News roundup - Saturday, 28 September

Slovenia pushing for UNSC humanitarian resolution on Palestine

NEW YORK, US - Prime Minister Robert Golob told the UN Security Council that he instructed Slovenia's ambassador to start consultations on a new humanitarian resolution on Palestine. Speaking at a session on the situation in the Middle East, he argued the Council was not doing enough over the situation in Gaza and the broader region. Talking with Slovenian correspondents in New York after, Golob said he was happy with what Slovenia had achieved during the week of the general debate of world leaders in New York. He described his call to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza as an appeal to a friend.

Slovenia appeals against further escalation in the Middle East

LJUBLJANA - After Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry called "on everyone to act in restraint and prevent further escalation" in the Middle East. "Civilians must be protected at all times and killings must stop. "We have to avoid war in Lebanon at all costs," the ministry wrote on X, urging implementation of the 2006 UN Security Council resolution calling for a full cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Palestinian children due in Slovenia in October for treatment

LJUBLJANA - A group of eight to ten children from Gaza is coming to Slovenia in October to receive comprehensive treatment after experiencing amputations of limbs, and some of them spinal injuries. The children, who are now in Egypt, will stay for rehabilitation at the Soča University Rehabilitation Institute for 42 days, as part of a project funded by the Foreign Ministry and carried out by the Catholic charity Slovenian Caritas in cooperation with the Danilo Türk Foundation. In addition, some 1,000 internally displaced families in Gaza will be provided with financial assistance to buy basic foodstuffs.

The Soča overflows its banks in Bovec

BOVEC - Swollen after heavy rain, the Soča River and its tributaries overflew their banks in the Bovec area in the northwest during the past night, flooding fields, roads and basements. Firefighters helped bring 30 people to safety after a road in Lepena was blocked by a landslide, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration reported. Northwestern parts of the country saw heavy rainfall since late Thursday with the Environment Agency recording a new national record of 378 litres per square meter within 24 hours at the Vogel ski resort above Lake Bohinj.

Rally in Šentjernej demands action on Roma issues

ŠENTJERNEJ - A few hundred people gathered in the southeastern town of Šentjernej to protest against peer violence at the local primary school allegedly perpetrated by Roma. They urged the headteacher to resign and the government to act on Roma-related issues. The rally supported a father who physically assaulted a Roma pupil at school earlier this month, allegedly because he had been harassing his child for a while. A member of the local initiative that organised the protest it was a reaction of a helpless parent.

Civil Defence Day observed for the first time

LJUBLJANA/MARIBOR - Slovenia observed Civil Defence Day for the first time after the government designated 28 September two months ago in memory of a constitutional bill passed in 1990 that provided a basis for defence planning eight months before the country declared independence. Civil defence or civil protection is one of the two segments of Slovenia's defence system alongside military defence. The Defence Ministry marked the day with several events at the main military school and barracks in Maribor.

Commercial property market slowest since 2015

LJUBLJANA - Prices of commercial properties in Slovenia rose by 1.5% in the second quarter of the year following a 11.5% hike in the quarter before but the number of transactions remained at the lowest level since 2015, data from the Statistics Office show. Only 133 commercial properties were sold in the second quarter, the lowest number since 2015. The total value of the properties sold was the lowest ever, at EUR 18.9 million.

Intersocks opens new automated warehouse in Kočevje

KOČEVJE - Intersocks, a leading global manufacturer of technical socks, launched a new automated warehouse near its home location in Kočevje in south Slovenia on Friday. The company says the investment is a key part of a broader strategy to expand production and logistics capacities. The new Autostore warehouse will allow the company to automate and optimise its logistics processes. The company recently also launched a new production hall in Kočevje, bought most advanced sock knitting machines and improved its IT technology.

Slovenian sculptor's work featured on The Cure's new album cover

LJUBLJANA - The Cure have released their first single in 16 years as the opening track of a new album. Both the video of the song Alone and the cover of the Songs of a Lost World album feature Bagatelle, a 1975 sculpture by Slovenian artist Janez Pirnat (1932-2021). According to media reports, the artwork was designed by Andy Vella based on a concept by Robert Smith, The Cure's frontman, who knows Pirnat's work very well. The sculptor spent the last ten years of his life on the Croatian island of Brač with his sculptor wife Sandra Nejašmić Pirnat. He added her surname to his when he married her.