"Serbia winning battle against AIDS"
05/16/2008 : 08:49
BELGRADE -- The number of AIDS patients and people dying of AIDS in Serbia is leveling out thanks to preventive measures that have been taken, says the health minister.

“We have good results that we can be happy with,” Tomica Milosavljević told a press conference today.

Stressing that universal access to free therapy had been ensured, he warned that only four percent of the population had taken an AIDS test.

Milosavljević said that World AIDS Day, established in San Francisco in May 1983, would be marked on Sunday, May 18 with a series of activities.

UNICEF Director for Serbia Judith Reichenberg, chairing a UN thematic group on HIV/AIDS, said that there were some 33 million AIDS sufferers around the world, including around two million children under the age of 15.

She said that AIDS could be prevented and treated, and highlighted the problems of discrimination towards AIDS sufferers, as well as the need for joint action by all sections of society in battling the disease.

President of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights Miloš Stojković supported the adoption of a law against the discrimination of AIDS patients, reiterating that two such proposals had come before the old parliament.

Since 1985, according to information from the competent institutions, 1,398 persons in Serbia have been infected with the AIDS virus, of whom 923 have died, while last year, 42 people became infected, and 18 died.

In October of last year the Global Fund for HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria adopted a five-year project for Serbia, allocating the Serbian Health Ministry EUR 9.5mn.

World AIDS Day commemorations in Belgrade will be attended by several Eurovision Song Contest competitors, it was stated at the press conference.

Registration of “.rs” domains gathering pace
05/16/2008 : 08:32
BELGRADE -- The National Internet Domain Registrar has thus far registered 19,000 “.rs” domains to replace the existing “.yu” extensions.

Of the registered domains, 9,651 are registered “.rs,” 6,651 are “.co.rs” for business users, and 723 have the “.org.rs” extension.

Since registration began on March 10, some 1,800 domains have been registered by physical entities, 254 domains have been registered “.edu.rs” by educational institutions, and 33 state bodies have registered “.gov.rs” domains.

It is estimated that there are about 40,000 of the old “.yu” domains left, half of which are still active, and which will remain functional until September 30, 2009.

The Registrar has formed a Transition Commission for dealing with problems and filing requests for new and old registered users.

There are 34 authorized registrars with whom new domains can be registered.

With the new registration, all companies can register an unlimited number of domains, so that they can have separate internet presentations for each of their products if they wish.

The transition from “.yu” to “.rs” will be conducted in two phases.

The first will last six months, during which old users will only be able to register the equivalent of their old domains as “.rs.”

After these six months, it will be possible to use domains that had been registered but were inactive.

The “.rs” domain can be registered for a period of one to ten years, with the possibility of extending the registration.

BELGRADE -- The newspapers lead with a story that will not likely leave the front pages for a while
05/15/2008 : 09:32
ALO—"Let's start our love anew", suggests to the parties which have experienced a series of acrimonious political splits in the past months and years, are now trying to find new partners to form the next Serbian government.

"SPC assembly to choose new patriarch today?", the tabloid wonders, as it announces a top meeting of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) leaders in Belgrade.

BLIC—"Tadić agrees government with Dačić", the newspaper speculates, and quotes anonymous sources as it writes about the new cabinet scramble, and brings a file photo of a meeting between Ivica Dačić and Boris Tadić on the front page.

Another item on the front page is an interview with Democratic Party (DS) official Dragoljub Mićunović, who says, "Coalition with Socialist Party is not expensive".

Russia apparently is the favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest, and the artist representing that country, Dima Bilan, appears to be confident: "I believe I'll win in Belgrade".

BORBA—"Everyone drives hard bargain", the front page says of the government talks after an inconclusive election Sunday.

"How to choose a calling", brings advice to students about to enroll to high school.

VEČERNJE NOVOSTI—The newspapers are making the most of puns that can be made of SPS leader Ivica Dačić's name: "Deal on Ivica [edge]?"; The only certainty so far is that the SPS will decide which of the major political blocs will in fact be able to form a ruling coalition.

GAZETA—"Tomo, Dačić is unreliable", the tabloid comes up with apparent quotes it attributes to the DSS leader Vojislav Koštunica, allegedly said in conversation with Tomislav Nikolić of SRS.

GLAS JAVNOSTI—Another daily that is certain the deal has been done, only this one leans to a different side as it speculates: "Koštunica premier, Nikolić gets parliament".

"Patriarch about to resign?", in the shadow of the political turmoil, the fate of the ailing patriarch might be decided today.

DANAS—The tragedy in China, where an earthquake that struck two days ago killed tens of thousands of people, is on the front page: "Rain hampers efforts to rescue several thousand trapped people".

The liberal daily says cabinet talks are conducted on two tracks: the DS-LDP, and the DSS-SPS: "Negotiations both happening and not happening".

The leader of the Sandžak Democratic Party (SDP), one of five parties which led by the Democrats won the most votes last Sunday, says of the Socialists (SPS), founded and led for over a decade by Slobodan Milošević: "It is natural that SPS should be in democratic government".

KURIR—"Premier after all", more speculation, this time in favor of the SRS, DSS, NS, SPS, PUPS, JS coalition.

"Dinkić and Šule on sofa", the tabloid says that Democrat Dragan Šutanovac and Mlađan Dinkić, G17 Plus, yesterday visited the seat of the Socialist Party. The sofa reference has to do with Milošević's famous sofa, where he received his visitors during the 1990s heyday.

POLITIKA—"Everyone misses third (party)", the daily concludes of the government talks.

"Most uncertain SPC assembly", more on the gathering in Belgrade today.

"Tycoons of unknown professions", looks at what Serbia's rich have in fact been formally trained to do.

PRESS—"Tadić wants DS-DSS-SPS government!", the tabloid throws this seemingly wild speculation into the mix.

"How much for Ivica?", says that the Socialists "could gain to earn as much as EUR 30mn" in this democratic process of putting together a new cabinet in Serbia.

Policeman dies in Spain explosion
05/15/2008 : 09:28
VICTORIA -- A police officer is dead while four others are have been wounded after a bomb went off in northern Spain, reports say.

The Spanish police have confirmed that the incident took place this morning in front of a police station near the town of Victoria at 03:00 CET.

The Basque terrorist group ETA, fighting for the region's independence, is suspected of being behind the deadly attack.

However, local police said that no warning was received before the attack.

ETA last struck on March 7, two days before the Spanish general election.

The terror group has carried out more than 20 attacks since a ceasefire was announced in December 2006.

In the past 40 years, more than 820 people died in ETA's attacks.

Press: Socialists "collecting bids"
05/14/2008 : 08:51
ELGRADE -- The Socialists are back on all the front pages of Serbia's newspapers after almost eight years, as final election results become clear.

ALO—"Sloba smiles from his grave", explores the key role that the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), founded by Slobodan Milošević, seems to have assumed in the Serbian political scene after this election.

But, according to the tabloid, Serbia's financial market more than just smiles: "Stock market and dinar back from dead".

BLIC—"Democrats for government with Socialists", declares the daily on the front page, and explains that although the DS-led coalition won the most votes, it must look for other partners if it means to form the next government.

"Dinar recovers, stock market grows", is another optimistic look at the monetary and financial situation in the country.

BORBA—"Who will be kingmaker?", where others have no doubt, this newspaper wonders in the main story on the front page, looking at the post-election scramble to form a ruling coalition.

"More signatures than votes", explores one phenomenon of the ballot last Sunday, where almost half a dozen tickets that took part managed to submit more signatures supporting their candidacy, than they actually won votes in the elections.

VEČERNJE NOVOSTI—"Dačić holds key!", the newspaper says of Ivica Dačić, leader of the Socialists.

"City, too, uncertain", looks at the results of the Belgrade city assembly vote.

GAZETA—This tabloid takes the story about the importance of the SPS a step further: "Dačić premier", and says that the SRS and DSS leaders, Tomislav Nikolić and Vojislav Koštunica, are ready to make this concession in order to secure an SRS-DSS-SPS government, and throw is as many as 40 percent of portfolios as well.

GLAS JAVNOSTI—"Dačić with Voja and Toma after all?", the main headline says.

Locally, "Tadić leads in most towns". The article examines the municipal vote results.

DANAS—"Dačić awaited. Perhaps Ugljanin, too", says this headline, while the article explains that Sulejman Ugljanin, Novi Pazar mayor, and his minority list could also play a role in forging the next cabinet.

KURIR—Meanwhile the tabloid has no doubt: "New government", it says on the front page, and explains that this will be a SRS-DSS-SPS cabinet, alleging at the same time that the party leaders have already reached agreement on this.

The paper also quotes Radical Aleksandar Vučić who hopes he will head Belgrade for the next four years: "Mayor".

POLITIKA—"Collecting bids", the newspaper says as it looks at the SPS role and the start of cabinet talks.

"Thousands buried in schools, factories", looks at the tragedy unfolding in China in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake there.

PRESS—"Pact", is the headline the tabloid gives to an article about an alleged deal made between Nikolić and Koštunica, who are set to try and form the new government together.

But, "Tadić counts on Ivica", says that the Democrats believe they will be the lucky party to woo the Socialists.

"One in six Serbians without elementary school"
05/14/2008 : 08:25
BELGRADE -- Of Serbia's 7.5 million citizens, more than 1.2 million did not complete elementary education, Biznis i Finansije magazine claims.

At the same time, the weekly quotes data released by the Statistical Office, which shows that 3.5 percent of the population is completely illiterate.

The statistic applies to central and northern Serbia, without Kosovo.

At the same time, the article says, 126,127 citizens completed one to three years of elementary school, whereas 898,847 only completed four to seven years.

The results of reading tests in Serbia demonstrate that 40 percent of the persons who declared themselves literate in fact were not, while that percentage was even higher for writing tests.

The percentage of illiteracy in the whole of Serbia is 1.5 percent, whereas the figure for the whole of Europe is 1.5, while Slovenia, for example, has 0.6 of its population officially declared illiterate.

At the same time, Serbia is the only country in Europe where the number persons with high education has dropped in the last fifteen years – today standing at 7 percent.

Although secondary education is free, not everyone uses this opportunity, and every year high schools report capacity to take on 10,000 additional students.

Serbia spends around 3.8 percent of the GDP on education of some half a million elementary, secondary and university students each year, and falls into the category of countries with the lowest education budget in Europe.

Quake toll in Sichuan rises to 8,533
05/13/2008 : 08:48
BEIJING -- The most devastating earthquake to hit China in more than three decades killed 8,533 people in the southwestern province of Sichuan alone on Monday.

Reuters quoted the official Xinhua news agency said, which citing the local government.

Earlier the news agency said the earthquake measuring 7.5 struck the province, less than 100 km from the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S. Geological Survey says.

The quake was felt across much of China and as far west as Bangkok, Thailand's capital, some 3,300 km away, where office buildings swayed for several minutes.

"We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes. All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings," said an office worker in Chengdu.

In Beijing's financial district, many workers poured from their buildings but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.

"People were shouting 'get out, get out', so we all ran out of our dorm," said a student surnamed Zhang at a university in nearby Chongqing.

USGS said on its website (http://earthquake.usgs.gov) that the quake struck at 2:28 a.m. EDT at a depth of 29 kms. The agency originally put the strength of the quake at 7.8

Japan's meteorological agency said no warnings for a tsunami has been issued.

Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of kms from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.

A spokesman for the China Earthquake Administration said it was still checking the epicenter and scale of the tremor.

Belgrade stock markets surge
05/13/2008 : 08:42
BELGRADE -- Shares on the Belgrade stock exchange, BSE, have rocketed a day after the elections, and by midday, a large number of shares had registered maximum growth of 20 percent.

The BELEX15 index of the biggest shares leapt over 12 percent.

Shares in Čačanska Bank [ČNB], Commercial Bank [KMBN], Belgrade Economic Bank [PRBN], Vital [VITL], Globos Insurance [GLOS] and Informatika [INFM] all rose by around 20 percent.

Of the A-List shares, the day’s biggest winner was Energoprojekt Holding [ENHL] with shares in the company soaring 10 percent. Soja Protein [SJPT] shares almost hit the 10 percent mark, while Tigar [TIGR] rose 8.8 percent.

Đoković triumphs at Rome Masters
05/12/2008 : 09:49
ROME -- Serbia's Novak Đoković beat Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 2-1 (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) in the Rome Masters final today.

This is Đoković's tenth career title, fourth in the Masters tournaments.

Previously this season, Đoković took his first Grand Slam in Australia, and triumphed at Indian Wells Masters.

Wawrinka, ranked 24, and world number three Đoković assumed their finals spots after opponents the day before quit injured or ill during semi-finals.

Democrats heading for victory in Belgrade
05/12/2008 : 09:47
BELGRADE -- According to preliminary results, the “For a European Serbia” coalition has won the most votes at the Belgrade local elections.

With 20.93 percent of the votes counted, “For a European Serbia— Boris Tadić“ won 39.93 percent of votes cast, which translates into 46 seats in the city assembly, the City Electoral Commission has announced (GIK).

The Serb Radical Party (SRS) won 32.55 percent of votes or 37 seats, the Democratic Party of Serbia-New Serbia (DSS-NS) coalition 11.84 percent or 13 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party 7.65 percent or eight seats, and the Socialists 5.35 percent or 6 seats in the next city assembly.