STA, 27 July 2021 - Slovenian judoka Tina Trstenjak has won the silver medal in the 63kg category at the Tokyo Olympics. The second-best-ranked in the category had to concede to the top-ranked Clarisse Agbegnenou of France on Tuesday in what was a replay of the gold medal match from the previous Olympics where Trstenjak won. 

Agbegnenou defeated Trstenjak with a waza-ari after 37 seconds of extra time following a tense and aggressive face-off during regulation time which saw penalties awarded to both competitors.

The French also outperformed Trstenjak in the previous three matches between them prior to today's match. The last time the 30-year-old Trstenjak was better than her two years younger French peer remains the Paris Grand Slam four years ago.

On her way to the final, which was turned rockier due to back pain, the Slovenian beat Italy's Marie Centracchio, a surprise semi-finalist, and Venezuela's Anriquelis Barrios in the quarter-final.

"It didn't go according to plan, but I'm super happy I've gotten to the final at two consecutive Olympics," Trstenjak told RTV Slovenija after today's match, highlighting she was nevertheless satisfied with the silver medal.

"Clarisse and I are good friends outside judo even though we're rivals. When we face off in the final, that's quite a show. [...] That was the best possible final," she said, adding she could not have wished for a better opponent.

After scoring a waza-ari, the second highest score in judo, Agbegnenou lifted Trstenjak off her feet during a hug out of joy and respect for the Slovenian.

Trstenjak also noted she had been performing in pain the entire morning. The extent of the injury will become clear after the pills wear off, she added.

Apart from her two Olympic medals, Trstenjak also has one gold World Championships medal and three gold European Championships medals.

Today's medal is the third medal for Slovenia in the 2020 Summer Olympics after cyclist Tadej Pogačar got bronze in the road race on Saturday and canoeist Benjamin Savšek won gold in the C-1 slalom yesterday.

STA, 27 July 2021 - While the number of white stork pairs has been constant or increasing throughout Slovenia in recent years, it has been steadily decreasing in the north-eastern region of Prekmurje, which is the typical stork habitat in Slovenia.

Around 200 pairs nested in Slovenia in 1999, while last year there were 259, said Damijan Denac, the director of the Bird Watching and Bird Study Society of Slovenia.

The society, which has been monitoring the number of white stork pairs in the country since 1999, notes that this species has started to colonise areas where it had not traditionally nested before.

Denac explained that the stork population has increased in the area between Grosuplje and Novo Mesto, where no storks nested in 1999, while there are about 20 pairs today, as well as in Bela Krajina, the Ljubljana Marshes and the plains around Krško.

Storks also nest in other locations. "It is important to note, however, that the white stork is slowly but steadily disappearing from its traditional breeding area, Prekmurje," Denac said.

He believes that the reasons lie in environmental changes, especially food sources. Stork feed on insects, small mammals and amphibians, which are most often found in meadows. However, as intensive farming in Prekmurje has left very few meadows, there is not enough food left for storks.

"It is worrying that the consequences are being felt in a species that is not even a great ecological specialist, as the stork has a fairly wide range of prey. This means that the general state of biodiversity in the area is very poor."

The white stork is a long-lived species; it lives for up to 20 or 25 years and returns to the same nest every year. Unlike their parents, the young do not return to the nest where they were hatched, but settle elsewhere, including in other countries.

In the last few years, the society has been conducting research in which 10 young white storks have been fitted with tracking devices. They have found that the storks migrate quite actively until sexual maturity. For example, one of them migrated from Sudan to Turkey and back to Egypt.

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Canoeist Savšek convincingly wins Olympic gold in C-1 slalom

TOKYO, Japan - Canoeist Benjamin Savšek convincingly won the men's C-1 slalom to earn the first gold medal for Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the second overall medal for the country. The 34-year-old finished 3.71 seconds ahead of Lukaš Rohan of the Czech Republic and 5.45 seconds ahead of Sideris Tasiadis of Germany. "My first thought was that I managed an excellent run in the finals. A sleepless night is behind me. I finally got the monkey off my back, I had been working hard for this for a long time," he said.

Slovenia beat Argentina in Olympic basketball tournament opener

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić scored 48 points as the basketball team cruised past Argentina to open their campaign at the Olympics with a 118:100 win. The first Olympics win for Slovenia came against the runners-up from the last World Cup. Slovenia are on pace to qualify for the elimination round but will probably need at least one more win out of Thursday's encounter with hosts Japan and Sunday's match-up with Spain.

EU finance ministers endorse Slovenia's recovery plan

BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU finance ministers endorsed another four national recovery and resilience plans, including Slovenia's, which the European Commission approved at the beginning of the month. A formal confirmation in writing will follow shortly. Finance Minister Andrej Šircelj Slovenia would get the first funds, EUR 231 million of the EUR 2.5 billion plan, in September at the latest. Cohesion Policy Minister Zvonko Černač said ministries would publish the first calls for applications this year.

Slovenia and Croatia launch platform to fund technology transfer

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian state-owned development bank SID, its Croatian counterpart HBOR and the European Investment Fund (EIF) signed an agreement to establish a regional technology transfer platform under which universities and public research institutions will be able to tap on EUR 40 million to start up and commercialise their development projects. The EIF will chip in EUR 20 million and the two development banks EUR 10 million each.

Slovenia reports 22 coronavirus cases for Sunday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia confirmed 22 cases of coronavirus on Sunday, more than double the figure of a week ago, as the steady rise in infections continues. A total of 593 PCR tests were confirmed and the positivity rate stood at 3.7%. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 population rose by one to 40 and there are now an estimated 850 active cases in the country. Hospital numbers remained flat.

Inquiry finds police response to anti-maskers' attack flawed

LJUBLJANA - An inquiry into police handling an incident in front of the Parliament House in which several MPs were harassed by a group of anti-maskers in early July has found several flaws, including a lack of coordination and a plan of response and subsequent failure to protect the site. The inquiry was launched after criticism that police had been near the scene but did not intervene as several MPs were harassed by protesters after the National Assembly passed amendments to the communicable diseases act.

POP TV survey: SDS in the lead, govt rating remains low

LJUBLJANA - The latest survey conducted by pollster Mediana for POP TV shows that the government enjoys an approval rating of 33%, while 58.8% disapprove of its work and 8.2% were undecided. Among political parties, the ruling Democrats (SDS), at 18%, command a wide lead ahead of the Social Democrats (SD) at 11.7% and the Left at 8%. After five months, president Borut Pahor is back at the top of the list of most popular politicians, overtaking Health Minister Janez Poklukar.

Mercator shareholders endorse plan to offset 2020 loss

LJUBLJANA - Retailer Mercator will offset last year's net loss of EUR 55.4 million in part with retained earnings in the amount of EUR 16.3 million and in part through a simplified decrease in share capital by EUR 36 million, under decisions endorsed by the company's shareholders' meeting. Fortenova, the successor to the bankrupt Croatian holding Agrokor, holds over 89% voting shares in Mercator.

STA, 25 July 2021 - The Covid-19 epidemic has left an indelible mark on Slovenia's demographics. A negative natural change recorded in Slovenia last year was the highest since 1945 due to high mortality as the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by almost 5,250, show data by the Statistics Office.

The 2020 natural population decrease is mostly a result of above-average high mortality in November and December during the second Covid-19 wave, the Statistics Office said on Friday.

More than 24,000 residents died last year, an increase of nearly 3,800 on the average figure recorded in 2015-2019. Excess mortality was the highest in the last quarter of 2020 when the relevant average was up by two thirds compared to the same period in 2015-2019.

A positive natural change was recorded only in the third quarter of 2020 when some 5,140 babies were born. In total about 18,770 babies were born last year, down by 3% on 2019.

On average, 51 babies were born per day in 2020, 66 residents died, 28 got married and ten got a divorce, 99 moved into Slovenia and 48 moved out.

Domestic migration increased by some 40% in 2020, mainly due to Covid restrictions and ensuing registrations of temporary residence.

Also due to Covid restrictions, the number of weddings decreased by almost 25% on 2019 to some 5,200 and the total of divorces dropped by 28% to some 1,770, the Statistics Office said.

Slovenia recorded what is the highest positive net migration since 2008 last year as the number of those who moved in exceeded the total of those who moved out by almost 18,400.

More on this data

STA, 26 July 2021 - Slovenian canoeist Benjamin Savšek convincingly won the men's C-1 slalom on Monday to earn the first gold medal for Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the second overall medal for the country. 

With no penalty seconds, the 34-year-old finished 3.71 seconds ahead of the second-placed Lukaš Rohan of the Czech Republic and 5.45 seconds ahead of the bronze medallist, Sideris Tasiadis of Germany.

This is already a second medal at the Tokyo Olympics for Slovenia after the bronze medal by cyclist Tadej Pogačar in the men's road race on Saturday, and the 25th overall medal for the country at the Summer Olympics.

Savšek, who has won seven world championship medals and ten European championship medals, earned his first Olympic medal to crown the successful career, after finishing sixth in Rio in 2016 and eighth in London in 2012.

"My first thought was that I managed an excellent run in the finals. A sleepless night is behind me. I finally got the monkey off my back, I had been working hard for this for a long time," he told the national television after the win.

"The course was demanding, I already had a lot of work in the semi-finals, so I focused in the final on making a run without touches, and I managed this. I really fought at the last three gates and when I saw the time the emotions took over."

This is the sixth gold medal for Slovenia at the Summer Olympics and the first gold in kayak/canoe, after Andraž Vehovar and Peter Kauter won silvers in kayak in Atlanta 1996 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, respectively.

"This means a lot to me. This is the only medal that I needed to complete my collection. What is missing is the first place overall in the World Cup, but this outweighs everything," Savšek said.

STA, 26 July 2021 - Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić scored 48 points as the Slovenian basketball team cruised past Argentina to open their campaign at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday with a convincing 118:100 win.

The first Olympics win for Slovenia came against the runners-up from the last World Cup, with the winner being already decided in the first half, in which Dončić scored 31 points for Slovenia to take a 20-point lead.

The lead ballooned to 30 by the end of the third quarter and the rest was only a formality, and the only question was with how many points the Dallas Mavericks star will end the match. He finished it with a whopping 48 points.

Dončić was resting in the last four minutes and Klemen Prepelič took over, scoring a couple of threes to finish with 22 points. The naturalised American Mike Tobey notably had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Slovenia's head coach Aleksander Sekulić said that the match had been understandably emotional as it was the first ever for Slovenia at the Olympics.

"We played our game, and we were especially efficient on offence ... and we had the exceptional Luka Dončić. We lost focus for a few minutes at the end, but it was nevertheless a very good game and we can be satisfied."

Dončić added that Argentina was a very good team and that it was difficult for him as the opponent played very good defence. "The first Olympic game is behind us, it is a large win and the feelings are very special."

Dončić was also praised by Argentina head coach Sergio Hernandez. "We tried to stop him from getting the ball and cut him off the team, because we knew he would get his points. He was able to respond to every defence we threw at him."

Slovenia is on pace to qualify for the elimination round but will probably need at least one more win out of Thursday's encounter with the hosts Japan and Sunday's match-up with Spain in Group B.

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA: 

Week-on-week rise in coronavirus cases continues on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 740 PCR tests were performed in Slovenia on Saturday, resulting in 32 new infections, in what is a week-on-week increase of 11 cases. The rolling seven-day average was also up by two to 65, shows the website of the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ). The positivity rate for Saturday is meanwhile down by 0.6 of a percentage points compared to Friday to 4.3%. The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals remained at 29, and the number of patients in intensive care units stayed at eight. One person died of Covid-19 on Saturday, the government meanwhile said on Twitter.

Slovenian police to get another multi-purpose helicopter

LJUBLJANA - The Slovenian police force will get another AW169 soon after Slovenia purchased the first multi-purpose helicopter, manufactured by Italy's Leonardo Helicopters, in early 2020. The EUR 15 million contract on the purchase, delivery and maintenance of the AgustaWestland AW169, a twin-engine, 10-seat multi-purpose transport helicopter, was signed on Saturday by Slovenian Interior Minister Aleš Hojs with representatives of Leonardo. Hojs said on the occasion that he was happy that the helicopter fleet of the Slovenian police was being expanded, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Olympics: Judoka Gomboc finishes 7th in men's 66kg category

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian judoka Adrian Gomboc finished 7th in the men's 66kg category at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo after dropping to Baruch Shmailov of Israel in the repechage. The 26-year-old fought a tactical and cautious fight against the Israeli, who is ranked 8th on the global judo rankings. After the four minutes of regulation time, the pair fought for the golden point in extra time, with Shmailov concluding the duel with an ippon in only 34 seconds.

Yummy wins main award at Grossmann horror festival

ORMOŽ - Yummy, a 2019 Belgian comedy horror by Belgian director Lars Damoiseaux, won the Vicious Cat award as the 17th Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival came to a close last night. The judging panel said that that the film about a zombie outbreak that occurs after a Belgian couple goes to a hospital in the Eastern Europe to have plastic surgery was "an "exuberant treat" that merges two genres in the wish to make the audience both laugh and be scared. In addition to the award for the best feature film, Yummy has also received the audience's award, the organisers said on Saturday.

Slovenia's population decline in 2020 highest since 1945

LJUBLJANA - The Covid-19 epidemic has left an indelible mark on Slovenia's demographics, with the negative natural change recorded in Slovenia last year being the highest since 1945 due to high mortality as the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by almost 5,250. The Statistics Office said that the 2020 natural population decrease is mostly a result of above-average high mortality in November and December during the second Covid-19 wave. More than 24,000 residents died last year, an increase of nearly 3,800 on the average figure recorded in 2015-2019.

STA, 24 July 2021 - Under the government's decision made on Friday evening hospitality providers in Slovenia will have to check guests' Covid certificates from Monday. The rule already applies to organisers of public events and gatherings.

Visitors to indoor venues such as pubs, cafes, restaurants, casinos, clubs and accommodation facilities have had to observe the rule that they be vaccinated, tested or have recovered from coronavirus for quite a long time already, but from now on the establishments themselves must check compliance before entry.

The government decided this at Friday's correspondence session due to a rapid spread of the Delta variant in the EU. The new rule is in place until 1 August for now, said the Government Communication Office.

Hospitality providers are also required to notify customers of the Covid certificate requirement by displaying a sign instructing them to heed the rule.

To produce a valid certificate through testing one must have a rapid test result no older than 48 hours or a PCR test result no older than 72 hours, the same time windows that apply when crossing the border or attending public events.

The certificate requirement does not apply to outdoor hospitality venues as long as physical distancing is observed.

STA, 24 July 2021 - Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar won the bronze medal in the men's cycling road race at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday in what is the first Olympic medal in cycling for Slovenia. Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won the race.

The photo finish showed that the 22-year-old Pogačar was within a hair's breadth of the silver Olympic medal as he crossed the finish line only a few centimetres behind the second-placed Wout van Aert from Belgium.

"This is something completely unbelievable, I'm speechless," he told the public broadcaster TV Slovenija after bagging the bronze Olympic medal, adding that "a medal is a medal".

He described the 234 km road race with the elevation gain of 4,865 metres as one of the toughest ones in his career so far, saying there had been a lot of factors that made it difficult such as heat and high humidity.

"I'd been suffering since the last climb, but I gave it my best shot," he added.

Primož Roglič, another pre-race favourite and Pogačar's compatriot, placed 28th. The 31-year-old withdrew from this year's Tour de France due to several crashes and ensuing injuries, but told the public broadcaster ahead of today's race that he was feeling better and was ready for the Summer Olympics.

He will have another chance to bag an Olympic medal on Wednesday when he will compete in the men's time trial.

The other two Slovenian riders competing in the race, Jan Polanc and Jan Tratnik, placed below 40th with Tratnik having done the lion's share in keeping the Slovenian team ahead as he set a hard tempo train for some 100 kilometres.

The race featured five climbs, including an ascent partway up to Mount Fuji (14.3 km at 6%) and the culmination of the event, the steep Mikuni Pass climb (6.5 km at 10.6%), where the first attacks to cross the finish line first started today.

Pogačar's bronze medal is the first medal for Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the first Slovenian Olympic medal in cycling.

When it comes to the Summer Olympics, the country fared best at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when it won a total of five medals. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics it got four medals.

A total of 54 Slovenian athletes are in the running for Olympic medals at the Tokyo Olympics, which will end on 8 August.

Check the date at the top of the page, and you can find all the "morning headlines" stories here. You can also follow us on Facebook and get all the news in your feed.

This summary is provided by the STA: 

Cycling star Tadej Pogačar wins bronze Olympic medal

TOKYO, Japan - Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar won the bronze medal in the men's cycling road race at the Tokyo Olympics in what is the first Olympic medal in cycling for Slovenia and the first medal for Slovenia at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won the gold medal and Wout van Aert from Belgium the silver. "This is something completely unbelievable, I'm speechless," Pogačar told the public broadcaster TV Slovenija. He became the first rider ever to have won an Olympic medal after winning the Tour de France.

Hospitality providers will also have to check Covid certificates

LJUBLJANA - Under the government's decision made on Friday evening hospitality providers in Slovenia will have to check guests' Covid certificates from Monday. Indoor venues such as pubs, cafes, restaurants, casinos, clubs and accommodation facilities will have to check compliance with the rule that visitors be vaccinated, tested or have recovered from coronavirus before entry. The rule, which already applies to organisers of public events and gatherings, is in place until 1 August for now, said the Government Communication Office.

Friday case count rises week-on-week

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia reported 93 new coronavirus infections for Friday in what is another daily case count increase in weekly comparison after two days of a downward trend in infections. The 7-day average case count is up by four to 63 and the cumulative 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents rose by one to 39, fresh official data show. The latest cases come from 1,865 PCR tests with the positivity rate standing at 5%, up from 3.5% a week ago. The NIJZ estimates that the number of active cases in Slovenia has increased from 818 to 831.

Janša urges pre-election efforts at SDS annual get-together

BOVEC - The leader of the ruling Democrats (SDS) Janez Janša addressed the party's rank and file at the kick-off of their annual gathering, calling on the party's members to step up in the 2022 election campaign. The Slovenian prime minister told the get-together that the party had been successfully steering Slovenia through the Covid-19 epidemic for almost a year and a half. As the super election year of 2022 is approaching, SDS members and supporters should highlight the party's achievements in the pre-election period, Janša said.