News roundup - Tuesday, 29 October, until 3pm

Israel's vote to ban UNRWA is massive blow to international law, ministry says

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern over the Israeli parliament vote to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from Israel. This is a massive blow to international law and the United Nations Charter, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said. "The law, which prevents the agency from working is a blank cheque for deepening the already terrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza," the ministry said, adding that this opens the door for further destabilisation of the situation and seriously jeopardises the prospect of a two-state solution.

Rapid response unit launched at Labour Inspectorate

LJUBLJANA - The Labour Inspectorate, which has faced criticism in recent years for inefficiency and slow response times, has launched a dedicated rapid response unit to tackle urgent labour issues, especially those highlighted by the media or flagged by civil society. The new unit, comprising nine specialised inspectors as of 1 October, aims to provide the inspectorate with greater agility in addressing immediate and severe cases of worker rights violations, officials told the press.

June triple referendum mostly a show-down between Freedom Movement and SDS

LJUBLJANA - While the Democrats (SDS) were the biggest spender in the campaign for the June EU election, the largest opposition party came second to the ruling Freedom Movement party when it comes to the total campaign expenses for the three referendums that were held alongside the election. Ahead of the referendums on the liberalisation of cannabis use, on legislating assisted dying, and introducing the preferential vote in general elections, all of which were backed, the Freedom Movement spent EUR 64,601 in total, while the SDS spent EUR 34,950.

Motorisation rate, average age of cars hit new record in 2023

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia recorded the highest ever motorisation rate in 2023, but the average age of vehicles also hit a new high, the Statistics Office said. The motorisation rate stood at 579 cars per 1,000 people, up 63 compared to 2013. In the past 20 years, the number has gone up by 123. The average vehicle age, which has been constantly rising in recent years, was at 11.1 years in 2023, up 0.7 years compared to 2022. This is an increase of two years from 2013 and 3.8 years from 2003.

This year's pumpkin harvest good despite challenges

GORJA RADGONA - This year's pumpkin harvest has been good and better by miles than last year's despite the challenges farmers had to face, organic farming specialist Boštjan Ferenčak told the STA. Some growers have produced up to a thousand kilogrammes more dry pumpkin seeds per hectare this year. Ferenčak from the Murska Sobota Institute of Agriculture and Forestry said that for most Slovenian pumpkin growers the latest season was much better than last year's, as the average harvest volume totalled 600-700 kilogrammes of dried pumpkin seeds per hectare, which compares to 200-400 kilogrammes in 2023.

Koper the first Slovenian municipality to join Città del Vino

KOPER - The municipality of Koper will be the first in Slovenia to join the Italian association Città del Vino, a network of local communities dedicated to winemaking. The membership agreement will be signed on 16 November, which is why one of the local St Martin's Day celebrations will be held a week later. Koper hopes that being a part of Città del Vino the municipality's winemakers will find it easier to penetrate new markets.