in water closets, those who failed to sleep were lined naked on cold bathroom floor, and pinched so severely that their little bodies were marked with bruises...
Municipality officials tried to settle the issue with a mere disciplinary notice to the accused two kindergartners for atrocious behavior. Therefore parents of the children turned to the inspector of Child Protection.
According TV3 report,The kindergarten workers say they were only playing and deny all the accusation, still enjoying the privilege of working with youngsters.
The positions of the two kindergartners are now in question since the Child Protection organization is involved. According to the CP inspector, the accusation are more than credible considering the fact that one of the teachers already has a record of violence towards children. More than ten years ago she was fired from a school as a result of similar incidents.
It is still difficult to believe that such things can happen even in an institution like kindergarten...

Standing Up On Our Dignity...

2005-03-14T19:08:00.000+02:00

Last Monday(7Mar.2005)Lithuania's President Valdas Adamkus ,together with Estonia's President Arnold Rüütel, officially declined Russia's leader Vladimir Putin's invitation to the 60th Victory Day jubilee in Moscow in May.
Russia's victory against the Nazi Germany on the 9th May,1945, in Lithuania is mostly associated with the start of 50-year-long Soviet occupation. Nevertheless , today Russia is the country's strong and influential economic partner. Therefore Adamkus's decision to "stay in Lithuania, with the people" caused mixed emotions among fellow-countrymen.The discussions whether or not to accept the invitation from Moscow had been already taking place for a couple of months. The greatest instigation of President Adamkus's decision were V.Putin's recent statements during his visit to Slovakia where Russia's leader justified the occupation of the Baltic states and claimed that the Ribbentrop - Molotov Pact was only the means to secure Soviet Union's western border.
According to LNK report(13Mar.2005),Lithuania's decision not to send any representative to the Victory Day celebration in Moscow, remained almost unnoticed in the West, whereas the irritation of Russia is directed towards their officials in Lithuania, namely the Ambassador of Russian Federation to the Republic of Lithuania Mr. Boris Cepov. According to the Lithuania's biggest daily Lietuvos Rytas, sources in Russia's foreign affairs ministry claim that Lithuanian leader's statement was contradictory to what they had expected. Their report to the Kremlin had been mainly based on Mr. Cepov's personal guarantees that Adamkus would surely attend the ceremony in May. In Moscow Cepov's actions have been assessed as a "risky and unjustified attempt to create an image of a proficient in Lithuanian politics" (Lietuvos Rytas). His further career as the Ambassador of Russia to Lithuania is now in jeopardy.

Vis dar ieškoma Nepriklausomybės

2005-03-14T00:25:00.000+02:00

Nepriklausomybės Deklaracija ( Vasario16,1918) buvo pirmasis ir svarbiausias žingsnis link demokratinės Lietuvos valstybės. Tačiau dokumento originalo buvimo vieta - vis dar paslaptyje.
Šio valstybingumo simbolio paieška atvedė valstybės pareigūnus prie vieno namo slenksčio Kėdainiuose. Nuo tada jie atlieka ten kratas, gręžioja sienas, ardo slenksčius ir planuoja nuardyti dalį stogo, kad tik surastų vertingąjį dokumentą.
Visa tai prasidėjo, kai buvęs namo šeimininkas, jau beveik aštuoniasdešimties metų žmogus, staiga pareiškė jog neryškiai prisimena paslėpęs Nepriklausomybės Deklaraciją kažkur name, kai jį statė.
Bet kaskart jis nurodo vis kitą vietą, ir, pasak TV3 žinių pranešimo (Kovo10,2005),dabartinis namo šeimininkas nėra patenkintas tokiu jo turto gadinimu ir tiki jog tai – jo žmogaus teisių pažeidinėjimas.

Still searching for the Independence

2005-03-13T03:23:00.000+02:00

The Declaration of Independence (16Feb.1918) was the first and most significant step towards the democratic state of Lithuania. However the whereabouts of the original documents is still a mystery.
The search for this symbol of statehood has brought state officials to the doorstep of one house in the town of Kedainiai. Ever since, they've been conducting searches, drilling walls, ripping apart doorsteps and planning to remove part of the roof of the family's home in order to find the precious document.
All this was triggered when the former owner of the house, now almost an 80 year old man, suddenly declared that he faintly remembered to have hidden the Declaration of Independence somewhere in the house while building it.
However, he indicates a different place every time and , according to TV3 news report (10 Mar.2005), the current owner of the house is displeased with this tearing apart of his property and believes it's the infringement of his individual rights.

Wellcome to Lithuania

2005-03-11T12:11:00.000+02:00

The beginning of the Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic's official visit to Lithuania just once again showed that we cannot get everything into the right place at the right time even when it is really important.
The Welcoming ceremony in the yard of the Presidential House in Vilnius on the 28th of January was a mess.
Firstly, 2/3 of the Guard of Honor Company did not turn up at the President's residence to salute Ivan Gasparovic that day because of unexpected problems with transportation. In addition because of the cold members of the military orchestra were unable to play their instruments... Well, where there's a will there's a way - it was decided to substitute the orchestra with records of the marches. The only problem was that for some reason the records also didn't start on time... The protocol was not broken according to the army commander V. Tutkus. Well, no broken protocol, but what a shame!

The Day of Kindness

2005-03-07T16:10:00.000+02:00

On the 5th of March, for already third spring, one of the most popular Lithuanian TV channel LNK (Free and Independent Channel) invited everyone to witness a charitable music and publicist TV marathon "The Day of Kindness" and to help children to fight cancer.
During the 5 hour live broadcast people called in and donated little sums of money that would be used in curing little cancer patients of Lithuania. The project organizers were hoping from the beginning that this year the half-a-million-litas sum (a little less than 150 000 EUR) , collected last year would be topped this first Saturday of spring. However these hopes proved to be too humble. Last years sum was exceeded already in the 3rd hour of the broadcast and at the end of the marathon ended in well over 1 million litas(300 000 EUR).
1 point to the benefit of LNK and , of course 1 million points for the children who await their long and painful treatment... And this year, hopefully, all the money will go to the right place...