Bratislava - The Slovak government Wednesday agreed to provide unlimited guarantees for bank deposits of individuals and small businesses, officials said.

The proposal, in line with such decision taken by Germany and Austria, requires parliamentary approval.

Slovakia currently protects 90 per cent of deposits up to 600,000 Slovak koruny (27,000 dollars).

Slovak banks contribute 0.2 per cent of new deposits to a compensation fund. The government so far does not propose to increase the payments, according to spokesman Branislav Ondrus.

Bratislava - A Slovak court Wednesday sentenced former British radio disc jockey Chris Denning to five years in prison for production of child porn, the court said.

Denning, 67, worked with The Beatles and helped British pop stars Garry Glitter and the Bay City Rollers to launch their careers.

He was also one of the DJs at BBC Radio 1 in late 1960s, as well as for Radio Luxembourg.

Bratislava - Slovakia's central bank left interest rates steady Tuesday, staying in line with euro rates before switching to the joint currency on January 1.

Inflation was stable enough to allow keeping the benchmark two- week repo rate at 4.25 per cent, its level since April 2007, the Slovakian National Bank said after a regular policy-making meeting.

The European Central Bank lowered its key rate to 4.25 per cent in July.

Slovakia is expected to follow the ECB's rate decision until the fast-growing former communist nation joins the eurozone.

Slovakia will be the 16th country to adopt the euro and the first from the former Soviet bloc.

Bratislava - Slovakian police have detained two 14-year-old boys suspected of plotting to kill a teacher at their juvenile detention centre, media reports said Thursday.

Bratislava  - Slovakia's annual inflation rate, based on the European Union's calculation method, remained flat at 4.4 per cent in August, according to government data released Tuesday.

Consumer prices were down 0.1 per cent in August compared to July, the Slovak Statistical Office said.

Slovakia has promised to keep consumer prices in check in order to get the EU's permission to switch to Europe's common currency, the euro, in January.

In August, inflation in the 15-member eurozone was 3.8 per cent.

London  - Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh will visit the states of Slovenia and Slovakia for the first time next month, Buckingham Palace announced in London Thursday.