BUDAPEST, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - The Hungarian foreign ministry on Monday summoned the Slovak ambassador to protest against a parliament resolution justifying the expulsion of Hungarians and Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz told RTL Klub private television that the ambassador had been ordered to hear the protest.

'There is a political storm following the backing (by the Slovak parliament) of the Benes decrees,' Goncz said.

BUDAPEST, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Hungary on Friday protested to the Slovakian government over a parliament motion that justified the expulsion of Hungarians and Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

President Laszlo Solyom, Prime Minister Ference Gyurcsany and parliament speaker Katalin Szili all signed a statement demanding an explanation for the motion.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - Slovak lawmakers overwhelmingly voted on Thursday for a far-right motion backing laws that paved the way for the expulsion and expropriation of Germans and Hungarians after World War Two, in a move set to strain Slovak-Hungarian relations.

The motion, drawn up by a handful of lawmakers from the Slovak National Party (SNS), was approved by 120 members of the 150-seat parliament.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Slovak health ministry has dropped moves to abolish the right of doctors and health staff to refuse to carry out abortions and other procedures which clash with their religious beliefs, an official said Tuesday.

'As far as the objections of conscience, the ministry of health will propose to leave the initial version of the law unchanged,' spokeswoman Eva Slovakova told AFP in an e-mail reply to questions.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Slovakia's unemployment rate fell to 8.19 percent of the workforce in August from 8.3 percent in July to reach a new record low, the Office for Labour, Social Affairs and the Family announced on Tuesday.

The unemployment rate was 9.85 percent in August 2006, according to Slovak figures, which only take account of registered job seekers.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 15, 2007 (AFP) - Slovak doctors said Saturday that they had successfully completed a marathon operation to separate five-month-old conjoined twins who were joined at the chest.

The operation on Michal and Marek took the 46-person surgical team at the Childrens' Faculty Hospital in Bratislava almost 20 hours, with the boys under anaesthetic for 22 hours.

'We won the surgical battle,' consultant Jaroslav Siman said at news conference on Saturday, adding that the twins were still not out of danger following the risky operation.

PRAGUE, Sept 14, 2007 (AFP) - The European Union has raised questions over whether an extra 4.5-5.0 billion koruna (133-149 million euros, 186-206 million dollars) should be included in the Slovak budget deficit, Slovakia's leftist premier Robert Fico said Friday.

'The question is whether these (debts) should be included in the overall deficit or not. The figure amounts to around 4.5-5.0 billion Slovak koruna' he said at a meeting of Social Democrat leaders in Prague.

VATICAN CITY, Sept 13, 2007 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI urged Slovakia on Thursday to ratify a treaty that includes a 'conscience clause' affecting many areas of public life.

While accepting the credentials of new Slovakian ambassador to the Holy See, Jozef Dravecky, the head of the Roman Catholic Church hailed 'the republic's reassurance that it is committed to finalising the basic accord concerning conscientious objection.'

BRATISLAVA, Sept 12, 2007 (AFP) - The Slovakian government said Wednesday it was looking to further tighten its already strict asylum laws to prevent its country turning into a 'terrorist paradise'.

Justice Minister Stefan Harabin said a draft amendment had been approved by the government that, if passed by parliament, would lengthen the list of reasons for refusing asylum.

It would also bar people suspected or convicted of crimes in other countries from making a second application if the first was turned down.

BRATISLAVA , Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - Slovakia's biggest airport Tuesday began relocating ground squirrels near the complex as they were endangering flights by attracting large birds.

'We started moving the first animals today,' Bratislava airport spokeswoman Zora Kalouskova told AFP, adding that around half of the estimated 1,000-strong ground squirrels could be relocated from fields bordering the airport.

The squirrels attracted large birds of prey. This often led to bird hits or caused them to be sucked into the engines of planes either landing and taking off.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 11, 2007 (AFP) - Slovak inflation was 2.3 percent in August on a 12-month comparison, unchanged from July's figure, the Slovak Statistics Office said Tuesday.

In August, prices rose by 0.1 percent compared to July with the costs of transport, utilities and health care among the main factors fueling the rise, the office said. Consumer prices were unchanged between June and July.

Price rises have averaged 2.6 percent over the first eight months of the year compared with the same period in 2006, the office added.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - The Slovakian government decided Wednesday to draw up a list of dangerous roads on which buses should be banned following fatal accidents over the last week.

'A list (of roads) will be drawn up on which buses will be banned,' Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

Four people were killed and around 30 injured when their bus skidded into a deep ravine near Hrinova in mountainous central Slovakia on Sunday night.

The bus was carrying about 40 members of a local folk music group after they attended a nearby festival.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - A British stag party reveller who swam naked and committed indecent acts in a fountain in the centre of the Slovak capital, Bratislava, has been sentenced to 13 days in prison, a British embassy spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

Stephen Mallone, 25, from Worcester, central England, became notorious for his actions when Slovak authorities detained him, threatening to make him miss his June wedding. Following pleas by his parents and British diplomats, Mallone was freed to make the church on time.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - One person was killed and eight were injured when a bus crashed near the central Slovak town of Ruzomberok, police said on Tuesday.

The bus, carrying 25 passengers between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, apparently skidded down a slope on Monday and overturned.

On Sunday night, four people were killed and around 30 injured when their bus skidded into a deep ravine near Hrinova in mountainous central Slovakia.

The bus was carrying around 40 members of a local folk music group home after attending a nearby festival.

BRATISLAVA, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Slovak economic growth quickened to 9.4 percent on a 12-month basis in the second quarter fueled by strong domestic demand and exports, according to revised figures from the Slovak Statistical Office on Tuesday.

The office had earlier estimated second quarter growth at 9.2 percent.

Gross Domestic Product rose by 6.7 percent during the second quarter of 2006 on a 12-month basis.

JERUSALEM, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - Israeli naval divers retrieved the bodies of two sailors from the Mediterranean on Friday after a Cypriot cruise liner and a Slovak cargo ship collided near the Israeli port of Haifa, police said.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the bodies were pulled out of Haifa Bay and that an investigation had been opened into the cause of the accident.

JERUSALEM, Aug 30, 2007 (AFP) - Two vessels, a Greek passenger ship and a Slovak cargo ship, collided late Thursday near the Israeli port of Haifa, Israeli public radio reported.

The cargo ship sank and rescuers were still searching for two of the 13 crew onboard, it said. One passenger on the Greek ship was slightly injured.

The collision, which occurred four nautical miles off the coast, was due to a rudder problem on the Greek ship, the Salamis, the report said.

Israeli navy and air force helicopters participated in the rescue.

VIENNA, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Austrian police said Wednesday they had dismantled a group that apparently smuggled some 250 Indians and Pakistanis from Slovakia to Italy via Austria.

Ten people, mostly asylum seekers, have been arrested and seven others charged, following a five-month long investigation in cooperation with Slovak authorities, the Vienna police said.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Hana Ponicka, a dissident Slovak writer who published clandestinely under her country's former communist regime and was persecuted for supporting human rights, has died, Slovak media said Wednesday.

Ponicka, who was once even tipped to become Czechoslovak president, died on Tuesday aged 85 in the central town of Banska Bystrica, they said.

Ponicka's books for for children and adults were published secretly under the Communist regime which seized power in 1948.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Slovakian artist Julius Koller, the pioneer of conceptual art in the former Czechoslovakia and an eminent painter, graphic artist and photographer has died aged 68, the CTK news agency reported Monday.

Koller, who was born in May 1939 in Piestany, in western Slovakia, died on Friday, the agency said.

He was among a band of artists from the former Czechoslovakia who strove to end the country's cultural isolation in the 1960s.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Slovakian parachutist survived a 1,200 metre (3,937-foot) freefall after his parachute failed to open, the media website pravda.sk reported Sunday.

The 33-year-old suffered a fractured pelvis among other broken bones and bruises, but he was not in danger of dying, the website said.

The man took his first jump without taking along an emergency parachute, presumably due to his lack of experience.

He spiralled out of control when he jumped, which probably slowed down his fall. His wife saw the accident happen.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 11, 2007 (AFP) - An 11-year-old boy who took refuge at Italy's embassy in Bratislava in a bid to be reunited with his Italian father was handed back to his mother overnight in line with a court ruling.

The boy, identified only as Marco, gave his mother the slip at Bratislava airport Tuesday after returning home from a holiday in Tunisia. He took a taxi and went straight to the Italian mission.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 10, 2007 (AFP) - An 11-year-old boy took refuge this week at Italy's embassy in Bratislava because he is unhappy with his Slovakian mum and stepdad and wants to live with his Italian father, reports said Friday.

The boy, identified only as Marco, escaped from Bratislava airport Tuesday after returning home from a holiday in Tunisia. He took a taxi and went straight to the Italian mission.

NICOSIA, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - A Turkish Cypriot man was jailed for life on Thursday after a Cyprus court found him guilty of raping and strangling his Slovak former girlfriend and burying her body on the outskirts of the capital, Nicosia.

The court, in the southern coastal town of Larnaca, described Panicos Netzadi, 32, as a 'cold and calculated murderer' whose only motive was to exact revenge on 20-year-old Slovak waitress Janka Kovacova after she ended their relationship.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 4, 2007 (AFP) - Seven bodies have been found in the fire-gutted remains of a shelter for poor families in northern Slovakia with four people still unaccounted for, police said on Saturday.

'We have found seven bodies. Work at the scene of the accident will resume this morning and we cannot rule out the discovery of more victims,' police spokeswoman Jana Balogova told AFP.

Fire swept through the shelter at the northern town of Kysucke Nove Mesto in the early hours of Friday, forcing panic-striken inhabitants to flee for their lives.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - At least six people died, nine were injured and five unaccounted for after a fire broke out early Friday at a Slovak centre housing poor families, police spokewoman Jana Balogova told AFP.

'We have found six bodies, with five people now unaccounted for,' Balogova said in the late afternoon after the death toll mounted from an initial four.

Around nine people were taken to hospitals in nearby towns, with six detained for treatment. Most were later released.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - At least five people died, nine were injured and six unaccounted for after a fire broke out early Friday at a Slovak centre housing poor families, police spokewoman Jana Balogova told AFP.

'At the moment we have found five bodies. Police and fire services are still searching what remains of the building, with six people still unaccounted for,' Balogova added.

Around nine people were taken to hospitals in nearby towns, with six detained for treatment.

BRATISLAVA, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - Slovakia's defence minister Friday pledged a far-reaching investigation into allegations that troops returning from a NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo smuggled back large amounts of alcohol and cigarettes.

'This case has cast a bad light on soldiers serving in all foreign missions as well as those who conscientiously fulfill their duties at home,' Frantisek Kasicky said at a review of troops in the eastern town of Trebisov.