Ljubljana  - Slovenia's economy picked up slightly in the second quarter to an annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent, despite slower rises in consumer spending and construction, official data showed Thursday.

Slovenia, an export-driven economy and the only formerly communist eurozone member, recorded 5.4-per-cent growth in the first quarter.

Trade accounted for 0.3 percentage points of the second-quarter gain after holding back gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first three months of 2008, the national statistics office said.

Ljubljana/Helsinki- The office of Slovenian Prime Minister Janez
Jansa on Tuesday dismissed reports that he accepted bribes from Finnish
arms maker Patria.

Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) claimed the company paid 21
million euros (30 million dollars) to Slovenian officials to help
clinch a deal for the sale of 135 armoured personnel carriers.

In addition to Jansa, the recipients included civil servants in the country's defence ministry, the report said.

YLE said Jansa played a "key role" in the selection of Patria for
the 278-million euro deal and channeled some of the bribe money into

Ljubljana - Rescuers in Slovenia found a ninth body Sunday from a boating accident that claimed 13 lives three days ago, local media reported.

Ljubljana- Slovenian rescuers were searching for bodies in the Sava River Friday, a day after a freak accident at a poorly organized boating event claimed the lives of a dozen people.

Eight people from the two canoes which capsized Thursday afternoon were confirmed dead, including Kristijan Janc, the mayor of Sevnica, a town 70 kilometres southeast of Ljubljana who organized the event, police said. Janc was also a lawmaker in the national parliament.

Four others were still missing, their chances of survival described as "negligent."

Ljubljana  - Most Slovenes skipped a referendum on breaking the small Alpine nation into 13 regions, results showed Monday, handing Prime Minister Janez Jansa's centre-right government a setback.