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This summary is provided by the STA:

Record 108 coronavirus cases from 2,758 tests on Thursday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia saw 108 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a record-high daily tally, after 2,758 tests were conducted, likewise the highest daily number so far. A total of 27 persons are in hospital currently, including five in intensive care. There are currently 701 active cases in the country, according to national tracker site Covid-19.sledilnik. Among the latest cases, there were six detected in health workers, six in residents of care homes and one in care home staff. The latest infections bring Slovenia's overall tally of cases to 3,498, while the death toll remains at 135.

Schools record 86 infections in two weeks, classes remain in-person

LJUBLJANA - School classes remain in-person in Slovenia as there is currently no need to change the strategy, the Education Ministry said. There were 86 coronavirus infections in primary and secondary schools in the first ten days of the new school year and 917 quarantine orders were issued. Out of the 86 cases, 27 were confirmed in primary school students and two in secondary school students. The rest were staff. A total of 521 students were issued quarantine orders and 223 were told to self-isolate.

DeSUS and Janša meet after Pivec's resignation opens several issues

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša met Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) MPs and the party's interim leader Tomaž Gantar to discuss issues resulting from the resignation of DeSUS leader Aleksandra Pivec. The party, which continues to support the government coalition, would like Pivec to leave as agriculture minister and a deputy prime minister. "Pivec does not represent anyone but herself now," said Gantar, who serves as health minister. He announced the coalition would discuss these issues in detail the next time it meets, presumably on Monday.

Logar hosts NATO ambassadors, underlines Slovenia's commitment to alliance

LJUBLJANA - Foreign Minister Anže Logar hosted a working lunch for NATO member state ambassadors accredited to Slovenia. He presented plans aimed to help Slovenia meet its NATO commitments and stressed the importance of joint values and transatlantic ties, which are among the government's priorities. At what was the first meeting of this sort after Slovenia joined the alliance in 2004, Logar underlined Slovenia's commitment to the goals and values that are the cornerstone of NATO and to being a responsible ally, the Foreign Ministry said.

Criminal complaint filed against Minister Hojs over police review

LJUBLJANA - An anonymous criminal complaint has been filed with the District State Prosecution against Interior Minister Aleš Hojs over abuse of office caused by his recent order for a review of five closed National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) cases. This is a criminal complaint "over the demand to examine why nothing happened after millions of damage to public funds and money laundering for terrorists", Hojs wrote on Twitter, where he also published a part of the complaint.

Protesters urge power to the people

LJUBLJANA - The 21st consecutive Friday protests in the centre of Ljubljana placed people's power in the focus. Protesters urged both individuals and the civil society to stand up to the government. They rose up torches and banners urging the people to defend democracy on the street. Some of the speakers accused the opposition parties of doing too little to fight government policies.

Govt defends supplementary budget

LJUBLJANA - Responding to the reservations expressed by the Fiscal Council about the proposed supplementary budget for this year and the revised budget framework for 2020-2022, the government said that the stimulus packages had been estimated to have positive effects on the economy. It also stressed that the situation was uncertain. The Fiscal Council had said the projected budget reserves seemed excessive, the revised borrowing ceiling failed to reflect the current budgetary needs, while expenditure not associated with the pandemic was slated to accelerate at a faster pace than in the valid budget for the year.

Judicial Council wants appointment of judges free of politics

LJUBLJANA - Unhappy with Slovenian judges being appointed by parliament, the Judicial Council has decided to launch an initiative to change the constitution and the judicial service law to transfer the appointment from the National Assembly to another institution. "Judiciary needs the best legal experts, so it is urgent that party politics withdraws from the appointment procedure," the council's head Erik Kerševan said. He did not specify which institution should take over the appointment procedure.

NSi proposing extension of tourism vouchers

LJUBLJANA - The junior coalition New Slovenia (NSi) has drafted several initiatives to be presented to coalition partners for this autumn. They include lowering of taxes, measures to boost development, and an extension of the validity of tourism vouchers, NSi deputy group head Jožef Horvat said. According to Horvat, tourism vouchers have been welcomed by the people, but so far only EUR 90 million of them were cashed in, while their total value is EUR 350 million. The NSi has also prepared several other initiatives to encourage development, preserve jobs, and promote entrepreneurship, the construction of infrastructure and sport activities.

Turkish owner drops extensive investment at Lesna TIP, Večer reports

DRAVOGRAD -Turkish-owned company Yildiz Entegre Adria, which acquired Lesna TIP in early 2018, will not go ahead with the announced extensive investments in the Slovenian wood-processing company and has already started laying off its employees, the newspaper Večer reported. The company had announced to invest some EUR 45 million into the factory, as well as 150 new jobs in the first stage and up to 300 in the next one. However, the investment was delayed several times, even though the company received a state incentive, and production, stopped in December 2015, was not yet re-launched.

Opera and ballet Ljubljana presents six premieres this season

LJUBLJANA - The new season of the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana will start with a slight delay in November, as two performances from the previous season, cancelled because of coronavirus, will be staged first. According to the opera director, Staš Ravter, the programme of the new season is bold and ambitious despite the coronavirus situation. Two premieres that could not be held last season because of the epidemic will be staged this month and the next - the opera Pagliacci, Cavalleria Rusticana by Ruggiero Leoncavallo and Pietro Mascagni will be on on 8 October. The first premiere opening the new season will be opera Unicorn by Pavel Šivic.

Severed hand case ends with prison sentences

LJUBLJANA - The young woman who cut off her hand at the beginning of last year to claim insurance, and her partner, who presumably put her up to it, were found guilty of insurance fraud at the Ljubljana District Court. They were given two and three years in prison, respectively. Julija Adlešič and her partner Sebastien Abramov attracted a lot of media attention during the trial, including by allegedly getting engaged. Both claimed throughout the trial they were innocent, and that Adlešič cut off her hand by accident while sawing off tree branches. The defence announced an appeal today, with Abramov's lawyer Mitja Pavčič speaking of "human rights violations". The prosecution had demanded four years and six months for Adlešič and five years for Abramov.

Slovenian riders extended dominance at the Tour de France

LYON, France - Slovenian riders Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar took the top two positions in the overall standings at the Tour de France after finishing the 13th stage of the race well ahead of other top contenders. Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who has held the yellow jersey since stage nine, and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was seventh heading into today's stage, finished six minutes behind the stage winner Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling). But more importantly, they left many top riders far behind, allowing Roglič to more than double his overall lead to 44 seconds and Pogačar to jump to second place.

Mura passes first qualifying round of UEFA Europa League

BUDAPEST, Hungary - The Slovenian football club Mura defeated Estonia's Nomme Kalju in the first qualifying round for the UEFA Europa League on neutral grounds in Budapest on Thursday evening to get Denmark's Aarhus Gymnastikforening in the second round, whom Mura will host on 17 September. While the runners-up in the Slovenian premier league, Maribor, is already out of the qualifiers, the third-placed Olimpija will be hosting Zrinjski of Bosnia-Herzegovina on 17 September, and the champions Celje awaits an opponent in the third round.

Laibach marks 40th anniversary with concert at Ljubljana Castle

LJUBLJANA - The legendary Slovenian band Laibach will perform at Ljubljana Castle for the first time ever this evening to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The organisers had to reduce the capacity of the courtyard to the allowed 500 visitors due to Covid-19 safety measures, so the band added an extra concert on Saturday, which was also sold out. The Laibach concert was planned as the opening event of the Dragon Festival, a traditional three-day event on the castle hill. Due to the current situation, most of the planned programme had to be cancelled or postponed to 2021.

Downsized Ljubljana Marathon to be held on 25 October

LJUBLJANA - Ljubljana Marathon received the green light from the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) to host on 25 October what is known as the largest running event in the country. Although significantly downsized due to coronavirus, the marathon will be held, director Gojko Zalokar confirmed for the STA. As customary, the tracks will be 10, 21 and 42 kilometres long, he added. Because of coronavirus restrictions, this year only up to 500 participants will be able to take part, including 50 representatives of the organisers. This year's marathon will be 25th, but the anniversary will be marked next year, Zalokar said.

If you're learning Slovenian then you can find all our dual texts here

STA, 11 September 2020 - Slovenian riders Primož Roglič and Tadej Pogačar took the top two positions in the overall standings at the Tour de France on Friday after finishing the 13th stage of the race well ahead of the top contenders for the overall win.

Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who has held the yellow jersey since stage nine, and Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who was seventh heading into today's stage, finished six minutes behind the stage winner Daniel Martinez (EF Pro Cycling).

But more importantly, they left many top riders far behind, allowing Roglič to more than double his overall lead to 44 seconds and Pogačar to jump to second place in what was a tricky stage with a total elevation gain of 4400 metres.

This is the first time ever that two Slovenian competitors top the overall rankings at the Tour. The pair, sometimes referred to as Rog & Pog, already made Slovenian cycling history in previous stages, finishing two of them as the first and second-placed.

STA, 11 September 2020 - Ljubljana Marathon received the green light on Friday from the National Institute for Public Health (NIJZ) to host on 25 October what is known as the largest running event in the country. Although significantly downsized due to coronavirus, the marathon will be held, director Gojko Zalokar confirmed for the STA.

As customary, the tracks will be 10, 21 and 42 kilometres long, Zalokar said.

The organisers started accepting applications for the event in early March, only days before the epidemic was declared in the country. Ever since, talks have been under way on how and whether to carry out the marathon.

Because of coronavirus restrictions, this year only up to 500 participants will be able to take part, including 50 representatives of the organisers. So far, the annual event usually attracted almost 14,000 runners.

This year's marathon will be 25th, but the anniversary will be marked next year, Zalokar said.

Applications for this year's event will be accepted as of 1 October. Only the first 450 runners to apply will be able to take part.

The organisers invite all those who will not be able to apply to take part in the virtual marathon.

Those who had registered in the first round have the option of transferring the registration fee to 2021 or get a refund.

STA, 11 September - Slovenia saw 108 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a record-high daily tally and the first time the total exceeded 100, after conducting 2,758 tests, the highest daily number so far as well, show fresh official data. No new Covid-19-related fatalities were reported.

There are currently 701 active cases in the country, according to national tracker site Covid-19.sledilnik.

A total of 27 persons are in hospital currently, including five in intensive care.

Among the latest cases, there were also six detected in health workers, six in residents of care homes and one in care home staff, show the national tracker's data.

A total of 2,662 persons have recovered from Covid-19 so far.

Mario Fafangel, the chief epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), said at today's government coronavirus briefing that Slovenia's current 14-day incidence was 34 per 100,000 residents.

He pointed out that the situation was similar to April, however there was no lockdown, instead it was key to adapt to the new normal, heed precautionary measures and keep boosting the testing capacity.

Commenting on the cutting short of the mandatory quarantine from 14 days to 10 days as of Sunday, he said the measure would be shortened in all cases and not merely for arrivals from Covid-19 risky countries, as was the government's decision on Thursday.

Fafangel highlighted compulsory quarantine was a uniform measure regardless of whether the quarantine order was issued by the border police or the NIJZ, so those found to have been in close contact with an infected person would be also recommended a 10-day mandatory self-isolation starting from Sunday.

The epidemiologist pointed out that 7% showed symptoms after 10 days in self-isolation, which is fewer than 10 cases per month and fewer than 1 per day.

Shorter mandatory quarantine poses a somewhat greater risk, but the public health is still protected, he said. The virus is here to stay for now, at least until a safe and effective vaccine, and it is important to slow it down using sustainable measures, Fafangel pointed out.

Coronavirus is mostly spreading within the country, only 35 of the 307 cases confirmed last week were imported, and the sources were often unknown, he added.

The latest cases were mainly confirmed in generations aged between 25 and 44 years, however the infections have been spreading to care homes as well, he warned, urging special efforts to protect the most vulnerable groups, including nursing home residents.

Fafangel said the situation was still more or less under control though since approximately 4% of all tests came back positive. "That is good because it means that there is a lot of testing and that there is no iceberg [of undetected infections] behind us."

At the start of the epidemic, the average time between the first symptoms and the test was four days, but the period has been reduced to three days.

If it is further cut to two days or even one day, epidemiologists could trace 60% of all the contacts of the infected person, thus maintaining the reproduction number at 1 and containing the epidemic, he said.

The NIJZ, which can currently trace contacts of up to 100 infected persons in a day, has boosted its staff capacities, including with the help of 15 medical students, who deal with half of the cases and are constantly supervised by an epidemiologist. The institute plans to further step up efforts to ensure enough testing and tracing, said Fafangel.

The latest infections bring Slovenia's overall tally of cases to 3,498, while the death toll remains at 135.

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STA, 11 September 2020 - The young woman who cut off her hand at the beginning of last year to claim insurance, and her partner, who presumably put her up to it, were found guilty of insurance fraud at the Ljubljana District Court on Friday. They were given two and three years in prison, respectively.

Julija Adlešič and her partner Sebastien Abramov attracted a lot of media attention during the trial, including by allegedly getting engaged.

Abramov is also being tried as the suspected murderer of Sara Veber, who was his girlfriend at the time of her death in 2015 in what Abramov claims was a shooting accident.

He has been in custody throughout the trial, while Adlešič was sent into house arrest in May as the court found the chance of a repeat offence has decreased.

Abramov will remain in custody until the verdict becomes final, judge Marjeta Dvornik said, while Adlešič will no longer be in house arrest.

Both claimed throughout the trial they were innocent, and that Adlešič cut off her hand by accident while sawing off tree branches.

Abramov's father, Gorazd Colarič, who was accused of taking part in the scheme along with his wife, was also found guilty and got a one-year suspended sentence on two-year probation. Abramov's mother Tinka Huskić Colarič was found not guilty.

"We believe the sentences are fair and appropriate, and will serve their purpose," the judge said today, noting that the ruling had been made based on evidence and not anyone's appearances.

Adlešič attended the court hearings in flashy outfits, with the defence claiming that a young woman wanting to look attractive was not capable of causing such harm to her body on purpose.

Abramov made life and accident insurance policies for Adlešič with five insurance companies at the end of 2018. In January 2019, when the insurance was valid and the first instalments paid, Adlešič cut off her left hand just above the wrist with a circular saw at Colarič's home.

Only days later, the four suspects filed damages claims with the five insurance companies. But they did not receive any money, as police already started investigating the case.

If the police had not interfered, Adlešič would have received EUR 1.2m in damages and several hundred thousand euro in monthly rent.

The panel of judges agreed that the prosecution's case was solid and that the evidence against the three prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Huskić Colarič was found not guilty because of insufficient evidence.

The defence announced an appeal today, with Abramov's lawyer Mitja Pavčič speaking of "human rights violations". He said that despite being found guilty his client was "extremely pleased that his mother was found not guilty and that Julija was released from house arrest, but he is disappointed with the conviction."

Adlešič's lawyer, Boris Grobelnik, said his client was happy that she was no longer in house arrest. He said the measure was disproportionate, having lasted 18 months, given that there were no danger she would repeat the offence.

Colarič's lawyer Peter Prus Pipuš said the appeal would focus on the fact that the charges against his client were aggravated during the trial, which ran contrary to the principle that the indictment must not be changed to the damage of the defendant during a court procedure.

The prosecution had demanded four years and six months for Adlešič, five years for Abramov, four for Huskić Colarič and one year for Colarič.

STA, 11 September 2020 - The legendary Slovenian band Laibach will perform at Ljubljana Castle for the first time ever to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The organisers had to reduce the capacity of the courtyard to the allowed 500 visitors due to Covid-19 safety measures, so the band added an extra concert on Saturday, which was also sold out.

According to the Ljubljana Castle website, the Laibach concert was planned as the opening event of the Dragon Festival, a traditional three-day event on the castle hill. Due to the current situation, most of the planned programme had to be cancelled or postponed to 2021. However, the Laibach concert marking the 40th anniversary of the band will go through as planned.

Laibach is one of the most famous and recognized Slovenian bands, well established on the international alternative or independent music scene. In its musical expression, Laibach combines different genres, from an experimental industrial sound to symphonic "militant" classicism and electronic music, the organisers wrote.

Laibach is the principal founder of the retro-avant-garde art movement in Slovenia, along with other groups from the art movement known as Neue Slowenische Kunst. Since its beginnings, the band has been creatively combining music with other media at live performances.

"Due to their uncompromising artistic attitude, as well as penetrating analysis of the political ideology of totalitarianism, Laibach had faced many difficulties, and between 1983 and 1987 the band was officially banned in Yugoslavia and Slovenia," the organisers recalled.

Ticket holders will also have access to a limited series of calendars for 2021 with 12 illustrations of the band members intertwined with photographs of Ljubljana Castle.

STA, 10 September 2020 - Following the success of the Vinarium observation tower in Lendava, Slovenia seems to be caught in a tower craze. But not everyone seems to like the idea of having a giant tower in the city to attract visitors. Locals in Rogaška Slatina oppose the idea so much that they have launched a referendum initiative against the project.

After several Slovenian towns were inspired by the Lendava success story and built observation towers, including the ski resort Rogla and the spa resort Podčetrek, Rogaška Slatina, a spa town with a long tradition of tourism, is finalising plans for a huge tower to showcase its glass making heritage.

The planned 106-metre tower would be one of the tallest buildings in the country; only the smokestacks of the Trbovlje, Šoštanj and Ljubljana power plants, and the cooling tower of the Šoštanj power plant would be taller, according to Pirate Party councillor Gorazd Knific.

Tickets would be sold on the ground floor, where a souvenir shop and toilets would be located. Then visitors would take either a panoramic or a regular elevator to get to the top, where they would find a coffee shop and a terrace to enjoy the view.

But some locals oppose the project, finding it overblown for the town. They have even launched a referendum initiative against the project, which they feel would mar the image of their town.

According to the referendum initiator, Eva Žagajner, the huge tower is not in line with the municipal strategy of developing boutique tourism, as it would attract mostly one-day visitors.

Raising the issue of the costs of the project, which rose from the initial EUR 2.1 million to EUR 3.2 million, she said it was not even clear how many tourists the tower would attract.

Žagajner is also bothered by the fact that the tower would be built in the basin and not on a hill. She said referendum supporters, which include municipal committees of the Social Democrats, the Pirate Party and Good State, believe the municipality should instead revive and renovate observation towers on near-by hills.

The initiative needs to collect some 500 signatures until 15 October for the referendum to be held.

The municipality has already paid EUR 300,000 for the land where the tower is to be built and added an overhead walkway to the project. The 182-metre walkway is why the project cost has ballooned.

The government has already decided to allocate EUR 1.2 million from the Environment Fund for the walkway, while Rogaška Slatina is to chip in EUR 285,000. A private partner has also joined the project.

The construction of the walkway is to start next year.

STA, 10 September 2020 - US luxury and lifestyle travel web portal Conde Nast Traveler has picked Slovenia as the top holiday destination for 2021. Tucked between old favourites Italy and Croatia, Slovenia offers Michelin-starred food, excellent wine, turquoise rivers, glacier-fed lakes and soaring, snow-capped peaks, it says on its web site.

The country's most famous landmark, Lake Bled, is described as being "more peaceful than any of Europe's better-known lakes". "For now, at least, it remains blissfully unbusy; a place of wide-open spaces, splendid solace and restoratively pristine air."

Conde Nast Traveler further highlights the country's cuisine and wine, and the Michelin-starred restaurants - Hiša Franko led by chef Ana Roš and the Strelec restaurant at Ljubljana Castle.

Slovenia is followed on the list of best places to visit in 2021 by England's Yorkshire, Portugal's Melides, the United Arab Emirates and Canary Islands.

You can read the full article here

STA, 10 September 2020 - Slovenia has advanced five ranks to 62nd among 162 countries in an economic freedom report published on Thursday by the libertarian institutes Visio from Slovenia and Fraser from Canada. Slovenia remains one spot behind Croatia.

The data, presented in the 2020 annual report, looks at data from 2018, "when Slovenia made a few steps forward", Visio Institute president Tanja Porčnik said.

"The positive change have to do both with the reduction in the size of the (para)state, in particular through a decrease in state ownership in companies, and fewer rules in international trade, better protection of property rights and the strengthening of the independence of public administration," she added.

As for negative trends, Porčnik mentioned an increase in transfers and subsidies as a share of GDP and a more fragile euro.

Slovenia received 7.33 out of 10 possible points this year. It is ranked 138th when it comes to the size of the para-state, 31st in the legal system and property rights, 51st when it comes to currency stability, 47th when it comes to freedom in international trade and 75th in terms of regulations.

In the detailed analysis of the field measuring economic freedom in relation to regulations, Slovenia ranks 88th in regulations governing the credit market, 95th in labour market regulations and 55th in business regulations.

Ranked highest among all countries in the 2020 report is Hong Kong, which received 8.94 points, followed by Singapore (8.64), New Zealand (8.53) and Switzerland (8.45). Ireland is the highest ranked EU member state in 10th place (8.13 points).

The full report can be found here in PDF form

STA, 10 September 2020 - Slovenia recorded the third consecutive monthly rise in industrial output in July. Up 8%, the output is however still below pre-Covid-19 levels and was 4.6% lower than in July 2019, the Statistics Office said on Thursday. The last time output was up year-on-year was February.

The monthly growth in output was influenced by production in manufacturing and in mining and quarrying, which grew by 8.7% and 7.2%, respectively. Production in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply declined by 0.4%.

The annual drop was the largest in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (by 10.7%). Industrial production also declined in manufacturing (by 4.2%), while in mining and quarrying it increased (by 3.8%).

Total turnover in industry saw growth for the third consecutive month as well, this time by 9.2%. Year-on-year, total revenue was down 4.5%.

The value of stocks in industrial production in July was lower for the third consecutive month on the monthly level, this time by 0.9%. In manufacturing it was down by 1.0%, while in mining and quarrying it was up 11.6%. At the annual level the total value of stocks was higher by 0.3%

More details on this data can be found here