STA, 8 November 2020 - Slovenia's best freediver Alenka Artnik has set another world record, diving to 114 metres in monofin after she and Italy's Alessia Zecchini won the 2019 Freediving World Championships with a record 113 metres last year.

Artnik now improved the record she held with Zecchini by one metre at the Blue Week competition in Egypt's Sharm el Sheik.

Her record-breaking dive, which she labelled the greatest success of her diving career, lasted three minutes and 41 seconds.

"I'm lost for words to describe how I feel, but I'll start with gratitude," she said on social media, thanking her co-divers for accepting her with open hearts as she arrived in Egypt a month ago for preparations for the end of what she said was a difficult season and thus facilitating her record.

STA, 7 November 2020 - Heavy lorries will be banned from overtaking on the Slovenian A1 motorway between Šentilj (NE) and Koper (SW) in the daytime as of new year, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec has announced.

Vrtovec said in a Facebook post that overtaking for heavy lorries would be allowed only on A1 sections with three traffic lanes, adding that the decision had been taken in cooperation with the national motorway company DARS.

"Cargo vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will be banned from overtaking in the daytime. This will ensure better traffic flow and greater safety," the minister said.

The details are not known yet of the initiative which comes after several similar proposals had been made in the past.

DARS said that heavy lorries are already banned from overtaking during the morning and afternoon rush hours on certain sections of A1, which records the heaviest cargo traffic of all Slovenian motorways.

Overtaking for lorries is completely forbidden in tunnels and motorway interchanges, and also on some ring roads in urban areas, the company said.

These sections are marked with signs and other traffic signalisation, and supervision is performed by the police. The fine for violators is EUR 300.

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: 

PM Janša says US to remain Slovenia's strategic partner

LJUBLJANA - The US is a strategic partner of Slovenia, which will continue to build close friendly ties with Washington in the future, PM Janez Janša said in his latest tweet related to the US presidential election, posted a day after Democrat Joe Biden declared victory. This is in reference to some who have wondered how his government would cooperate with the US under Biden after he said it was "pretty clear" incumbent Donald Trump won when many votes were yet to be counted and several key states were yet to declare the winner. Several foreign media noted today that unlike many world leaders, including President Borut Pahor, Janša had not yet congratulated Biden.

Slovenia's Roglič crowned Tour of Spain winner for second time

MADRID, Spain - Slovenian rider Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) crossed the finish line in Madrid to seal his victory of Vuelta a Espana, defending the title, which he won for the first time in 2019. This is another culmination for Slovenian cycling after the stunning double victory at Tour de France Tadej Pogačar and him secured in September, confirming Roglič's reputation as one of the best riders in the world. Apart from winning the red jersey for the second year running, Roglič also won the green jersey for best sprinter, which makes him the first ever rider at Vuelta's 85-year history to win both two years in a row. Saying the two jerseys were the crown of this year's season for him, the rider said there were still challenges ahead, as he had not yet won the Tour de France or Giro d'Italia.

Share of new Covid-19 infections keeps dropping, death toll exceeds 550

LJUBLJANA - 889 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on Saturday from 3,918 tests, meaning the share of infections in relation to tests dropped by over three points to roughly 22.7% compared to Friday, the government's coronavirus spokesperson Jelko Kacin said on Twitter. The two-week average of infections per 100,000 residents was 1,058, down from 1,096 the day before. Covid-related deaths have meanwhile risen by 23 to 554 today compared to yesterday. The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care dropped by two to 176 compared to Friday, putting the number of hospitalised patients at 1,125, up from 1,084 on Friday. Kacin said the number of patients in intensive care dropped even if the number of those discharged on Saturday - 42 - was by more than half lower than on Friday. He said the trend showed "the measures are working".

Poll shows SDS strongly in the lead ahead of SD, LMŠ

LJUBLJANA - Should a general election he held today, it would be won by the coalition Democrats (SDS) with 21.3% of the vote, according to a poll released by the private broadcaster Nova24TV. The SDS would be followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD) with 11.1% and the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) with 10.1%. The opposition Left would place fourth with 5.9%, the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) fifth with 4.7% and the opposition New Slovenia (NSi) sixth with 4.2%. The other parties would not garner the necessary 4% of the vote to enter parliament, shows the poll. 18.5% of respondents were undecided.

All neighbouring countries on Slovenia's red coronavirus list

LJUBLJANA - As of today, several more countries are on Slovenia's red, quarantine list, including all of its four neighbours - Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Italy, as well as Serbia and Spain. Only the southern region of Calabria remains the "orange" exception in Italy. The government updated the coronavirus-risk lists on Thursday, and while the changes were expected to enter into force on 9 November, they kicked in already on 8 November. The red list now features 147 countries, up from 116, but in some countries only some regions are red-listed.

Alenka Artnik improves freediving world record

SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt - Slovenia's best freediver Alenka Artnik set another world record, diving to 114 metres in monofin after she and Italy's Alessia Zecchini won the 2019 Freediving World Championships with a record 113 metres last year. Artnik now improved the record she held with Zecchini by one metre at the Blue Week competition in Egypt's Sharm el Sheik. Her record-breaking dive, which she labelled the greatest success of her career, lasted three minutes and 41 seconds.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

STA, 8 November 2020 - The US is a strategic partner of Slovenia, which will continue to build close friendly ties with Washington in the future, PM Janez Janša said in his latest tweet related to the US presidential election on Sunday, a day after Democrat Joe Biden declared victory.

"The US is our strategic partner. All the @govSlovenia I have led have built close, friendly relations with the US. No matter which party the US president was from. Nothing will change in the future," reads the tweet.

#US ??is our strategic partner. All the @govSlovenia I have led have built close, friendly relations ????. No matter which party the U.S. president was from. Nothing will change in the future.

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 8, 2020

Janša has in recent days raised eyebrows at home and abroad for having said it was "pretty clear" incumbent President Donald Trump won, his tweet coming at a time when many votes were yet to be counted and several key states were yet to declare the winner.

Biden is now receiving congratulations from world leaders, including Slovenian President Borut Pahor and several coalition and opposition party leaders, whereas Janša is more reserved.

Janša tweeted yesterday the US election winner had been declared by mainstream media while legal challenges had been filed in all US federal states where the outcome was close, with courts yet to decide on them.

Several media abroad have noted that Janša as Trump's supporter has not congratulated Biden upon election, but instead attacked the media for declaring him the winner.

Politico's European news portal said Slovenian officials were divided on how to respond, pointing to Pahor's congratulations and Janša's questioning the decision of media outlets to call the election for Biden.

It also highlighted a tweet of congratulations to Biden by Janez Lenarčič, the European commissioner from Slovenia, commenting he had tried to correct Janša's pro-Trump stance. Lenarčič wrote that "as a European commissioner from Slovenia, I warmly congratulate Joe Biden on the victory".

In a separate piece, Politico also pointed to Janša saying, in a tweet posted in October, that Biden would be one of the weakest US presidents in history.

It added that since the Janša government will preside over the EU in the second half of 2021, it will have to "switch strategy and cosy up to the new US president".

Press agencies including Austria's APA and France's AFP have also reported on Janša's tweet criticising the declaration of Biden as winner.

STA, 8 November 2020 - As many as 889 new Covid-19 infections were recorded on Saturday from a total of 3,918 tests, meaning the share of infections in relation to tests dropped by over three percentage points to roughly 22.7% compared to Friday, the government's coronavirus spokesperson Jelko Kacin said on Twitter on Sunday.

The two-week average of infections per 100,000 residents was 1,058 on Saturday, down from 1,096 the day before.

Covid-related deaths have meanwhile risen by 23 to 554 today compared to yesterday, according to the covid-19.sledilnik.org tracker site.

The number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care dropped by two to 176 compared to Friday, putting the number of hospitalised patients at 1,125, up from 1,084 on Friday.

Kacin said the number of patients in intensive care dropped despite the number of those discharged on Saturday - 42 - was more than half lower than on Friday - 93.

Although there were fewer tests carried out on Saturday, which is typical of weekends, he said the trend showed that "the measures are working".

He added that the epidemiological situation was also gradually improving in Gorenjska, the northwestern-region, hit hardest in the autumn wave of the epidemic.

There are currently slightly 22,167 active infections in Slovenia, below the Friday figure of 22,979.

Slightly over 45,000 infections have been recorded in Slovenia since the first case was confirmed on 4 March during the first wave of the epidemic.

More on Slovenia and coronavirus

With the election of Joe Biden as the 46^th President of the United States, Politico looks at the European leaders set to win and lose from the what appears to be a landslide victory for the Democratic candidate and a humiliating defeat for one-term President, all-time loser, Donald Trump, who will leave office in January 2021 to face allegations of fraud and sexual assault, as well as looming personal bankruptcy.

Among the winners it puts Germany’s Angela Merkel, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, and France’s Emmanuel Macron, while among the losers, those set back by the solid repudiation of chaos, culture war and open corruption, are said to be the UK’s Boris Johnson, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Slovenia’s own Janez Janša.

It’s pretty clear that American people have elected ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ ⁦@Mike_Pence⁩ for #4moreyears. More delays and facts denying from #MSM, bigger the final triumph for #POTUS. Congratulations ⁦@GOP⁩ for strong results across the #US ⁦@idualliance⁩ ⁦ pic.twitter.com/vzSwt9TBeF

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) November 4, 2020

PM Janša, whose very active Twitter feed is still alive with allegations of fraud and conspiracy in the US elections, as well as dire warnings of fascism coming to America under the guise of liberalism, is noted for his premature and utterly baseless congratulation of Trump on winning a second term, as well as his claim that Biden “would be one of the weakest presidents in history”.

We respect difficult, tragic personal life of @JoeBiden and some of his political achievements years ago. But today, if elected, he would be one of the weakest presidents in history. When a free world desperately needs STRONG #US as never before. Go, win, @realDonaldTrump ????

— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) October 23, 2020

Slovenian prime minister congratulates Trump victory despite inconclusive election https://t.co/rc17OnbvBp

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 4, 2020

So far, other stuff I’ve been seeing from far-right politicians is a bit more circumspect than Janša: Many saying Trump is doing better than expected, or that his message is clearly resonating with many Americans etc. But haven’t seen others preemptively congratulating him so far pic.twitter.com/nPkiyHtPGL

— Emily Schultheis (@emilyrs) November 4, 2020

You can read the full report here, while the usual entertaining analysis of the Slovene scene is available from Pengovsky

STA, 7 November 2020 - Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) is set to win the Vuelta de Espana for a second time as he defended his lead over Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) in the crucial penultimate stage on Saturday from Sequeros to the Covatilla ski resort.

Wearing the leader's jersey before the 17th stage of the race around Spain and having a 45-seconds advantage ahead of Carapaz, the 31-year-old Slovenian managed to keep the lead, although giving away 21 seconds to Carapaz.

Sunday's last stage (124.2 km) in Madrid is a mere formality and Roglič is set to win his second Vuelta de Espana title, after he won the race also last year.

Roglič used the services of his strong team to deflect all attacks by Carapaz and the third-placed Hugh Carthy of the UK (EF Pro Cycling) to earn what is the third win for Slovenian riders in the three-week Grand Tour races.

Last year, he won the Vuelta de Espana and was second at this year's Tour de France, behind his compatriot Tadej Pogačar, to confirm his reputation as one of the best and most versatile riders in the world.

"It's always nice to have an exciting conclusion and this was really exciting. I had enough energy to know that it will be enough if I cycle in my own rhythm. Everything turned out well at the end," Roglič told the press after the race.

He was in a great deal of pain near the end but believed in the ultimate success. "I didn't have everything under control, but in such moments you have to remain calm and do what you can do," he said, also praising his Jumbo-Visma team.

"The team has done a good job once again, given that everybody went with full force right from the beginning of the Vuelta", said the Slovenian, who will also bring to Madrid the green jersey for the best sprinter for the second year in a row.

It was precisely his aggressive racing at the ends of stages that helped him earn the overall win. With four stage wins, exceptional sprints and overall consistency in stages earned him 48 bonus seconds, without which he would have lost to Carapaz.

"I'm very happy with winning the Vuelta. This is really a nice conclusion to the season," added Roglič.

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: 

Highest daily Covid-19 death toll recorded on Friday as 34 die

LJUBLJANA - The highest daily Covid-19 death toll was recorded in Slovenia on Friday as 34 people died, bringing the overall death toll to 531. The number of hospitalised patients was up slightly to 1,084, of which 178 required intensive care, or ten more than on Thursday, the government said. The daily coronavirus tally was up by almost 50 to 1,612, but the number of tests was also up on Friday to 6,340. The share of positive tests was down by more than one percentage point to 25.42%. A total of 93 patients were discharged from hospital yesterday, but the overall number of hospitalisations was up from 1,069 by 15.

All persons suspected of contracting Covid-19 to be tested

LJUBLJANA - The Health Ministry has changed the strategy for coronavirus testing based on recommendations from the expert advisory group. All persons suspected of contracting Covid-19 will be tested once again. This is expected to result in an increased number of tests, which is important for managing the epidemic, the ministry said on Friday. This comes after the advisory task force head Bojana Beović said on 28 October that testing would be focused on persons older than 60, persons with chronic diseases, with a weakened immune system and healthcare workers. The change of strategy resulted in a slightly lower number of tests in the last week.

Slovenia's Roglič wins the Vuelta a Espana for second time

SALAMANCA/Spain - Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) is set to win the Vuelta de Espana for a second time as he defended his lead over Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) in the crucial penultimate stage from Sequeros to the Covatilla ski resort. Wearing the leader's jersey before the 17th stage of the race around Spain and having a 45-seconds advantage ahead of Carapaz, the 31-year-old Slovenian managed to keep the lead, although giving away 21 seconds to Carapaz.

President Pahor congratulates new US president

LJUBLJANA - President Borut Pahor congratulated Democratic candidate Joe Biden on being elected the new president of the United States. Writing on Twitter, Pahor said he fondly remembered their meetings, in particular official talks at the White House in 2011 and Biden's participation in the Brdo-Brijuni Process meeting in 2015. "All this inspires me with optimism about our shared future, in which Slovenia and the United States of America will remain friendly countries and firm allies."

Ex-ambassador says US election means end to trans-Atlantic relations as we knew them

LJUBLJANA - Former Ambassador to US Božo Cerar has assessed in an interview for the STA that the US presidential election has "finally ended the trans-Atlantic relations as we have known them for the last 50-70 years" and that "Trumpism" is very much alive and would be for a while even if Joe Biden wins. Europe will need to come to terms with this and take its destiny in its own hands, and "if it fails to respond appropriately and get organised, the remaining great powers will be competing also over Europe's back." Europe should realise that it needs to take more responsibility for its own safety and take care of its neighbourhood, he said.

A third in Nova24TV poll supports anti-government protests

LJUBLJANA - The latest survey by Nova24TV shows that the anti-government protests on Fridays are supported by 33.2% of the respondents, which is the smallest share since the television station started measuring support for the protests in September. More than 61% of the people polled oppose them. The web portal of Nova24TV says that at the beginning of October, 45% of the respondents supported the protest, and in a poll conducted in mid-September, 38.8% of the people polled were supportive. The number of undecided respondents has been increasing, from 3.6% in mid-September to 4% at the beginning of October and to 5.3% in the latest survey, which was carried out on 2-4 November among 730 persons by the pollster Parsifal.

Business's ability to adjust key to reduce pandemic's impact, analyst says

LJUBLJANA - Since at least two more major Covid-19 waves are expected in the coming months, it is key for businesses to be ready to adjust fast, Marko Derča, a partner at the consultancy A. T. Kearney, has told the STA. He said the epidemic's negative impact on the economy will be ten times bigger than the last financial crisis, mostly affecting employment as joblessness will rise considerably. Derča believes being ever better prepared will reduce the epidemic's impact on the economy.

Lorries banned from overtaking on A1 motorway as of new year

LJUBLJANA - Heavy lorries will be banned from overtaking on the Slovenian A1 motorway between Šentilj (NE) and Koper (SW) in the daytime as of new year, Infrastructure Minister Jernej Vrtovec announced. He said in a Facebook post that overtaking would be allowed only on A1 sections with three traffic lanes, adding that the decision had been taken in cooperation with the national motorway company DARS. "Cargo vehicles weighing more than 7.5 tonnes will be banned from overtaking in the daytime. This will ensure better traffic flow and greater safety," the minister said.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

STA, 7 November 2020 - The highest daily Covid-19 death toll was recorded in Slovenia on Friday as 34 people died, bringing the overall death toll to 531. The number of hospitalised patients was up slightly to 1,084, of which 178 required intensive care, or ten more than on Thursday, the government said on Twitter.

The daily coronavirus tally was up by almost 50 to 1,612, but the number of tests was also up on Friday to 6,340. The share of positive tests was down by more than one percentage point to 25.42%.

Maybe you missed - Slovenia & Coronavirus, Fri 6/11: 1,565 New Cases, 26.5% Positivity; All of Austria, Croatia, Hungary on Quarantine List from Monday

A total of 93 patients were discharged from hospital yesterday, but the overall number of hospitalisations was up from 1,069 by 15 persons.

According to the national tracker site covid-19.sledilnik.org, there are 22,979 active infections in Slovenia at the moment, while the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 residents has further dropped to 1,096.

The total number of coronavirus cases so far confirmed is 44,270, and the death toll has reached 531.

Leon Cizelj of the Jožef Stefan Institute (IJS) has told the STA that if the latest restrictive measures, taken on 26 October, produced results, the epidemic could be expected to peak in a few days.

The number of patients in hospitals is still the most reliable data, Cizelj said, while noting that the basic reproduction number was currently at 1.5, which meant that the number of positive cases doubled in 12-13 days.

Before the latest measures, the reproduction number was around two. The growth has slowed down, but the slowdown is nevertheless too low for the epidemic to be stopped yet.

As the Health Ministry has changed the testing strategy to include all persons suspected of contracting Covid-19, Cizelj said the effect would show in a few days and that the numbers would perhaps stabilise then.

All our stories on Slovenia and covid-19

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 5 November 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Janša a "serious problem" for Slovenia and Europe

STA, 6 November 2020 - The latest editorial of the left-leaning weekly Mladina says that the US election tweets by PM Janez Janša have put Slovenia on the international map, but not in the way that Foreign Minister Anže Logar meant when he said Slovenia was returning to the international arena.

"We are finally recognized as a country with a clearly emotionally unstable and politically unreasonable prime minister. From this week we no longer have to explain to anyone in international politics why we have a problem and that our problem is serious. But it is not only us who have a problem: Europe now knows that it has a problem as well," Mladina says on Friday under the headline Black Week.

It says Janša has demonstrated that he knows little about diplomacy or is not really interested in it and that he does not care about Slovenia's international reputation. It speaks of a selfish modus operandi similar to that of US President Donald Trump, driven by populism and the perception of politics primarily as a business opportunity.

"But we need to wonder about something else that is more important at this moment. How can this person occupy himself with the US election in a week where more than 20 people die every day, when the figures are as bad as they can get," says Mladina. "Does he really not have even a bit of empathy? Are we dealing with a sociopath?"

Mladina argues the US will suffer long lasting consequences after a single Trump term. "The same goes for Slovenia: every additional month under Janša is distorting this society further, deforming its values, the real picture."

Seeing hope in the centre-left coalition formed recently under the leadership of economist Jože P. Damijan, Mladina calls for a vote of no-confidence as soon as possible, saying "this is not only about international reputation or about staffing, it is about health and lives".

Demokracija: Opposition’s needless attacks on Janša

STA, 5 November 2020 - The government is not taking any measures that would actually require street protests, and perhaps this is precisely the reason why the left-leaning opposition wants to create a state of emergency in politics, the right-wing weekly Demokracija says in its latest commentary.

The right-leaning weekly says that the opposition would apparently rather let a hundred people more die than help the government of Janez Janša and admit that it is successfully managing the virus from Wuhan.

"The instigation of fear of Janša has revealed a deep, horrifying chasm between reality and what the media project as reality. And in this vortex of egotistic opposition, there comes the leftist foursome with the idea that the government should be taken down."

It could be said that the idea is surrealist if it was not floated by a "revolutionary coalition of the mainstream media and deep state", where candidates supported by the mafia are being presented as saviours", headlined by Jože P. Damijan (JPD).

Demokracija says that Damijan is a man who had walked the path of classical economic liberalism until he realised that being impressed with socialist ideas is much more profitable for him.

It was then that the media started presenting him as a "candidate for prime minister-designate", or as "possible prime minister-designate" who is starting talks with the leftist political parties, with which he is supposed to form a government.

"This is not funny, this is tragic: in the JPD case, the mainstream media behaves as if elections in Slovenia are just around the corner or as if the centre-right government has resigned. But neither of this happened, and JPD is currently nobody.

"He is not even a useful idiot who has warmed up to the idea of being prime minister-designate without realising why he came into the spotlight in the first place. It has turned out that JPD was an idiot even before he became useful," concludes the commentary People Who Were Idiots Before They Became Useful.

All our posts in this series are here