News roundup - Monday, 3 July, until 3pm

Agriculture minister calls for responsible water use at UN conference

LJUBLJANA - Climate change, pollution and increased water consumption require responsible water use, Agriculture Minister Irena Šinko told the Food and Agriculture Organisation conference in Rome. She stressed the importance of innovative technologies for water conservation. We need to recycle rainwater and wastewater efficiently, and speed up the development of methods to use non-conventional water sources. Water should be collected and stored in appropriate reservoirs," the minister was quoted as saying by her ministry.

Court agrees with KPK in breach of integrity case

LJUBLJANA - Sašo Polanec, SID Banka's former supervisor and chairman of the in-house appointments and remuneration commission, breached integrity in a procedure to appoint the management board in 2021, the Administrative Court ruled, confirming a previous finding by the anti-graft watchdog. Polanec, professor at the Ljubljana School of Economics and Business, breached integrity by forwarding the state-owned export and development bank's 2021-2023 development strategy, a confidential document, to Marko Mlakar, director of the recruitment agency Amrop Adria.

Ombudsman says Moroccan man faced discrimination in administrative procedure

LJUBLJANA - A Moroccan man married to a Slovenian citizen faced discrimination in procedures at the Ljubljana Administrative Unit, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman has found. Two employees of the administrative unit acted in a discriminatory manner against the Moroccan solely because of his being a foreigner, the ombudsman said.

Ljubljana ranks high in shared mobility

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana ranked ninth out of 42 European cities in terms of shared and electric mobility in a study by an NGO network Clean Cities Campaign (CCC). The capital was praised for its accessible electric car sharing system but performed poorly in the category of emission-free buses. The analysis looked at shared bikes and e-scooters, electric car sharing, emission-free buses and charging stations for electric cars in each of the 42 cities.

Slovenia bags 13 medals at European Games

KRAKOW, Poland - Slovenian athletes won 13 medals at the 3rd European Games that took place in Krakow, Poland, between 21 June and 2 July. The most successful among them was kickboxing competitor Tyra Barada, who won a gold and a silver medal. Slovenia won three gold, eight silver and two bronze medals, ranking 21st according to the total number of medals.

Open air cinema returns to Ljubljana Castle

LJUBLJANA - The courtyard of Ljubljana Castle will transform into an open-air cinema in the second half of July. The annual event will feature several hits and five premieres between 13 July and 5 August. Film Under the Stars will open with the Slovenian and French co-production Granny's Sexual Life (Babičino seksualno žvljenje). The animated short film won the European Film Award and the César for Best Animated Short.