Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.
This summary is provided by the STA:
Daily coronavirus tally and deaths drop but hospitalisations keep increasing
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's daily coronavirus tally dropped by over a hundred to 1,564 on Thursday as the share of positive tests inched down to 26.53%, and the daily death toll fell to 26 from 30 the day before. Hospitalisations increased to 1,069 as 92 patients were discharged home, and the number of patients in intensive care units rose by a further seven to 168, but government spokesman Jalko Kacin presented data by the government indicating the peak has been passed. "The trend is good (...) if the trend continues the same way we can look forward to the future and can consider what the government could do next week," Kacin said.
C5 ministers meet online to discuss Covid-19 measures
LJUBLJANA - FM Anže Logar and his counterparts from Austria, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary met on-line as part of the informal Central 5 (C5) initiative dedicated to measures to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular cross-border movement of people, goods and services. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said they agreed that undisrupted cross-border business should be secured as soon as possible and that measures should be unified at the EU level. They endorsed the introduction of a joint European form for reporting passenger travel, while noting that personal information needed to be protected. The ministers also resolutely condemned the Vienna attack and all forms of violence and terrorism which endangered security, human values and people's trust in peaceful and dignified life.
Official says rapid tests no silver bullet
LJUBLJANA - Miroslav Petrovec, the head of the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, dampened expectations that rapid antigen tests could soon be a key part of the efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, but said efforts were under way to improve their reliability and the tracing of their results. "We cannot solve the Covid-19 epidemic by means of rapid tests and we cannot replace measures that we have a duty to abide by," he said. Slovenia has joined the European Commission's plan to bulk buy rapid tests, which would mean cheaper and more reliable tests. Petrovec said these could be useful as an aid, but PCR tests remained the norm.
Intel oversight commission to debate violent protests
LJUBLJANA - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services will convene a session next Friday to look into the possible role of intelligence agency SOVA in violent protests in Ljubljana. Commission chair Matjaž Nemec scheduled the session after PM Janez Janša posted on Twitter a photo of Ivan Gale, the employee of the Agency for Commodity Reserves who came out with accusations of wrongdoing in the purchases of personal protective equipment in spring, that the screenshot showed was shared by the SOVA director, leading Nemec to wonder what role SOVA played in the protests. Janša said the picture was from Facebook, which subsequent media reports showed was true.
Condemnation after protests turn violent
LJUBLJANA - Senior officials and several organisations condemned the violence that erupted at protests in Ljubljana on Thursday, leaving 15 police officers injured and resulting in multiple arrests. President Borut Pahor said he resolutely rejected violence as a means of achieving political aims, while Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković said in such protests were "not endorsed in Ljubljana or elsewhere, and we do not need them." The opposition also distanced itself from the riot, rejecting the claims it was behind it and announcing to investigate it. Ljubljana Police Department chief Stanislav Vrečar said infrastructure had also been damaged and assessed that the use of force by police was proportionate.
EFJ condemns attacks on media in Slovenia
LJUBLJANA - The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemned in the strongest terms verbal and physical attacks on the media following an anti-government protest that turned violent Thursday evening. "We strongly condemn the attacks on media workers and express solidarity with them. It is very worrisome to see that Slovenian politicians are greatly contributing to the increasing hostility and hatred towards journalists," EFJ general secretary Ricardo Gutierrez said. Anti-government protests have been a mainstay of Friday afternoons for months, however, the groups organising the Friday protests have distanced themselves from the rally organised yesterday, mostly by a group named Anonymous Slovenija.
Three Seas' investment fund to narrow infrastructure gap
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's SID Banka will contribute EUR 23 million to an investment fund that twelve Three Seas Initiative countries between the Baltic Sea, Adriatic Sea and Black Sea have set up to improve infrastructure in transport, energy and digitalisation in a bid to narrow the infrastructure and development gap with Western Europe. "SID Banka will gradually contribute EUR 23 million and thus try to provide additional funding to Slovenian business and the public sector," its CEO Sibil Svilan said. For Slovenia, the fund is a novelty in that projects have been so far financed mainly with debt instruments.
Sava Re cancels shareholder meeting, dividend payout on hold
LJUBLJANA - Sava Re, Slovenia's second largest insurance and reinsurance group, called off a general meeting scheduled for 16 November and consequently suspended the payment of dividends due to potential new risks stemming from its international reinsurance business. It said on Friday it had now been informed of "new circumstances that had arisen in certain EU insurance markets and in the United Kingdom that are in contrast to previously obtained legal advice".
Travel agency Kompas sold to Luxembourg company
LJUBLJANA - Kompas, Slovenia's oldest travel agency, has been sold to the Luxembourg-based company Special Sits General Partner II, with the newspaper Delo reporting that the company behind the new owner is a Spanish venture capital fund. The seller, Croatian group Fortenova, has already notified the competition watchdog, which needs to give its go-ahead for the takeover. According to the news web portal Siol.net, Kompas employs more than 200 people in Slovenia alone, generating about EUR 75 million in annual sales revenue. Kompas was recapitalised in 2017 and has been operating at a profit for the past three years.
Sekulić named new coach of men's national basketball team
LJUBLJANA - The executive committee of the Slovenian Basketball Association (KSZ) appointed Aleksander Sekulić the new head coach of the men's national basketball team. Taking over from Radovan Trifunović, he will coach the team for the first time as it continues the qualifiers for the 2022 EuroBasket at the end of November. The 42-year-old assistant coach with Nymburk in the Czech Republic is expected to present the roster on 18 November, the KZS said on Friday after announcing the appointment. The new coach is also to introduce himself to the media as the training camp starts on 22 November.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here
