News roundup - Monday, 26 August, until 3pm

Crisis looms as Slovenia faces worsening teacher shortage

LJUBLJANA - Warnings of a worsening workforce shortage in the education system are being raised again as the new school year approaches. More than 3,200 job openings for education professionals were recorded in July. The Education Ministry acknowledges the ongoing departures of teachers and an upcoming wave of retirements, but it believes that some of the measures taken are already showing positive results. Trade unions disagree, saying that not enough is being done.

POP TV poll: SDS gaining ground on Freedom Movement

LJUBLJANA - The opposition Democrats (SDS) have gained ground on the ruling Freedom Movement party, shows a survey conducted by Mediana for the commercial broadcaster POP TV. 23.6% of the respondents would vote for the SDS, up 0.9 percentage points from July. The Freedom Movement would have the support of 17.7% voters, down 0.3 points. The Robert Golob government has kept the 36.2% support from July, while the share of those who do not support its work fell by five points to 46.6%.

Pro-Palestinian groups demand former Israeli minister not come to Bled

LJUBLJANA - The Movement for the Rights of Palestinians and the Solidarity Committee for a Free Palestine have called on the government to disinvite Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, from the upcoming Bled Strategic Forum. Livni was foreign minister between 2006 and 2009 and a member of the war cabinet during attacks on Gaza in 2008-2009 when Israeli forces "killed at least 1,166 Palestinians and destroyed the homes of over 100,000 people", they said.

Ljubljana prison confirms tuberculosis case

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana prison confirmed that one of their inmates had tuberculosis. The inmate has been hospitalised and is undergoing treatment at the Golnik Hospital for Respiratory Diseases. "The situation is under control as we have taken all measures planned for such situations," prison director Denis Perše said. This is only the sixth Slovenian case of prison tuberculosis in the past ten years.

Business sentiment up in August

LJUBLJANA - Business sentiment improved by 1.2 percentage points in August compared to the revised data for July and by 4.6 percentage points year-on-year and is now roughly in line with the 2010-2020 long-term average, the Statistics Office said. The August improvement was driven by all five confidence indicators, with the biggest improvements in confidence in retail (+12 points) and construction (+4 points).

Public transport in Jesenice restored in limited capacity

JESENICE - Jesenice, a municipality in northwest Slovenia, has managed to set up public transport connections to the least connected areas after it could not find a contractor to take over city public transport in full. The city rented a minibus from a private contractor and set up two circular routes, but officials say that bus transport has become too expensive and it is unlikely that all routes can be restored.

Darko Jorgić wins WTT Contender Lima 2024

LIMA, Peru - Slovenia's best table tennis player Darko Jorgić has won the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Lima 2024 with a USD 80,000 prize pool after he defeated Germany's Patrick Franziska in the finals with 4:0 (5,9,3,7). This is the first WTT tournament win for the 26-year-old. "I knew why I came to Lima, I knew I wanted to win a WTT tournament," he said.