News roundup - Saturday, 27 July

Men's handball team defeated by Spain in Olympic opener

PARIS, France - Slovenia's men's handball team suffered a 25:22 (8:11) defeat against Spain in their opening match of the Paris Olympics. Slovenia, whose top result at what had been three Olympic appearances thus far is a sixth place in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, will face Croatia on Monday in their next group stage match. Coach Uroš Zorman's squad, which also took bronze at the World Championship in 2017 and is hoping to upset some major teams in Paris again, is later also scheduled to play Sweden, Japan, and Germany.

Slovenia House promoting the country at Olympics

PARIS, France - The Slovenia House, a project with the purpose of promoting Slovenian sport, economy, culture and tourism, came to life at the Paris Olympics. With its strategic position in the La Villette Park right by the Olympic Village,, it will be at the heart of the event. Slovenia's President Nataša Pirc Musar opened the house and stressed it was also "a symbol of our sporting spirit, culture and unity" and "the place where sport, culture, politics, business and tourism will meet in the coming days".

Study shows Slovenia's air connectivity among worst in Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia has one of the worst air connectivities in Europe, according to the latest study by the international airport association ACI Europe. The connectivity in Europe on average has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, but most countries still show better recovery than Slovenia, which is at Europe's tail-end in terms of direct connections.