Ljubljana Film Festival (LIFFe)

"The 18th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe), the biggest event of its kind in Slovenia, will feature over 100 films from around the globe between 7 to 21 November. The festival will open with the independent US production 'The Darjeeling Limited' by Wes Anderson.

Special attention will be given to national cinematographies and tributes to masters of contemporary film, LIFFe's new programme director Simon Popek told the press on Tuesday. Film lovers will have two full weeks to see the very best of world cinematographies packed into twelve programme sections according to type of film."

Source: GCO

Nine more European countries open borders

"The European Union announced on Wednesday it plans to extend the abolition of borders to nine new members, including Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

As from December 2007, the EU will abolish checks at internal land and sea borders (and air borders by March 2008) to the nine countries, a press release from the EU Council said."

Source: Xinhuanet

Ljubljana Film Festival (LIFFe)

"The 18th Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe), the biggest event of its kind in Slovenia, will feature over 100 films from around the globe between 7 to 21 November. The festival will open with the independent US production 'The Darjeeling Limited' by Wes Anderson.

Special attention will be given to national cinematographies and tributes to masters of contemporary film, LIFFe's new programme director Simon Popek told the press on Tuesday. Film lovers will have two full weeks to see the very best of world cinematographies packed into twelve programme sections according to type of film."

Source: GCO

Presidential Vote Heads to Second Round

"The first round of the presidential poll in Slovenia has raised more new questions than it answered, with a near three-way tie at the top auguring a politically-charged three weeks in Slovenia ahead of the run-off. Veteran Slovenian politician Lojze Peterle was the victor with 28.54%, well short of the 50% needed for an outright win and below what the polls had forecast for him, as two left-leaning candidates fought it out for second place.

While Peterle looks a sure run-off contender, as even votes from abroad cannot change his lead, it is as yet unclear who will be his rival due to an extremely close finish by former senior UN diplomat Danilo Tuerk and ex-central bank governor Mitja Gaspari. The latest unofficial results give Tuerk 24.52%, ahead of 24.15% for Gaspari for second place. Zmago Jelincic of the National Party, the only candidate who had stood for the presidential office before, got 19.28%."

Source: GCO

Slovenia beats Britain in safe births

"Britain comes only 19th in a worldwide survey of the safest places to become pregnant and give birth. Although Britain makes it into the “lowest risk” category in a new study by Population Action International, it is bettered by some surprising nations, including Cuba, Estonia, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia and Singapore.

The league tables, headed by the Netherlands, compares the risks of dying in pregnancy and childbirth by analysing nine indicators. These include the maternal death rate, the infant mortality rate, the proportion of birth attended by skilled health personnel, the prevalence of HIV/Aids, the percentage of women married by the age of 18, adolescent fertility, and coverage of antenatal care."

Source: Times Online

Decline in Sales due to Anti-Smoking Law - Society - Brief News

"Bars and restaurants recorded a 30% fall in turnover in the month after the new anti-smoking legislation entered into force, the catering association reported. Bars and restaurants in the Ljubljana and Gorenjsko regions saw a 30% decrease in turnover, while the figure stood at 40% in Štajersko, Prekmurje and Koroško, the association said in a press release. Beverages and coffee suppliers also recorded a drop of up to 30% in sales in August year-on-year. The association also said that it had already informed the Health Ministry about the results of the analysis and added that it expected even more worrying results in the autumn. "

Source: STA

Slovenia Spied on Croatia’s Int. Conversations

"In the autumn of 2004 the Slovene intelligence agency SOVA monitored almost all Croatian government’s international conversations, not only telephone conversations, but also fax and e-mail messages, Slovenia’s daily Dnevnik writes.

-From a monitoring location at Slovenska Road in Ljubljana, SOVA monitored all international communications of the Croatian government – faxes, e-mails and telephone conversations, which were mostly not encoded. Especially interesting were conversations from (Croatian Prime Minister) Sanader’s cabinet – Dnevnik writes.

According to previous writing by the paper, SOVA also listened into conversations of Sanader’s chief-of-staff, Bianca Matkovic, foreign ministry’s state secretary Hidajet Biscevic and employees of the Croatian police in Pula and Umag.

The paper adds that in that period SOVA had retrieved up to 9,000 pieces of information a day, with four people processing the information – two SOVA agents and two retired agents."

Source: Javno