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:
Nearly 130,000 children back to school, kindergarten
LJUBLJANA - After almost three months of remote learning, kindergartens and primary schools up to year three reopened in nine of Slovenia's twelve regions. No major disruption was reported. Education Minister Simona Kustec announced that 53,306 children returned to school and 74,630 to kindergartens, hopeful this is "the first sign of going back to normal". A total of 12,822 school staff and 12,844 kindergarten employees returned to the workplace after only a fraction tested positive yesterday.
1,652 infections in most massive coronavirus testing yet
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded 1,652 new coronavirus infections on Monday as more than 35,000 tests were conducted amid mass rapid testing of teachers before schools in nine regions reopened today. Covid-19 hospitalisations fell by 16 from the day before to 1,157 with 192 remaining in intensive care. Government data also show that another 27 patients with Covid-19 died, for what Covid-19 tracker site data show is a death toll of 3,406. The 7-day average of new infections fell to 1,227.
Back testing shows two UK strain cases at Jesenice hospital
JESENICE - At least two patients at the Jesenice general hospital had been infected with a highly contagious new variant of coronavirus, first detected in the UK, as far back as two weeks ago, an examination of six random samples has shown. The cases are not linked to the first officially confirmed case of the new variant in a Kosovo national temporary residing in Slovenia who arrived in the country from Belgium on Saturday. The latter case is being looked into by police.
President urges joining forces against epidemic
LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor expressed hope in an interview with the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija on Monday that Slovenians would be able to celebrate the 30th anniversary of independence in June by also celebrating the end of the epidemic. "I do call (on everyone) in these final months, when the vaccination is actually giving us the chance to end this crisis, to join forces now and cross the finish line together, which awaits us somewhere in May, June of this year," Pahor said.
DeSUS MPs decide to stay together
LJUBLJANA - The five deputies of the Pensioners Party (DeSUS) decided at Tuesday's meeting they will continue to work as a single parliamentary faction, but they have not yet decided whether to be a part of the opposition or cooperate with the coalition. Deputy group leader Franc Jurša said there were a lot of open issues to be discussed with the party leadership and MP MP Branko Simonovič acknowledged there were three factions in the party.
New political movement emerges
LJUBLJANA - A new political movement called Povežimo Slovenijo (Unite Slovenia) has emerged. The initiative wants to bring together smaller parties, local initiatives and individuals to form a joint slate for the next general elections. The initiator, vice president of the Greens Nada Pavšer, believes the list could get at least 20% in the next election. The most visible members of the group include the People's Party (SLS) and local lists by the mayors of Celje and Koper.
Slovenia takes over its pavilion at Dubai Expo
DUBAI, UAE - Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek symbolically took over on behalf of Slovenia the management of the country's pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai as part of his official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The minister said "Slovenia will show know-how, innovation and energy at the Expo". The largest such exposition yet will take place between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022. The minister expect it to boost business links and create investment opportunities.
Constitutional court stays extension of college accreditations
LJUBLJANA - The Constitutional Court stayed in an unanimous decision the implementation of a provision from one of the coronavirus stimulus packages that extends accreditations to higher education institutions until it comes up with its final ruling on the matter. The petitioner from Maribor argued the change had been made without proper justification and for reasons not connected with the mitigation of the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Ethnic Slovenian to run for Croatian county head
ZAGREB, Croatia - Barbara Antolić Vupora, the first ethnic Slovenian to be elected to the Croatian parliament, will run for the head of the Varaždin county in the local election in May. She will run on the list of the biggest opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDP). Born in Celje, Slovenia, Antolić Vupora has Croatian citizenship and lives in Varaždin in northern Croatia where she has been active both as a minority member and the head of the party's local committee.
Slovenia preparing to issue 60-year bond
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia plans to issue a 60-year bond subject to market conditions and has commissioned BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and HSBC to manage the issue, the Finance Ministry said. This would be the longest maturity for a bond Slovenia has ever issued. The treasury currently has a 30-year bond outstanding due in 2050, and a 24-year bond which is due in 2040.
Novartis invested EUR 204m in Slovenia in 2020
LJUBLJANA - The Swiss pharma giant Novartis continued to invest in its R&D and production capacities in Slovenia through its subsidiaries Lek, Sandoz and Novartis Pharma Services last year. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the company said it had invested EUR 204 million in the country as part of its efforts to expand its R&D and production facilities in line with its plan to transform from a generics to an innovative pharmaceutical company.
Workers reach deal on strike demands at A&E Europe
MARIBOR - Employees at A&E Europe, the American-owned Maribor sewing threads manufacturer, reached agreement on their demands, including better pay, following a one-day strike in January. The workers had been threatening to start an open-ended strike but since an agreement was reached the strike was cancelled. The KSS association of trade unions said an agreement had been reached on all demands after tough talks.
Public health insurance fund ends 2020 with EUR 87m deficit
LJUBLJANA - The Health Insurance Institute (ZZZS) finished last year with a EUR 87 million deficit. Director general Marjan Sušelj said revenue totalled EUR 3.25 billion or 4.9% more than in 2019. Expenditure amounted to EUR 3.34 billion, up 9.5%. Wage subsidies for sick leave grew at the fastest pace (16.4%), followed by spending on vaccination (16.3%) and medicines (15.3%).
Stories of Slovenians from Auschwitz presented at Museum of Contemporary History
LJUBLJANA - The National Museum of Contemporary History will launched an online documentary exhibition by the Maribor Synagogue on Slovenian victims of the Auschwitz death camp. Visitors to the museum's website will be able to take an online tour of the exhibition led by its author Boris Hajdinjak from the Maribor Synagogue. Of the 2,300 people from Slovenia who were taken to Auschwitz, only about a thousand returned home, while the rest died in Auschwitz.
Ljubljana cathedral fresco vandalised
LJUBLJANA - As yet unknown perpetrators have thrown a balloon filed with paint in one of the frescoes on the exterior of St Nicholas's Cathedral in Ljubljana, causing several thousand euro in damage on what is a listed cultural monument. The police are looking into the incident. The Slovenian Bishops' Conference labelled the attack as an expression of Christianophobia and vandalism, and resolutely rejected all forms of intolerance and defilement of churches.
Two Italian migrant smugglers get prison sentences
LJUBLJANA - The papers reported that two Italians who crashed their car packed with illegal migrants into a police vehicle in September last year had been sentenced to more than two years in prison, after which they will be expelled from the country for four years. Francesco Mandielo, 29, and Salvatore Mascolo, 23, both from Naples, were sentenced to two years and nine months and two years and one month, respectively, by the Ljubljana District Court in what is the mildest sentence for the crime.
If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here