• Slovakian flying car take its first flight
• Slovakia: Stress tests show banks' strength is sound
• Taiwan's AU to build LCD plant in Slovakia - source

• Arrests highlight illegal nuclear trade
• Questions and answers on Slovakia's uranium arrests
• Slovakia: More troops pledged for Afghanistan

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Slovakian flying car take its first flight
22 October 2013 - The Aeromobil 2.5, a flying car designed and built in Slovakia, recently made its first test flight. Company co-founder and chief designer Štefan Klein has devoted 20 years to its development. The 2.5 in its name means that it's the prototype of the third-generation Aeromobil -- development of 1.0 started in 1990, and it looked much different from the current prototype. It has collapsible wings that are swept back for driving duties and unfolded for flight. (more)

Slovakia: Stress tests show banks' strength is sound
12 April 2010 - Stress tests showed the Slovak banking system's strength was sound and the majority of banks could weather even a worsening of economic recovery or rising stress on financial markets, the central bank said. The euro zone newest member's banks have been shielded from the direct impacts of the global financial crisis, mainly thanks to the adoption of the euro in January 2009, very small holdings of toxic assets, and small borrowing in foreign currencies. (more)

Taiwan's AU to build LCD plant in Slovakia - source
2 December 2009 - Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp, the world's No.3 LCD maker, will invest around 191 million euros ($287.9 million) in Slovakia to build an LCD assembly plant, a government source said. The project, the biggest foreign direct investment project since the country joined the euro zone in January, is expected to create some 1,800 direct jobs. (more)

Wind turbine orders increase in Asia
19 November 2009 - Vestas Wind Systems said Wednesday it plans to announce significant orders for its wind turbines in the next five months, citing a pick-up in demand for wind power in Asia as more funding for projects becomes available. Vestas' Asia unit sees potential wind demand of 3,000 megawatts (MW) in the region. (more)

Slovakia outlook raised to positive - Moody's
1 August 2008 - Moody's Investors Service said it changed the outlook to positive from stable on the Slovakian government's 'A1' foreign and local currency bond ratings in view of Slovakia's strengthening economic fundamentals. Moody's positive outlook takes into account various factors including sound macroeconomic policies, and in particular, robust economic growth and favourable public debt dynamics. (more)

EU clears Slovakia aid for Samsung LCD plant
2 July 2008 - The European Commission cleared about 65 million euros ($103 million) in Slovakian aid to help South Korean electronics group Samsung build a plant in Slovakia making liquid crystal displays (LCD) for televisions. The project would require a total investment of nearly 300 million euros and create around 1,200 direct jobs plus 3,700 indirect jobs, spurring development in the region, the European Union executive said in a statement on Wednesday. (more)

Slovakia: Revenue boom narrows Jan-June budget gap, economy booming
2 July 2008 - The Slovak state budget deficit narrowed sharply in the first half of 2008, on an annual basis, as the booming economy continued to generate strong revenues ahead of euro adoption next year, data showed on Tuesday. Slovakia's gross domestic product grew by 8.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, the fastest rate in the EU. (more)

Slovakia's crown currency powers to a record high
20 May 2008 - Emerging equities rose on Monday to their highest level in 2008 due to recovering risk appetite, while Slovakia's crown currency powered to a record high as the country prepares to join the euro zone next year. (more)

Slovakia says to sign US visa deal Monday
14 March 2008 - Slovakia will sign an agreement with the United States that will lead to visa-free travel, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said on Friday. Kalinak said he would sign a memorandum of understanding in Washington on Monday, following other ex-communist European Union members that had recently agreed to similar deals. (more)

Slovakia: Classical music therapy helps newborns
10 September 2005 - Music therapy is being used successfully at the Kosica-Saca hospital in Slovakia to help babies deal with the stress of being separated from their mothers after birth, and to stabilize the breathing of babies born prematurely and babies with health problems. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Arrests highlight illegal nuclear trade
29 November 2007 - The arrests of three men who allegedly tried to sell contraband uranium for $1 million show how a shadowy black market for nuclear components has survived despite tightened security at nuclear facilities worldwide, experts said Thursday. The suspects, two Hungarians and a Ukrainian who were arrested Wednesday in eastern Slovakia and Hungary, were trying to sell about a pound of uranium in powder form, said First Police Vice President Michal Kopcik. (more)

Questions and answers on Slovakia's uranium arrests
29 November 2007 - Slovakia's arrests of three men who allegedly tried to sell contraband uranium for $1 million show how a shadowy black market for nuclear components has survived. Here are some questions and answers about uranium. (more)

Slovakia: More troops pledged for Afghanistan
22 October 2007 - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, at a meeting of European defence ministers, won a commitment from Slovakia on Monday to increase its troop presence in Afghanistan. Gates has been pushing for more help in Afghanistan from European countries, not only those in the NATO alliance but others with security and other resources that could contribute to stabilizing the country where violence is increasing. After the meeting Gates was headed to the Czech Republic for talks on the US proposal to install a missile-tracking radar there as part of a Europe-based US missile defence system that is strongly opposed by Russia. (more)