the latvias had to cut spending. >> the measures in latvia are very severe. they've now cut public sector wages by 30% this year. >> the brutal economic situation resulted in a government crisis. the country's finance minister stepped down. the country's prime minister stepped up. he's vowed to keep it pegged to the euro, but others are conceptual. >> they had to devalue their currencies. and the deevaluationation option isn't completely rolled out at the present. >> the region has been through more challenging times before. weekend is the 20th anniversary of the battlic way, the day the battlic people formed a 600 kilometer human chain in demand for independence. the three countries are just as unified today in their determination to tackle the current economic crisis. well, that's the history. let's talk about the future. the prime minister of latvia gratefully joins us now on the program. thank you so much to your time. the report that we just heard laid out a lot of the concerns and the pain that the lat veean people are having to sustain to steady the ec

. >>> and pity poor latvia. crushed by the economic downturn, it's snoufring a new problem, british bachelors gone wild. >>> good evening, i'm martin savid savidge. it's been quite a week for clinton family, with bill clinton capturing headlines in north korea the last two days. today it was hillary clinton in africa. the secretary of state was talking tough about islamic extremists in somalia and offering to expand and extend american support to that very tenuous government in that country. she said the militants there see somalia as a future haven for global terrorism. in tonight's lead focus, we look at clinton's visit to africa and its goals. on the second full day of her african tour, secretary of state hillary clinton was in nairobi, kenya. there she honored the victims of the 1998 bombings of the american embassies in kenya and in neighboring tanzania. tomorrow is the 11th anniversary of those bombings, which claimed the lives of more than 200 people. up to that point, the embassy attacks were among the m

latvia's economy, like many hers, are suffering. it shrunk by 30% in theast two years. urism is important and the st parties help fill up empty hol rooms andput money in the tis of the bars and restaunts. but there's e issue here above l other which is working the latvians into a fury. this is the city freedom monument, considered sacred by ma vat llatvians, a symbol of t country's frdom and history, and it's cimed by the police thatt's regularly used by drunken brits as a place to ina urate. >> mainly ey say they did not ow the significance of the monument. they did not see the toilet nearby so they pee in the place that seemed appropriateor them. >> transtor: it is disrespectfutowards our natial symbol. it idisrespectful towards r country. they should be punished serely. >> reporte now the mayor of riga has stepped in. he'sgetting tough. wh riga really nts is to wave gd-bye to the duncan reveler and wi open arms enbraca higher class of tourist. buthey're upgainst a colossal industry. this lumber company sent 6000 velers to riga eachear b it says warns each ad every on

estonia. -- lithuanian, latvia, and estonia. our correspondent has returned to investigate the legacy of europe's revolution. >> this jail was dark and desolate. 16 were crammed into a space used by 31. it is where those who wanted independence for estonia were brought for interrogation because moscow treated nationalists as criminals. he got four years in jail. >> in that time, i never had the sense i was alone because i was not alone. i knew back then that the majority of the estonian people were with me, and it gave me strength. >> by 1989, inspired by events in poland and hungary, when million people will willing to join her in the cause. they formed a human chain across the three baltic republics. because they were inside the borders of the soviet union, they have a tougher time making their case for independence -- both to moscow and the west. although moscow was ready to let some go, it refused to release a sovereign nations within the soviet union. national feelings that were stirred up or two powerful to be resisted. af

officials say those arrested include nationals from estonia, russia, and latvia. we have this report from moscow. >> according to the defense ministry, the arctic sea was seized on july 24 in swedish waters. the boat came alongside the ship, asking for help, but once on board, they threatened the crew with guns. the ship sail towards africa with navigational equipment turned off. the journey began in finland on july 23 carrying a load reported to be worth 1 million pounds. on july 24, the alleged hijackers boarded the vessel. it was not heard from again until she contacted the coast guard in the english channel. the last sighting was off the coast of france. the ship was due to arrive in algeria august 4, but no more was heard until a russian navy vessel discovered the vessel off the coast of west africa. the russian defense ministry says not a shot was fired in the operation and the crew of 15 sailors are alive and well. here in the russian capital, there was relief the 15 sailors were in good health. there are many questions still unanswered. who were the allege

the defense minister says those arrested include nationals from of estonia and latvia. it was discovered on monday of the coast of west africa. russian officials say up to 76 people are feared to have died in an explosion at the country's biggest power station on monday. 64 people are still missing after the explosion. the owner of the plant says it is unlikely any survivors will be found. a judge in texas appears in court on five charges of professional misconduct after refusing to keep her court open to hear a last-minute appeal from a man on death row. sharon keller apparently said the court closed at 5:00 p.m. and the prisoner was executed less than three hours later. pakistani officials say the top spokesman for the taliban has been seized. maulvi omar has become a prominent figure in the taliban. joining me from islamabad is our correspondent. how reliable and how credible is this report of the capture of this man? >> we have still photographs sent to us by the intelligence agencies in pakistan. they clearly show maulvi omar in their custody. they will hold a pres

. >> with the wayne yet, latvia, estonia. back in the 1980's, all three were part of the soviet union. now they are part of the european union and nato. we had a report from the late 1980's. our correspondent return to investigate the consequences of the revolution. >> the soviet-arab jail was dark, damp, and -- this soviet- era jail was dark, damp, and crowded. prisoners from estonia were brought here for interrogation because moscow treated it nationalists as criminals. she got four years in jail. >> it never did i feel like i was alone. i knew the majority of the estonian people were with me. >> in 1989, 1 million people were ready to join her in the cause. they formed a chain across the baltic republics. this caused the work inside the borders of the soviet union -- because they were inside the borders of the soviet union, they had a hard time asserting their independence. although moscow was ready to let them go, it refused to let the subject nations go within the soviet union. national feelings have been stirred up and

defense minister is quoted as saying that those arrested include nationals from russia, estonia, and latvia. we have this report from moscow. >> according to the defense ministry, the arctic sea was seized on the 24th of july in swedish waters. a speedboat went alongside the ship, asking for help. once on board, the hijackers threatened the crew with guns. the ship and sailed to africa with navigational equipment turned off. the journey began in finland, with the ship carrying a cargo of timber reportedly worth more than 1 million pounds. the hijackers boarded the vessel, and it was not heard from again until four days later when they contacted the coast guard in the english channel. the last sighting was july 30, off the coast of france. the ship was due to dock in algeria on august 4, but nothing was heard until a russian navy vessel discovered the ship 300 nautical miles from the cape verde islands. the defense minister says not a shot was fired in the operation and the crew is alive and well. here, in the russian capital, there was relief that the 15 sailors were in good health. there a

china, japan, korea, are well ahead of us as well as ex- communist nations like latvia, croatia and slovenia. >> question, education is key to competitiveness in the work force. that is what mr. obama tells us. but no amount of education will keep u.s. jobs here. all we will have is a highly educated pool of unemployed people. data shows that jobs for college educated are rapidly being outsourced to cheaper labor markets. so education is not the key, excuse me, to competitiveness in the work force. >> pat buchanan? >> john, first off we saw all the manufacturing jobs for these kids that don't graduate from high school, or just get out of high school, great jobs, they are gone. now allen binder the economist said $30 million to $40 million white collar jobs, accountant, medical -- people doing medical diagnosis. all these other jobs -- done abroad send it bit computer. 30to40million are at risk. we have one of the highest standards of living in the world and these jobs will go to places, quite frankly, where they don't have to pay as much money and they can get an equal amount of good work do

the suspected hijackers are were estonia, latvia and russia and were detained without incident by theavy. the ship was found safe off the west cst of africa. earlier, the crew had reported that the ship was raided by armed men. >>> are you ready to start your christmas shopping? two big retailers want to help with a new twist to a holiday shopping tradition. >>> some new rules for credit card companies go into effect this week. we'll run down what you need to know. >> we'll check out your morning commute and your local weather as well as an update on the tropics. we're keeping a close watch on wurricane bill today. e're coming right back after of the break. ca nk or cash fornklu cers is avaie at your chevy deal . lu with re eligible models to choose from than anyone. iluyo urer nk c qualifies to be recycle, you can get a $3500 or $4500 goverent rebate. nd at usun jannoced! if you qualify for the clunker rebate, you may also qualify for 0% apr for 72 months. that means you can buy a '09 li maorbu f $271 a month after a $3500 government rebate andbuo down payment. go to chevy.com for de

the stolen information was sent to computer systems in california and illinois and latvi latvia, nether sxlands ukraine. >> they potentially making millions of dollars selling the records and selling them on the black market. >> gone zal sez already in jail waiting trial in another hacking case involving dave & busters. this new case breaks his previous record of stealing 40 million accounts. from retailers t.j.maxx, barnes & noble, sports authority. the hackers use ad technique used war driving which involves driving around with a laptop looking for accessible wireless networks. back at the condominiums his neighbors are realizing that it was always eerily quiet next door. >> i told joe, sid, they are so quiet. >> if convicted on the hacking charges, gonzalez could spend the rest of his life in prison. jane watrel, news4. >>> final check on the forecast with bob. >> couple more thunderstorms coming through. for you folks around waldorf, these are summertime run of the mill thunderstorms. there was one warning and one report of estimated three-quarter inch hail in annapolis. the good ne

latvia's annual wife carrying contest. 55 couples took place this year and, of course, it's all in techniqueme men carried their partner by piggyback, others used the fireman's old and some upside down. they had to carry the women up a hill. the couple with the best time won a trick to stockholm, sweden. >> that would be a great way to figure out how to marry someone. >> maybe we can have the finnish champian a iaia iaion and the l champion face-off. >>> they're more familiar with snoop dogg and aerosmith, but geffen records has a new unlikely audience. that would be the pope. they say they will release a cd featuring pope benedict's voice synced with the royal philharmonic orchestra. >> it was incredible to see and very privileged to be allowed in to hearing that, and as we listened to the choir, we started to notice there was another voice that was coming through which is obviously pope benedict, and it became apparent this could be a really remarkable record. >> the cd featuring the pope is due out november 30th. profits will go toward helping under privileged children and a great christm

is what is essentially a widespread defaults in eastern europe and enormous amount of lending like latvia, a czech republic, estonia, poland, for western european banks the big western european banks do not get me started with the u.k.. there is an incredible amount of responsibility that was equal to and not necessarily a result of the u.s. banks forcing them to do with with the liquidity and money rowling grant -- around for people willing to lend enormous sums on the part of mortgages and also corporations and people who want to take companies private and to do so on very, very lax terms. europe is suffering but will continue to suffer and again when i talk to u.s. regulators they are more concerned because they don't feel european banks had been as honest and taking their hits then you have the eastern european component that our own banks don't have for it is very questionable if other european banks that have lent tens of billions of dollars will ultimately be paid back. when we look at the global, it is interesting. europe right now is not coming back at all and you will hear, when

finding there to places outside the united states, toome ples inside the united stes, but also to latvia russi the netherlands. why? >> youruestion was why they were exporting data? wars why to tse places. is it hardero investigate, harder toprosecute once you ship t data off to somewherees in theorld? >> we think there's ample opportunity for e government to be involved to help inrnational cooperation in catching the crimins, we think that's important opportunity and signicant area where the government c be involv. suarez: have the two sides been learning from each oth, the hackers and the institutis that are trying to fen off these attacks? they look for breachesnd then exploit them and then your side trie to build new defenses? >> i think as long as card data rains valule, criminals are going t contie to seek that information. what we have to doance industry is t work with financial ititutions and with mrchants to protect that ca information. we hav to make sure that they are adhering t strict industry dat security standards. as an industry we also have t explore new ws to make that c

and enormous amount of lending to countries like latvia, estonia, czech republic, poland, was from westerneuropean banks. the big western european banks. don't even get me started with the u.k. the fact is that there is an incredible amount of irresponsibility on the part of many european banks. that was equal to and not necessarily result of the u.s. banks forcing them to do it. it was a global phenomena, this glut of liquidity that we had, money rolling arou on the willingness of people to lend enormous sums to whomever it might have been, both on the part of mortgages and also corporations and to people who wanted to take companies private. and to do so on very, very lacks terms. so europe is suffering and will continue to suffer. you know, again when i talked to some of the u.s. regulators, they are more concerned about europe. in part because they look of the european banks have been as honest as the u.s. banks and taking their hits. and then you have his eastern european component that our own banks don't have. where it's very questionable as to whether any of these western european

it is the annual fe-carrying contest in latvia. 55 couples competed. here's how it works. the men have to carry their wives or girlfriends up a 410-foot hill. all of the women must weigh at least 110 pounds so that no couples have the unfair -- ouch -- unfair advantage. as you can see, there are different strategies involved. it's tiring as well. one man said by the time he finished he couldn't even feel his feet. no word on whether he went home single. the winning couple gets a much deserved r and r. they win a trip to sweden. if it was me, i would say, hon, you felt as light as a feather. i don't want to get in trouble when i get home. >> a series of bizarre burglaries has police on the manhunt. why you might want to think twice before taking a look at this suspect. >> billionaire donald trump is about to be top dog again. >> we're watching weather and traffic on the 1s. stay with us. "news 4 today" continues now at 6:00 a.m. (announcer) create a gourmet meal on a weeknight? introducing anytime gourmet culinary kits for two. it has everything you need. just prep, cook an

so that they can be enhanced in the job that they do and that we know that consumers in lithuania, latviad london can have the same kind of expectations about their policies being in good order when they finally come to have been paid out. and most of all, that they can't afford them. and as i know in terms of an economic crisis as we are facing at the moment, many people are turning their back on injured in thinking well, do i have to take the insurance bill for my house? the consequences of that could be enormous in terms of the social impacts as well so i don't want to price people out of the market. so capacity and competence has driven us to make sure that we have one market in insurance. >> i appreciate what your thoughts on that because i actually do believe that people when they are cutting back and the syncing is happening here in this country, they are looking where they can cut back, just to survive by paying their mortgage or whatever. and if they can get away with whether its car insurance, letting it lapse, hoping they don't get caught, health care insurance. obviously we ar