Pahor meets Guterres, Lavrov as he completes UN trip
NEW YORK, US - President Borut Pahor met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in New York on Friday after he addressed the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. Pahor and Guterres discussed climate change and security challenges, with Pahor reiterating Slovenia's commitment to multilateralism and cooperation with the UN. Pahor invited Guterres to visit Slovenia next year as the country marks the 30th anniversary of UN membership. The meeting with Lavrov discussed Afghanistan, and EU-Russia relations, with Pahor saying there was a lack of trust on both sides, which called for more dialogue. Before addressing the General Assembly, Pahor met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and European Council President Charles Michel.
Opposition's post-election deal endorsed by all four parties
LJUBLJANA - The top bodies of three centre-left opposition parties which have finalised an agreement on post-election cooperation unanimously endorsed the document at their respective sessions, while the fourth party did so earlier this week. The Alenka Bratušek Party's (SAB) council endorsed the agreement on Tuesday, when it was initialled by all four party leaders. Today, the top bodies of the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), the Left and the Social Democrats (SD) followed suit. The content of the agreement has not been revealed yet. It will be presented at a news conference on Tuesday following its signing.
Number of confirmed coronavirus cases tops 1,000 on Friday
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's daily coronavirus count rose to 1,005 on Friday after it dropped below 1,000 on Thursday, which is over 19% below the figure from a week ago. Six patients died, and the number of hospitalisations dropped below 400 this morning, by 22 to 382. The positivity rate was 18.2%, a percentage point up from Thursday, show data released by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). The number of active cases is estimated at 13,588. The 7-day average case count fell by 34 from Thursday to 893 and the cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents by three to 642.
Olaj says police commissioner no longer led by police but vice versa
LJUBLJANA - Police Commissioner Anton Olaj rejected allegations that the police is politicised. The situation is considerably better than one can gather from media reports, he said in an interview with the the newspaper Večer. He has gotten the impression that police commissioners used to be led by the police. "I've changed that, so that the police commissioner now leads the police force." Turning to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), he said the "dispute" with the dismissed director general, Darko Muženič, was still open. Once it is over, Olaj will decide on the future of NBI leadership, but he is was "very happy" with acting head Petra Grah Lazar's work.
Book agency head says preparations in full swing for 2023 Frankfurt fair
LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian Book Agency (JAK) signed a EUR 4.5 million contract in August to finance Slovenia's participation in the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair from cohesion funds, JAK's acting director Dimitrij Rupel told the newspaper Delo. JAK is currently working on a selection of books and writers that will be put forward to German publishers, who will make the final selection for when Slovenia is the guest of honour at the fair. The plan is to present some 100 books translated to German and put some of the authors in the focus. "I think it is logical to expect Slavoj Žižek and Drago Jančar among them, to be accompanied by Slovenian classics such as Vitomil Zupan and Boris Pahor. We'll certainly put in the focus what Germans already partly know and we will of course try to present something new," he said.
Slovenia issuing its own NFTs for Expo showcase
LJUBLJANA - Slovenia will become the world's first country to issue its own non-fungible tokens (NFT) to promote the achievements of its businesses and its tourism destinations. The tokens will be gifted to visitors to Slovenia's pavilion at the Expo show in Dubai, which opens on 1 October. The pioneering project, which is to boost Slovenia's Expo showcase, is the product of cooperation between the Slovenian Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, the public agency for the promotion of entrepreneurship and investment SPIRIT and the Ljubljana Technology Park.
Environmental tax receipts down by almost a fifth in 2020
LJUBLJANA - Environmental taxes paid into the national budget amounted to EUR 1.309 billion in 2020, 18.4% less than in the year before. Energy taxes represented more than four-fifths of the overall tax take, while almost two-thirds of total taxes was paid by households. Tax on transport represented 14.7%, tax on the use of natural resources 2.4% and tax on pollution 1.9% of overall environmental taxes, the Statistics Office said.
Kayaker Nejc Žnidarčič wins fifth world champion title
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - Slovenian kayaker Nejc Žnidaršič won the sprint event at the ICF's wildwater canoeing world championships to claim his fifth world champion title. He made history by becoming the first whitewater competitor to win five world champion titles, which he is proud of. "World championships have been on since 1952, but never has anyone become world champion for five times," the 37-year-old said.
