ZVS Holding has inaugurated a new production line for the production of 155-millimetre artillery ammunition bodies at its facility in Snina and Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák This new line is part of a major investment aimed at increasing the production of large-calibre ammunition bodies to meet rising global demand The investment in the new production line amounts to EUR 31.5 million bringing the total investment at the Snina facility to over EUR 80 million The facility is equipped with modern technologies including advanced robotics and automation and has undergone significant infrastructure upgrades The expanded capacity will enable the production of up to 360,000 units of 155mm artillery ammunition bodies annually by 2026 Pavol Čahoj emphasised that the expansion is a response to the growing demand for large-calibre ammunition bodies due to the current geopolitical climate “This investment strengthens our position in the market and supports the strategic priorities of the EU and NATO in defence,” he said The new production line is also expected to create dozens of highly qualified jobs in the Snina region with ZVS Holding aiming to more than double its workforce the company’s employee numbers have risen from 75 to 180 and the expansion is seen as a significant boost for the local economy Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák praised the development highlighting the importance of a strong national defence industry for both Slovakia and European security He confirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the sector in partnership with Czechoslovak Group (CSG) has invested EUR 50 million in the ZVS facility and its operations ZVS Holding is one of Europe’s leaders in the production and life-cycle management of large-calibre ammunition bodies with operations extending to Spain and Serbia ZVS holding was established in 1990 as a state-owned enterprise In 1996 the company was transformed into a joint stock company with 100% state participation and in 2015 the Slovak holding MSM GROUP became a 50% shareholder The other 50% remained in the hands of the state The production plants of ZVS holding are located in Dubnica nad Váhom and Snina The main activities of ZVS holding include the production of artillery ammunition from the standard one to ammunition with extended range up to 40 kilometers mortar ammunition of 81mm to 120mm caliber and production of pyrotechnic components Cookie Policy Copyright © 2025 Defence Industry Europe | mady by: geekon.eu We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are 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to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns Katie Francis A Florida man was arrested this summer after he was accused of snatching a man’s car keys from an unattended stroller at EPCOT and then breaking into his car in the theme park parking lot is charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle with a mask This may not have been an isolated incident The July 21 incident could be tied to other thefts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and EPCOT adding the Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Snina’s arrest unfolded last month when authorities noticed something suspicious on video surveillance He was seen taking a baby stroller parked in the France pavilion an area where the masses often ditch their strollers to go ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure “Snina took various items from the stroller to include keys to a Gray KIA Sportage,” a deputy wrote in the arrest report “I further observed Snina on surveillance video walking through the Epcot Center parking lot where he located the KIA parked in the ‘CRUSH’ section of the lot and moved the vehicle to a different part of the parking lot He parked the vehicle in a new spot that was not visible from where it was previously parked and began to rummage through the vehicle he shut the engine and left the ignition key on the driver seat Snina was then observed walking through the Epcot parking lot to his vehicle The arrest report doesn’t detail what else Snina took from the car and the stroller he went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios and attempted to enter the park That’s where authorities caught him to arrest him and Orange County Sheriff’s Office was called to the scene The man who owned the stroller and the KIA was willing to prosecute and testify against Snina Snina has been ordered not to return to Walt Disney World as part of the conditions of his pretrial release Court records show he is being represented by the public defender’s office For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram Though he enjoyed spending his days on campus and evenings at home he was eager to begin a new academic experience this summer—living and learning in a rural district of the Slovak Republic Michael Benjamin ’16C, ’17G was a commuter student at St. John’s. Though he enjoyed spending his days on campus and evenings at home, he was eager to begin a new academic experience this summer—living and learning in a rural district of the Slovak Republic The New York City native is the recipient of a 10-month Fulbright Scholarship John’s student to earn the honor since 2012 Student Program awards grants for individually designed study/research projects or for English Teaching Assistant Programs Benjamin will teach English to high school students at the Gymnázium Snina Located near the border with Ukraine and Poland Snina is a town of approximately 20,000 people He will spend about 20 hours a week in the classroom and the remainder of his time engaging with the local community Living for nearly a year in a foreign country may seem demanding “I’d like to create a book or film club—different ways to exchange language “With my urban background and their more rustic experiences there are so many opportunities to learn new things.” Benjamin enjoyed college life in his hometown “New York is the center of everything,” he observed “There was a lot to be said for continuing my education here.” The University’s focus on Global Studies whet his appetite for learning in other countries ‘Why not experience life somewhere else?’” In addition, Mr. Benjamin was the editor of The Torch, St. John’s student newspaper, and Sequoya, the campus literary magazine. He also served as a student consultant in the University Writing Center “I did a lot of work with multilingual learners helping to teach English and develop students’ writing skills I thought a Fulbright would be a great way to consolidate everything I’d learned.” and literature “dovetail into an interest in culture,” he said though he is not sure what field he wants to pursue “My feeling is that the Fulbright will open doors I don’t even know exist,” he stressed “I might want to teach or get a government job shaping educational policy Brooklyn, NY, native Scott Donaton ’89SVC found his “tribe” at The Torch, St. John’s University’s independent student newspaper. That experience propelled him to an immensely successful media career at entertainment conglomerates such as Entertainment Weekly, Hulu, and the digital marketing firm Digitas St. John’s University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, actual or potential parental, family, or marital status, pregnancy and related conditions, disability, or age in its programs and activities. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance, [email protected] has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies Ukraine is also grateful for your personal commitment," President Volodymyr Zelensky said  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 2:23 am)Drones target Moscow second night in a row, Russian official claims. Debris from one of the drones reportedly fell on the Kashirskoye Highway The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests "We are ready to deepen our contribution to the training of the Ukrainian military," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on May 5 by Kateryna HodunovaIllustrative purposes only: 155 mm artillery shells that are ready to be shipped are stored at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton (Hannah Beier/Getty Images)The premises of the ZVS Holding company which produces artillery shells for Ukraine and other contractors Slovak news outlet Dennik N reported on Oct The fire broke out at 1:30 p.m. local time in a hydraulic press used for the three-dimensional molding of steel shell casings it had engulfed the oil tank and part of the roof of the production hall and had been localized two plant workers were poisoned by combustion products The company has not yet identified the cause of the fire saying that it will be possible to determine it after the fire is completely extinguished There is also no estimate of the damage or impact on the production itself ZVS holding added that no explosives are used at the Snina plant All the shell casings are filled at another facility in Dubnica nad Vahom where the semi-state enterprise's main operation is located Ukraine has long tried to ramp up domestic ammunition production to become more independent from Western partners. In the summer of 2023, Ukroboronprom said that it had already mastered the production of 82 mm mortar mines Earlier media reports cited Ukrainian officials hoping to begin producing "desperately needed" NATO-standard 155 mm artillery rounds in the 'second half' of 2024 at the earliest The Ukrainian government announced in September that Ukraine already produces its own 155 mm artillery ammunition Despite domestic efforts, the Ukrainian army still mainly depends on supplying 155 mm shells from partners as European countries join forces to buy the rounds outside Europe Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy By William May United World Wrestling 2025 - All rights reserved You can read this exclusive content thanks to the FALATH & PARTNERS law firm which assists American people with Slovak roots in obtaining Slovak citizenship and reconnecting them with the land of their ancestors where he used to work on construction sites Jaroslav Lechan realised that what he really loved was traditional crafts and that he no longer wanted to leave his family in eastern Slovakia for a long time but I did not see my family,” the Slovak recalls of the bygone days Lechan knew that it was not a dream job and began to toy with the idea of starting his own business Because he grew up on his grandparents’ farm and knew different traditions and crafts he had a clear vision of what services he would want to offer to people With a little help from the European Union he eventually turned the vision into reality Lechan opened his own centre of crafts in Topoľa a few years ago and even teaches visitors how to build a thatched roof or rake grass He also runs a sheep farm and provides accommodation in the attics of two houses owned by his family “A tourist usually enjoys luxury at home here they do not need any TV in their room,” says Lechan Topoľa is set in the Poloniny National Park, the easternmost Slovak national park. This preserve is known for its primeval forests, some of which are inscribed onto the UNESCO list, but also for the European bison and its dark skies (You can learn more about the far-flung area in our Spectacular Slovakia travel guide.) But unless visitors from abroad or western Slovakia have a car it may be a challenge to reach the national park and villages nestled in it The railroad ends in the village of Stakčín only infrequent buses will take visitors to the village of Nová Sedlica where many visitors start exploring the national park Nová Sedlica and Stakčín are less than 40 km apart and somewhere in between can be found Topoľa which is squeezed in between the national park and the Vihorlat Mountains making it almost impossible to develop local tourism Lechan and a handful of mayors and local entrepreneurs are living proof that things can change for the better if there is the will to do so Horný Zemplín (Upper Zemplín) a tourism region across which Poloniny spread a stone’s throw from the Slovak-Ukrainian border a furniture company had gone bankrupt even before Slovakia joined the EU It took the village a long time to recover a state-owned forestry company and the major employer in the region and logging in order to enhance nature conservation local people in Ulič have been leaving their homes to work elsewhere not just the jobless but also those who felt underpaid at the forestry company “Salaries are low there,” sighs Ulič mayor Ján Holinka Some locals also feel that the expansion of the national park is unjust because it limits their forestry jobs making earning a livelihood next to impossible They cannot log wood wherever they would like to and they have not yet learned to benefit from tourism there are people like Lechan who have returned to their home They are not interested in farming but in tourism or other businesses “Young people avoid farming due to hard work and a lack of land,” the Ulič mayor thinks they are building or repairing private accommodation for tourists.” tourism in Slovakia has long faced obstacles in many forms including strict legislation and poor infrastructure Some of the local people underscore that building a guest house in a village without access to water supply and sewerage during summers is challenging The nearby Starina water reservoir does not supply water to the surrounding sparsely populated villages due to high costs to the major eastern Slovak cities of Prešov and Košice Poloniny National Park borders Bieszczadzki National Park in Poland believes that Slovak people can learn a lot about how tourism should be done from the Poles Slovakia has been discussing reviving tourism for 20 years whereas the Poles have actually taken action built the necessary infrastructure and improved their services “The changes on the Polish side are evident at every turn,” Holinka asserts where the government tightened the protection of forests the government also helped people living near a national park affected by such changes “With the new zoning plan for Poloniny some of the forests that had previously belonged to people were taken by the state which then put them under strict protection without any form of compensation,” Holinka says it is imperative to establish precise regulations that will clearly define the areas that will be protected and the areas where guest houses will be permitted to exist the mayor of Zemplínske Hámre also agrees that Poland has less strict legislation making everything easier compared to how things are done in Slovakia Slovakia possesses a five-stage control procedure for the utilisation of European funds which can be detrimental to certain projects due to a lack of sufficient time for completion The unnecessary bureaucracy is a significant issue Kepič cites the example of a tourist train project He still has not completed all the necessary paperwork Slovakia's territory was part of different monarchies throughout the history including the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867 until 1918 with the exception of the inter-war years 1939-1945 during which the Nazi-aligned Slovak state existed the territory was a part of Czechoslovakia the current names of Slovak municipalities were different Here's a list of the largest municipalities in Snina District with their historical names stated in the brackets: Belá nad Cirochou (Cirókabéla) Dlhé nad Cirochou (Cirókahosszúmező) Kalná Roztoka (Kálnarosztoka) Zemplínske Hámre (Józsefhámor) The full list of all Slovak municipalities, including their historical names, can be found at www.geni.sk (in Slovak only) The fact that Polish people are more entrepreneurial is confirmed by Eva Kocanová from the local civic association Také Naše (Ours) “They are not ashamed to offer services to visitors and get paid for them Kocanová also underlines the difference in land ownership Despite the fact that Bieszczadzki National Park holds ownership of the land it intends to develop facilitating the construction of tourist infrastructure by Poles local entrepreneurs in the Poloniny area have established new companies which is a good sign for the future of this corner of Slovakia Two women in Ulič began cooking "tatarčane" pirohy The pierogi are named after buckwheat flour Hany Ulič produces several tons of pierogi a month The firm supplies them to various shops and restaurants the son of one of the founders of the pierogi company and his childhood friend Miroslav Telehanič started their joint business - natural syrups produced from local ingredients Telehanič had been bothered by the fact that syrups for mixed drinks contain only artificial flavours He convinced Kovaľ to make syrups without preservatives and thus they started their business in Ulič After initial attempts at cooking syrup in their parents’ kitchen They gradually began working with more fruits and flavours they have suppliers from all over Slovakia They also buy non-traditional fruits such as sea buckthorns and chokeberries from local growers they started planting their own berries such as gooseberries We can find out which bushes do well in this area and then we will plant them in large numbers,” says Kovaľ They call their syrups “vlčie” (wolf) because they are directly from the Wolf Mountains The mayor of Ulič believes that Poloniny has potential as a tourist destination particularly when it comes to the Rusyn cuisine the Rusyns are a distinct Slavic group from the Eastern Carpathians living in northeastern Slovakia The mayor recalls a recent visit by French tourists who were more interested in people these visitors saw the national park as an opportunity to experience the local culture and not just the natural beauty of the region Several local entrepreneurs approached by The Slovak Spectator believe that the best years for tourism in Poloniny were during the coronavirus pandemic Since then the number of visitors has decreased and the region still does not see enough tourists to rely solely on tourism Tourists often mention that they enjoy the natural beauty of the area but lack services and other attractions tourists have nowhere to spend their money Only a small share of tourists are interested in spending a week in the woods if the locals wish to attract more regular tourists they will have to find a way to provide additional entertainment options These families are not interested in hiking every day and therefore Kovaľ thinks that Poloniny should not be transformed into a tourist destination similar to the Tatra Mountains we must offer something unique while respecting nature but it will take another 10 years to develop,” he adds the best era in Poloniny ended with the pandemic when people travelled around Slovakia instead of abroad during the summer “Thousands of tourists a day will never visit this place but hundreds will come for sure,” he says the innkeeper believes that the region could benefit from constructing at least one top hotel which could attract more demanding guests in return that in order to attract more discerning visitors a more robust system of support and improved access to Poloniny are essential the village was fortunate enough to have some forward-thinking mayors who decided to revive the village’s iron-making past and attract tourists They obtained European funds for their projects showcasing the history of iron ore mining in the village a museum operates in Zemplínske Hámre There is an educational trail in the village where visitors can learn more about the history of the long-gone ironworks has revived unused routes along the former narrow-gauge railway which had been previously used to carry iron ore The new asphalt cycle paths have replaced the old railway tracks Kepič says that he plans to connect Lower Zemplín (Dolný Zemplín) and Upper Zemplín regions via the Vihorlat Mountains using cycle routes Although it takes 72 km to drive around the mountain range it takes only 17 km to the village of Remetské Hámre on the other side of the Vihorlat Mountains the Vihorlat area also covers military forests Zemplínske Hámre also collaborates with local craftsmen The mayor’s dream is to build a cable car to Sninský Kameň He also would like to see this cable car extended all the way to Morské Oko but he knows that conservationists may not like the project “We don’t want a Disneyland or mass tourism here but we have to offer people activities so they don’t get bored,” says the mayor A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundred of tourist spots Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with our City Guide In a city where violence is commonplace and local people – young Arab men in particular – are viewed with suspicion by the authorities Genevieve Belmaker finds one group using parkour to not only improve their fitness In the shadows of a city with a tense and violent history of thousands of years some young residents have turned the ancient streets of Jerusalem into their playground young Arab boys and men ranging in age from about 11 to 23 have taken up the sport known as parkour Parkour is the discipline of using one’s body and existing structures to move quickly and efficiently in any environment using only the body In Jerusalem the sport often comes with the added danger of police who are on heightened alert over the activities of young Arab men That’s not without reason: since September 2015 there were dozens of knife attacks perpetrated by Arabs in Israel This doesn’t change the fact that the vast majority of the more than 100,000 Arab residents of Israel’s largest city Such simple joy is hard to find anywhere in the world One of Jerusalem’s loosely organised parkour groups is led by Oday Abu Snina There are dozens of parkour enthusiasts in the city The story of parkour is unique among the stories that a foreign correspondent might encounter of the usual politics of the conflict involved It’s a special challenge to keep pace with teenage boys who practice acrobatics in their spare time and can slip in and out of the crevices of the city in the blink of an eye as they make one dangerous jump after another Every time they land on their feet or crash but avoid injury Despite the fact that he fits the profile for the most oft-harassed and suspected cross-section of his city’s population Snina is undeterred from his beloved sport always positive and brimming with health and energy It’s difficult not to connect parkour to his upbeat approach to life “Parkour is freedom,” he says as he was practices moves with his friends in Jerusalem’s Old City Since Snina has been doing parkour for about two years he is usually the most experienced among his group and ends up playing the role of coach They come from some of the roughest neighbourhoods in the city: Silwan They face daily scrutiny and sometimes harassment by police as they go about their lives Mohammed Sarhan is a 16-year-old resident of Shuafat refugee camp The neighbourhood is just north of Jerusalem and is notorious for the lack of municipal control by either the Palestinian authorities or Jerusalem the camp of 80,000 people would be a difficult place to live as a teenage Arab boy and has become even more so over the past couple of years with lone-wolf acts of violence throughout Jerusalem Sarhan says he is confronted with these harsh realities every day “This morning some police stopped me,” he says Sarhan says he sees the police hit and harass people every day and that he feels trapped But rather than take to the streets and throw stones at police – as so often happens in this part of the world – Sarhan took up parkour He’s been practising with Snina and their friends for a few months now flipping off walls and flying through the air it makes the tensions on the ground dissolve When he does parkour he says he feels like “a bird in the sky.” Though parkour practitioners in Jerusalem use various locations to practice the Old City is considered a prime location That 500-year-old Ottoman walls of earthen-coloured stone surround a labyrinth of low-rise buildings with flat rooftops and endless stone structures of varying shapes and sizes that are perfect for propelling into the air though a major tourist destination as it is full of historical sites Tensions often run higher there than anywhere else in the city and in the past year numerous young Arab men have been shot dead just outside the gates by police Even if the police sometimes grumble or point a gun at them just for flipping off of a wall parkour is also a physical fitness regimen encourages them to try new and bolder moves and spots the less experienced guys so they won’t fall “Parkour prevents us from smoking,” he says His positive attitude is enough to make any parent Yet Snina isn’t above making wry jokes about the reality he lives in recounting a day last year when he noticed police observing him he simply scaled a high fence using parkour moves He said the police were so confused they just stood on the other side and watched him walk away The tropes applied to young Arab men in Jerusalem are so strong that Snina and his fellow parkour enthusiasts are convinced they are doing something illegal by flipping and jumping in the park “The police told us we are not allowed to do this,” says Sarhan is working on perfecting handstands atop walls and large rocks the ability to practice parkour freely (even though he’s been told he can be arrested for it) is all the hope he needs for the future First published by Ivoh Website: Atomic Smash to reader reflections on abundance – the uplifting new issue of Positive News magazine is a thought-provoking read to brighten your spring The new cathedral is dedicated to the Great Moravian Prince Rastislav Orthodox believers in Snina have a new wooden cathedral Archbishop Rastislav of Prešov and Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia with many believers and clerics consecrated the cathedral after a year of construction work as well as traditional technology for construction,” said Igor Kerekanič a cleric administrator of the Orthodox Church in Snina “I believe that the church will serve generations of Orthodox believers in the same way that similar 300 or 400 year old wooden churches do in the surrounding villages,” Kerekanič continued for TASR The whole cost for construction of the church was about €100,000 the construction of the church body didn’t use any nails nails,” he said for TASR “The tower is really tall so we secured it with nails But the walls were built with original old technology,” Kerekanič explained for TASR it was dismantled and driven on four trucks at the beginning of October last year We have been building it since then,” said Kerekanič for TASR Metropolitan Rastislav wishes the cathedral to be a place that the Lordfills with the enlightenment of the Holy Ghost “Let everyone who comes here find a spiritual haven and a hospital for sorrow and sins Let everyone who walks be healed,” he invited The mayor of Snina Štefan Milovčik believes that the new cathedral will never be empty This beautiful masterpiece arose in a short time and will be the new dominant feature of Snina About 2,600 Orthodox believers live in Snina; altogether there are about 50,000 in Slovakia People feel strong solidarity because these are their friends As refugees from Ukraine continue to cross Slovakia’s eastern border people living in Slovakia are standing in solidarity with their neighbours and offering help They are organising themselves on social media establishing financial or material collections providing accommodation and picking up people at the border stating that he was going to one of the three open border crossings and if anyone wanted to contribute anything “I ended up with an entirely packed car,” he told The Slovak Spectator pillows and other supplies for families on the run One of his friends went knocking on neighbours’ doors in the street asking for donations he had plenty of things to pack in his car The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.skSubscribe now for full access Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail) PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk It takes about 50 minutes by car from Snina The closer a car gets to the destination through a basin called Uličská kotlina villages are gradually dying out and most of the houses have been turned into holiday cottages Ten years ago there were 40 more and Mayor Vasil Dinič remembers when 800 people lived here A similar situation has occurred in other villages as well Answering how he sees the future of the village "someone will live here all year long for another 15 or 20 years," Dinič says Nová Sedlica is being considered as the new soft tourism centre of Poloniny National Park Hiking trails from the village lead to the most attractive locations such as the Stužica Forest or Riaba skala Hill A Sme daily reporter spent several days in Poloniny to find out how the region is ready to give up logging and reorient itself towards soft tourism The Poloniny and Muránska planina National Parks will undergo the change first the state owns a national park and an important Starina water reservoir which is the largest source of drinking water in Central Europe and makes itself visible in the security forces that take care of the Schengen border "The state is the master of everything here," said Ján Holinka a catchment village for the entire Uličská kotlina though he is one of the few mayors who did not run for Smer from Bardejov through Stropkov up to Humenné has been experiencing a baby boom of storks in 2021 Martina Vlasaková from the administration of the Poloniny national park stated that the Snina district saw more young storks this year than it has in the last 18 years according to Vlasákova and stork expert Miroslav Fulín 1,236 pairs of white storks nested in Slovakia and brought 2,732 young storks into the world An average stork couple has three baby storks Fulín estimates that the number of pairs this year is 1,350 Full statistical data is not yet available and estimates place their population size to be somewhere between 600 and 800 pairs NATO is discussing the possibility of resuming the production of artillery ammunition for Soviet-era army systems in Slovakia Such systems are still being operated in vast numbers in the war in Ukraine plants in Snina and Dubnica nad Váhom have the capacity for the required production According to New York Times the production should be financed by the alliance the daily also mentioned the Czech Republic and Bulgaria The renewed production should focus mainly on the 152mm and 122mm artillery ammunition mainly used by howitzers of the Soviet era the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs also mentioned Slovakia's capacities “We are currently talking about how to get our production facilities up and running we used to produce large-calibre cartridges But we need these plants to produce 155mm shells for howitzers as well and that is our first priority," said Rastislav Káčer talks with NATO partners are currently in the phase of analysing the availability of the capacities of individual countries the expansion of the howitzer ammunition production was already discussed in 2022 especially in connection with the plants in Dubnica nad Váhom and Snina Engineering company ZVS Holding based in Dubnica nad Váhom planned to significantly increase production from the current 19,000 pieces to 100,000 pieces per year While ammunition bodies would be produced in the Snina plant the final assembly would take place at the parent company in Dubnica nad Váhom "We are open to any discussion with allies about the potential to support the domestic defense industry, bring new job opportunities to our regions and, last but not least, help Ukrainian partners in the fight against the aggressor," the Defense Ministry said in a statement to the Euractiv.sk website it is yet to be determined whether NATO will invest specifically in production at ZVS Holding a day in Ukraine is like a month in Afghanistan in terms of the number of missiles fired and ammunition used Estimates say Ukrainians fired up to 7,000 artillery rounds each day during summer while the United States produce 15,000 pieces per month almost a third of the production of 155mm artillery ammunition is covered by the Czech company CSG Its current production capacity is from 80,000 to 100,000 shells per year the company is preparing an expansion to 150,000 Behind the project is mother of a Ukrainian ex-MP A new investment worth €14 million is heading to Sobrance The Košice-based company ARM Servis wants to renew production in the former Vihorlat plant The company has submitted the project to the authorities for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) “The content of the proposed activity will be the production and processing of rolled steel products,” the document reads “Technology for the production of metal ammunition cases will be installed in the production area.” In Sobrance the ARM Servis company wants to produce munition bodies for high explosive artillery shells of 122 and 155 millimetre calibre It plans to produce 100,000 annually and create 220 jobs The investment is to be divided into smaller projects The existing production hall with an area of more than 4,500 square metres is to be rebuilt and reconstruction is planned for the administration building The production is to be linked with the production of artillery shells by the ZVS Holding armaments factory in Snina to whose Sobrance premises the new investment is directed the company’s capacities were used by the steelmaker VSŽ (today U.S the Vihorlat company went bankrupt and production soon stopped an armaments company with plants in Snina and Dubnica nad Váhom It is half owned by the state and half by the MSM Group of the Czech armourer Michal Strnad MSM has been producing 155 millimetre calibre artillery ammunition for decades which is compatible with weapon systems and howitzers around the world The ARM Servis company was launched in 2020 and has been majority owned since last year by SK Special Goods Trading The company behind it is UA Special Goods Trading based in Florida The ultimate beneficial owner of the company is 71-year-old Liubov Yefimova She has several companies in the US and the UK making money from arms contracts destined for Ukraine She is the mother of former Ukrainian MP Maxim Yefimov she bought the Parkovy convention centre in Kyiv which belonged to former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych Street View also features natural beauties of Slovakia Slovaks will see Google Street View cars driving on Slovak roads during the spring and summer months Google regularly updates panoramic images for its Google Maps service Google Street View cars will visit many towns in Slovakia A helping hand in the heart of Europe offers for you Slovakia travel guide "The basic mission of Google is to bring accurate this also applies to the Street View service on Google Maps Based on the analysis and its subsequent evaluation Google identifies areas that should be updated this mainly concerns roads and streets within cities and municipalities intercity or speedways," says Iva Fialová Google's communications manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia streets and roads will be photographed in many cities and towns throughout the country in the updating of Street View images The Street View service was launched in Slovakia in the fall of 2012 when Google managed to photograph almost all of it Street View images have been updated several times since then The new scanning captures the infrastructure development in cities and towns as well as outside them and allows users to better orient themselves in different destinations Cultural and historical monuments such as Spiš Castle Saint Elizabeth's Cathedral and Orava Castle are popular locations on Slovak Street View Street View also features natural beauties such as Štrbské Pleso Cave Domica and Ochtinská Aragonite Cave as well as national parks like Slovak Paradise National Park and Pieniny National Park All collected images are processed with a special technology that blurs people's faces and car license plates so that they cannot be identified Street View offers additional image blurring (person which can be requested by pressing the "Report a problem" button in the lower righthand corner of any image The Street View service has reached all continents and provides a street view in more than 100 countries Users can find panoramic images from extremely attractive or inaccessible places Burj Khalifa or the International Space Station It is available on desktop and mobile devices A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundreds of tourist spots A detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with our City Guide Police say there is no connection with the murder of an English teacher the body of a 28-year-old woman has been discovered in the capital The woman died despite rescuers’ efforts to save her "I can unequivocally confirm there is no link between this case and the case that was documented in the same area on November 11," Bratislava Regional Police Department head Adrian Pavlík said There is no evidence to suggest a serial killer might be operating in Bratislava He assured the public that they will deal with both cases with the utmost responsibility once the major employer in this far eastern Slovak region a firm co-owned by the Dutch firm Cebuwa (66%) and the Slovak Hubertus (34%).The sale which occurred in the fifth round of a year-old bankruptcy tender was reported to have brought Vihorlat creditors Sk220 million ($4.6 million) Local residents and town representatives said they hoped the change in ownership would mark the end of a long series of layoffs and the beginning of an economic upturn in the poor - and neglected - Snina region."The Vihorlat factory is very important to Snina and the whole region therefore this investment is crucial for us," said an assistant to the town mayor The Vihorlat Snina factory employed 6,500 people during communism....photo: Chris Togneri a firm co-owned by the Dutch firm Cebuwa (66%) and the Slovak Hubertus (34%) Local residents and town representatives said they hoped the change in ownership would mark the end of a long series of layoffs and the beginning of an economic upturn in the poor - and neglected - Snina region "The Vihorlat factory is very important to Snina and the whole region "Before the 1989 revolution Vihorlat employed 6,500 people But because of the firm's financial problems Vihorlat was the biggest employer in the region by far and still has the capacity to be the biggest employer so of course we are very interested in the factory's health "It probably won't be able to employ so many people again at least it will be something." she said Vihorlat Snina began production in the 1950's Originally an agricultural machinery factory it later produced pressure casting machines But with the collapse of the socialist market in 1989 the factory fell into financial disarray and began laying off employees today it employs less than 1,000.photo: Chris Togneri Unemployment in Snina (population 21,000) now stands at 20% Problems continued for the factory in 1992 when Vihorlat Snina was created as a separate entity under its mother company VSŽ Košice The factory recorded losses every year thereafter Vihorlat recorded a turnover of Sk700 million in 1998 but needed sales of Sk1 billion just to break even Following the entry of US Steel into VSŽ in 2000 Vihorlat was left in the so-called "old VSŽ" a group of money-losing firms US Steel did not want from the original VSŽ fold The Košice regional court declared bankruptcy on Vihorlat on October 30 by which time the workforce had been reduced to 1,700 When VH Snina bought out the factory November 30 with the new owners announcing cuts of an additional 390 jobs Although the new owners of Vihorlat Snina were unavailable for comment following their purchase of the factory they have promised to begin rebuilding the deflated workforce could employ probably 1,500 people," said Zoltán Berghauer Berghauer added that the main tasks facing the factory were reducing its bloated administrative staff increasing labour productivity and finding new foreign markets for Vihorlat's goods Hubertus is a travel agency with a stake in copper producer Kovohuty Krompachy in which ex-Economy Minister Ľudovít Černák once held a stake Despite Berghauer's optimism regarding Vihorlat's future Snina's long-suffering locals seemed resentful of the country's leaders for allowing the factory to fall into such disrepair They welcomed promises that the firm would discontinue layoffs "It's about time somebody helped us The situation in Snina has become worse every year since the revolution yet those Bolsheviks in Bratislava don't do a bloody thing to help us," said Peter who was standing with his wife on the town's main square December 11 "It's sad that when we need help Where are Slovak politicians when we need them?" he said The mayor's assistant added: "I don't care who the investors are If they can give us some more jobs and help improve the financial situation in this city it doesn't matter one bit to me where they come from." other Snina natives also said they were pleased with the potential turnaround at Vihorlat yet irritated that it had taken so long to happen "Snina used to be one of the most important cities in Slovakia They just let us slowly get poorer and poorer out here because it's the east and nobody in Bratislava cares what happens to us sedlaci [equivalent to 'red-neck' or 'hick'] out in the east," said Marek Of course this is good," added Sylvia While the investment should mean more jobs the new ownership will be watching factory employees closely Production rates at the plant are low compared to other countries a disturbing trend Berghauer says must change "Production per worker per year in the Czech Republic at a similar factory This is also an answer to the question of why the old Vihorlat could not function," Berghauser said who used to work for Vihorlat but was laid off in the mid 1990s - say they just need a chance to show what they can do "Give me a job again and I'll work hard I also understand how hard life is without a job," he said accused of contributing to the hate campaign that led to the October 16 began today before a special criminal court in Paris an 18-year-old Chechen-born Russian Islamist who had asylum-seeker status in France is the big absentee in the trial: he was killed by police shortly after he stabbed and beheaded the professor in Conflang-Cent-Honorin The hearing began with the verification of the identity of the defendants Two young friends of the perpetrator will answer for “complicity in a terrorist murder” are not in custody and are being tried for participating in a terrorist criminal association of thugs the father of the 13-year-old schoolgirl who had falsely stated – she was absent from class – that Samuel Patti had asked Muslim students to leave the classroom before showing caricatures of Mohammed a 65-year-old French-Moroccan Islamist militant who have been in temporary custody for four years massively reproduced the teenager’s lies on social media seeking “incite feelings of hatred” and “thereby prepare crimes” Both are charged with participating in a terrorist association of thugs “They want to make Abdelhakim Sefrioui pay for all of his militant work” even though he “did not know the perpetrator” of the attack and “did not participate in it,” argued one of his lawyers Brahim Snina’s daughter and five other former students were sentenced last fall to sentences ranging from 14 months in jail with probation to two years in prison at the end of a closed-door trial in juvenile court who are facing life sentences for complicity in a terrorist attack are mainly accused of having accompanied Anzorov the day before the attack to a knife factory in Rouen about 130 kilometers (130 miles) west of Paris The killing of Samuel Patti – which occurred while the trial for the January 7 2015 attacks on the editorial staff of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was underway – shocked French society “The tragic mechanics that resulted in the martyrdom of Samuel Patti reveal the depth of Islamist intolerance in France and its permeability to terrorism Its detailed exposure at a public hearing must not only result in the severe condemnation of those who abetted it but also allow our society to become aware of a deadly danger,” said Thibault de Montbrial and Pauline Ragot one of the murdered professor’s sisters a lawyer for other members of Samuel Patti’s family expressed the wish that “justice would be lifted to the level of the crime committed an unthinkable event in the history of the Republic.” The trial is scheduled to last until December 20 Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr An arrest was made at Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida after a man was caught stealing a set of keys from a baby stroller and then breaking into the owner's car was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary to a conveyance an Orange County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a call at Disney's Hollywood Studios from security officers who said they had a suspect detained by deputies in the security office there is surveillance video showing Snina allegedly taking a baby stroller which was left parked and unattended in the France pavilion area of EPCOT earlier that day The 24-year-old suspect was then seen grabbing several items from the baby stroller "The footage showed Snina walking through the EPCOT parking lot where he located the car in the "CRUSH" section moved the vehicle to a different location in the parking lot and then proceeded to look through the car He then turned the car off and left the keys on the driver's seat Snina then got into his own car and drove to Disney's Hollywood Studios but when "Snina tried to get in line to enter the theme park [he] was stopped by security who contacted the off-duty deputy working at the entrance of Hollywood Studios A woman recently sued The Walt Disney Company after being involved in an incident that led her to get “trapped” inside the Monorail doors Rebecca Vanturini was in “excruciating pain being stuck between the monorail doors for a few minutes,” per the lawsuit “About five male guests tried to pry her loose from the monorail doors and eventually got her out.” The lawsuit also stated that Disney’s “Cast Members did not help in any way” adding the “monorail captain got on the intercom and stated there was a malfunction and the monorail would be shut down to restart the system immediately.” The three-page Orange County lawsuit also stated that Vanturini had “a permanent injury to her body” The lawsuit also does not mention how the Monorail malfunctioned Rebecca Vanturini is suing for more than $50,000 a fight broke out between multiple Guests at Magic Kingdom The incident occurred just outside of the Tomorrowland Speedway attraction and seemingly involved three different Guests It is unclear if all three Guests were part of the same party but a bystander captured the fight on film The video shows three Guests punching and shoving one another before a Tomorrowland Cast Member came over and was able to break it up Two of the Guests then walked away as the third Guest and the Cast Member followed close behind The Cast Member tried to have the third Guest sit down on the bench to calm down he is seen brushing the Cast Member off and following the other two Guests close behind It is more than likely security shows up at some point