News roundup - Friday, 9 August, until 3pm

Royal ties unite Nova Gorica and Saint-Denis

PARIS, France - Nova Gorica, the Slovenian city whose Franciscan monastery holds the remains of the last French king, and the French municipality of Saint-Denis, whose basilica served as the burial site for most French monarchs, signed an agreement on cooperation in tourism and culture. The partnership was announced as culture was celebrated at Slovenia House in Paris on Thursday. The Nova Gorica municipality, which will be the European Capital of Culture in 2025 together with Italy's Gorizia, would like to see more French tourists.

Svetina wants to be reappointed as ombudsman

LJUBLJANA - Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina would like to get another six-year term at the helm of his office after his current one expires in February 2025. The ombudsman is elected by parliament, but it is the president of Slovenia who nominates a candidate for the post. There have been speculations that there is another contender in the run for the position - Katarina Bervar Sternad, head of an NGO, but both the president's office and herself told the STA they had not discussed this.

Workers in retail and manufacturing still in high demand

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's job market was marked by a very high demand for staff in the first half of the year. Most sought after were workers in retail, manufacturing, warehousing and sales. Demand for postmen saw a record 208% growth, shows a survey that pollster Valicon conducted for the employment portal MojeDelo.com. There were still many vacancies listed on the portal in the first half of 2024 but 4% fewer than in the same period in 2023, Styria Digital Marketplaces, which includes the portal, wrote in a press release.

Experts warn of alarming rise in electric scooter injuries

LJUBLJANA - Data from police and healthcare institutions show a significant increase in the number of accidents and injuries among electric scooter riders. The UKC Ljubljana hospital treated 661 scooter-related injuries last year, with 352 cases reported by July this year, including 200 involving minors. UKC Maribor also reported 111 injuries, 60 involving minors. Doctors called for responsible behaviour and thereby fewer injuries and more road safety, warning that 5-10% of injuries require hospitalization.

Escaped Dutch prisoner apprehended in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian police apprehended on Tuesday a 52-year-old Dutch citizen convicted for smuggling illicit drugs in the Netherlands who had been on the run from prison since June 2021. The fugitive was arrested based on a European arrest warrant. He was remanded in custody by District Court in Koper.

Ljutomer celebrates 150 years of harness racing in Slovenia

LJUTOMER - The 150th anniversary of the first ever harness race in Slovenia will be marked this evening at the hippodrome in the town of Ljutomer, the country's historical centre of trotter breeding that continues to go strong. Moreover, on Saturday afternoon, the Ljutomer hippodrome will host the 34th Slovenian Harness Racing Derby, the race of races, which a horse runs only once in its lifetime at the age of four. Only the 12 best trotters in the country will be competing.

Seviqc early music festival coming to Celje for first time

CELJE - This year's Seviqc early music festival, which kicks off tonight, will feature eight concerts at four venues in Celje, which is hosting the festival for the first time in more than four decades. The festival will be opened in Celje Cathedral by violinist Adriana Alcaide and harpsichordist Ana Marija Krajnc, who will also perform the closing concert at the same venue on 23 August, the municipality of Celje announced.

Film and poetry in focus of Cinematheque's open-air cinema

LJUBLJANA - A digitalised and remastered copy of a 1972 Yugoslav classic will kick-start a summer series of open-air screenings the Slovenian Cinematheque is hosting between 9 and 24 August in Ljubljana. This year's event focuses on the links between film and poetry. The opening film, Life of a Shock Force Worker (Slike iz Života Udarnika) by Bosnian director Bahrudin Čengić, deals with worker glorification propaganda in communist Yugoslavia.