News roundup - Sunday, 14 July

Slovenian officials shocked at attempted assassination of Trump

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's President Nataša Pirc Musar, PM Robert Golob and the Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump at a campaign rally on Saturday, saying they are deeply shocked at the political violence. "There is no place for violence in a democracy," Pirc Musar said on X. The first Slovenian official to respond was Ambassador to the US Iztok Mirošič, who condemned what he labelled as an unacceptable attack on democracy.

Health Ministry working on dozen bills to improve healthcare system

LJUBLJANA - As Slovenia's health system has been awaiting a thorough reform for years, Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel, who has been in office since October, told the STA in an interview her ministry is working on around a dozen bills, including to ban dual practice and reform the health insurance contribution to make it more fair by pegging it to income. More than 15 scenarios are being currently studied. She expects guidelines for 2025-2026 health policy to be drafted in the autumn.

Pogačar extends overall lead to Vingegaard to 3 minutes

PAU, France - Slovenia's star rider Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won a second consecutive stage at the Tour de France, defeating archrival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to increase his overall lead against the Tour defending champion to 3:09 minutes and tightening his grip on the yellow jersey for what would be his third Tour de France victory. During the 197.7 km mountain stage from Loudenvielle to the top of Plateau de Beille, he mounted an attack 5.3 km before the finish line to win stage 15.

Egg-sized hail hits Slovenska Bistrica in east

SLOVENSKA BISTRICA - As a heatwave with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius persists in the country, heavy t-storms hit the north-eastern regions of Štajerska and Prekmurje on Saturday afternoon. Slovenska Bistrica was hit the most as hail the size of an egg hit the municipality, with more than 350 homes damaged alongside many cars, electricity infrastructure, including solar plants, as well as a shopping mall and other buildings. The Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration reported more than 500 events Štajerska.

Dairy Pomurske Mlekarne going strong

MURSKA SOBOTA - The Murska Sobota-based dairy Pomurske Mlekarne reported EUR 51 million in revenue last year, an increase of 3% from 2022. Neat profit reached nearly EUR 2.8 million, up over a million. The company fell short of its 10% increase target due to lack of milk, owner and director Anthony Tomažin, an Australian of Slovenian descent, says in the 2023 business report. It processed over 50 million litres of milk, a 14% decrease in milk, which the company buys exclusively from Slovenian farmers.

Slovenian households continue to improve financial situation

LJUBLJANA - Slovenian households continued to improve their financial situation in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2023, shows data by the Slovenian central bank. Their assets amounted to EUR 80.4 billion, up by around 8% or EUR 6.2 billion year-on-year. Businesses and the state on the other hand saw their liabilities grow faster than their assets.

Bar on Portorož beach on fire

PORTOROŽ - A fire broke out at the storage area of Alaya bar on the beach in Portorož just before 11am, spreading to the entire complex of buildings, with firefighters managing to bring it under control by now. First estimates show the fire, whose cause is yet to be established, has destroyed an area of around 2,000 square metres. Three persons sustained light injuries and were taken to hospital, while firefighters are still working on individual hotspots. According to a local news site, the bar is owned by well-known Koper entrepreneur Ante Guberac, director of construction company Grafist.