RIGA: Latvia officially adopted the euro at the stroke of midnight local time, making the former Soviet state of two million people the 18th member of the crisis-hit eurozone.

As a huge firework display roared in Riga, the people of the Baltic state bade a reluctant farewell to their cherished lat -- seen as a symbol of independence from the Soviet Union -- to switch to the troubled European single currency. (AFP)

SOURCE: AFP