News roundup - Tuesday, 25 July

Storms cause further damage

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia was pummelled by another wave of storms raging since Monday night, causing power outages and additional damage to infrastructure, buildings, crops and forests. The west of the country, the Celje area in the east and Koroška in the north were worst hit. Hailstorms and winds caused extensive damage in the winegrowing regions of Goriška Brda, Vipava Valley and Kras, and cars, roofs, buildings and crops were damaged in the wider area of Nova Gorica. Many roads around the country are blocked and rail services have been delayed. Koroška is battling with landslides after sustaining extensive damage in storms in the previous days and weeks.

Ljubljana-based IRCAI partners with Amazon to support AI-driven climate change solutions

LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana-based International Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) and Amazon Web Services announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind global programme to support entrepreneurs and startups using advanced cloud computing and AI to create new solutions addressing the climate crisis. Applications for the Compute for Climate Fellowship are now open.

Anti-graft commission looking into parliamentary inquiry

LJUBLJANA - The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) confirmed it is conducting a preliminary inquiry into potential issues with the parliamentary commission investigating alleged political meddling in the police and other independent state bodies under the current and previous governments. The parliamentary commission was established in February at the initiative of the ruling Freedom Movement in the wake of allegations of political interference in the police force under its watch. The idea however was to also shed light on alleged meddling by the previous government.

Medical organisations say assisted dying bill unconstitutional

LJUBLJANA - Representatives of doctors and medical organisations held a press conference to express opposition to the proposed bill to legalise assisted dying, arguing that it is inconsistent with medical ethics and the constitution. The head of the Slovenian Medical Academy Pavel Poredoš argued that abuses of assisted dying and euthanasia in Belgium and the Netherlands occurred in as many as a third of all cases. Officials said doctors today have options at their disposal for alleviating physical and psychological suffering of patients.

Minister calls for sustainable food production at Rome summit

ROME, Italy - Agriculture Minister Irena Šinko identified transition to sustainable farming production and development of the countryside as Slovenia's priorities, as she addressed the UN Food Systems Summit in Rome. She called for enhancing food self-sufficiency and making food prices accessible. She argued that the EU's Common Agricultural Policy measures support most of the ambitious goals for a fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system.

NLB funding purchase of Capital Plaza complex in Montenegro

PODGORICA, Montenegro - The Ljubljana-based NLB bank and its Montenegrin subsidiary have signed an agreement on a ten-year, EUR 24 million loan to the Israeli shopping centre operator BIG CEE, which will be used to purchase a commercial and residential complex in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica. "The approval of a long-term loan for the Capital Plaza project further confirms the focus on supporting investments and developing business opportunities," the bank said.

Number of tourists up 6% in first half of 2023

LJUBLJANA - A total of 2.47 million tourists were recorded in Slovenia in the first half of the year, which is 6% more than in the same period last year. Nights amounted to nearly 6.26 million, up 3.9% year-on-year. While the numbers for local tourists dropped significantly, a sharp increase was recorded in foreign tourists. The latter accounted for two thirds of all arrivals at almost 1.76 million, which is 39.2% more year-on-year.

Business sentiment down for 7th consecutive month

LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment decreased in July for the seventh consecutive month, down 1.6 percentage points compared to June and 5.5 percentage points compared to July 2022, with the relevant indicator standing at -6.5 points, data from the Statistics Office shows. The sentiment indicator for retail lost 0.8 points, outlook in the services sector was down by 0.6 points and in manufacturing by 0.5 points.

Celje hospital sees surge in patient violence incidents

CELJE - Celje General Hospital has seen a spate of patient violence incidents since January when a patient injured two staff members. Only last Saturday, a patient made death threats with a knife to staff at the hospital's cardiac department. He was restrained by security guards, who took away his knife. The hospital said it had recorded 21 incidents involving verbal or physical violence against its staff despite stepping up security after the January assault. The number of incidents nearly doubled year-on-year.