News roundup - Sunday, 30 July

Small memorial event held at Russian Chapel

KRANJSKA GORA - Members of the Slovenia-Russia Association gathered at the Russian Chapel below Vršič mountain pass to remember Russian prisoners of war who died in an avalanche while building the 1611 metre pass during the First World War. The event was also meant as an appeal for peace with the participants dedicating their thoughts and prayer "to the victims of past wars and to all those who suffer today because of the senselessness of war". Once a high-profile event featuring senior Slovenian and Russian officials, the memorial was held in a low-key format for the second year running due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Actor Dare Valič dies

LJUBLJANA - Dare Valič, an acclaimed Slovenian actor who excelled on the stage as well on film, has died aged 82 after a long illness. He was buried in Ljubljana on Saturday, the public broadcaster RTV Slovenija reported. As a freelance actor he worked with Slovenia's major theatre companies between 1969 and 1971 before joining Slovenian National Drama Theatre in Ljubljana as a permanent member of the ensemble. He retired in 2005. He appeared in more than 100 roles on the stage, but also in some of Slovenia's iconic films and TV shows. He won a number of awards, including the Borštnik Ring, Slovenia's most coveted accolade in theatre acting, in 2016.

MetalDays festival moves to Lake Velenje

VELENJE - The MetalDays music festival, which used to be a staple of the Tolmin area in the north-west of the country, moved to a new venue, Lake Velenje in the north. Kicking off today, the seven-day festival will feature some 130 bands that will represent different subgenres of mostly heavy metal music. The highlights include Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, English gothic metal band Paradise Lost, Germany's Kreator and Helloween, representatives of thrash metal and power metal, respectively, and British rock band Church of the Cosmic Skull.

European Youth Olympic Festival in Maribor declared a success

MARIBOR - The European Youth Olympic Festival in Maribor wrapped up on Saturday with a closing ceremony celebrating the young athletes and the volunteers who took part in the event. The festival is seen as an all-round success. Spyros Capralos, president of the European Olympic Committees said it "will be hard to repeat such a successful event". A total of 2,419 athletes from 48 countries competed in 11 sports. Italy were the most successful team, winning 46 medals. Slovenia won nine, including two golds, to place 15th on the medal board. The event attracted many visitors with tourism workers reporting a 30% rise in visitor numbers year-on-year.

Dončić takes over as Slovenia captain

LJUBLJANA - NBA superstar Luka Dončić has been picked to captain the Slovenian national team for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup. Commenting on the new role at a press conference on Saturday, he said he was honoured. "I'm honoured to be the captain, we made the decision with the coach and the rest of the players." the Dallas Mavericks point guard said. "It's a pleasure to play for the national team ... The goal is always the same. Every time we go to a championship, the goal is to win it," the 24-year-old said about the team's goal as him and Vlatko Čančar, the newly crowned NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets, joined the rest for the training camp.

Survey shows students keen to start their own business

LJUBLJANA - The latest survey among high-school and university students shows one out of five would like to start their own business immediately after finishing studies and 35% at a later stage in their lives. E-Študentski Servis, the student employment agency that carried out the survey, finds that young people in Slovenia have a very clear vision of their future. Some of the dream jobs the respondents said they would like to do in the future include animal psychologist, European judge, influencer, writer and head of a project to construct a nuclear power plant.

Slovenia hosts European Scything Championship

MORAVČE - The European Scything Championship in Moravče, central Slovenia, culminated as the best grass-cutters from eight countries faced off for the title of champion in this age-old craft. Competing in four categories, they had to show speed as well as precision. The men wield a scythe on 100 square metres of land, and women, boys and girls on 35-square-metre plots. The first ever European Scything Championship was held in 1969, featuring only Germany and Austria. Since making its debut Slovenia in 1995, Slovenia has been hosting the championship for the third time.