A train has derailed at the Rimske Toplice train station for a second time in just a few days, closing down the railway line between Zidani Most and Maribor, a major artery for international passenger and cargo traffic.

Foreign Minister Miro Cerar and his visiting Japanese counterpart Taro Kono called for a further deepening of economic cooperation between the two countries in Ljubljana on Wednesday. They also urged respect for the rule of law and for arbitration decisions, including with regard to the Adriatic and the South China Sea.

The government has dismissed Damir Topolko as director of the Infrastructure Agency in the wake of a scandal over the botched tender for a scale model of a new rail track planned between Koper and Divača. Monika Pintar Mesarič was named as acting director as of 1 September.

More than 25 years after the National Assembly passed legislation that ordered the establishment of provinces and after several failed attempts, a proposal has been presented under which Slovenia would be divided into 11 provinces.

Slovenia is observing 100 years since its northeastern-most region of Prekmurje was united with the rest of the nation after World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Located east of the river Mura, Prekmurje was the only territory the Slovenian nation gained at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.