Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on Thursday submitted to the parliament the nomination of Social Democrat Inga Ruginienė as prime minister.

Four people have been detained in an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office involving Garnis, a company partially owned by former Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas.

Saulius Skvernelis, the leader of the Democrats “For Lithuania” party which is part of the ruling bloc in Lithuania, says he will not remain as speaker of the parliament once the new coalition is agreed.

The Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) has detained Danas Paluckas, brother of former Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, in the coastal resort town of Palanga.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday it had imposed sanctions on two Lithuanian banks, Urbo Bankas and Mano Bankas.

A planned performance by acclaimed British singer Rag’n’Bone Man at Kauno Dainų slėnis (Kaunas Song Valley) on Tuesday evening was cancelled due to health problems, organisers confirmed.

Environment Minister Povilas Poderskis, who previously worked as a wind energy lobbyist, participated in drafting looser rules on how wind farms’ impact on birds is assessed – changes seen as favourable to wind farm developers.

Lithuania will soon have to decide whether to accept at least 158 migrants or pay a so-called solidarity contribution of over €3m under the European Union’s new Migration Pact.

Lithuania plans to teach more than 22,000 people how to build and operate drones at 9 new training centres over the next three years.

Eight Lithuanian defence industry firms and research institutions have signed a letter of intent with Brazil’s Embraer Corporation, one of the world’s largest aerospace and defence technology manufacturers.

The Lithuanian Armed Forces have conducted vehicle repairs at the garage of Ivetra Ir Ko, a company owned by Anton Hegelmann, whose recent meeting with Russian and Iranian representatives has raised national security concerns.

Lithuania’s apple juice pressing season, set to begin in a few weeks, is expected to be one of the worst in recent years, with output likely to be about half of last year’s due to frost damage and persistent rain, producers say.

Thousands of Lithuanians are building their lives in Norway – a country where their children grow up as locals and where Lithuanian identity becomes a matter of choice rather than inheritance.

A Lithuanian court has, for the first time in the country’s history, recognised a same-sex couple as constituting a family and ordered the state to register their relationship as a civil status record.

As the school year approaches, Lithuanian authorities are scrambling to find German-speaking teachers for special preschool groups being prepared for the children of German troops stationed in the country as part of NATO’s growing presence.

Poland’s new president, right-wing historian Karol Nawrocki, officially took office this week, prompting cautious reactions from Lithuanian officials and analysts about the future of bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries.

After a spike in June, the average cost of the cheapest food basket in Lithuania fell slightly in July, according to a price survey conducted by Pricer lt.

Social Democrat candidate for prime minister Inga Ruginienė confirmed she had travelled to Russia after its annexation of Crimea and said she has family roots in both Ukraine and Russia.

LRT Investigation: A Lithuanian citizen and former resident of Visaginas is developing a quarrying business in Russia. His business partner is the wife of a general in an ultra-secret division of Russia’s FSB.

A long-contested Soviet military burial site in the centre of Šiauliai is set to be removed, with the remains of Red Army soldiers due to be relocated to a municipal cemetery.