POLITICS
BRDO PRI KRANJU - President Danilo Tuerk stressed after meeting the chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Zeljko Komsic at Brdo pri Kranju on Thursday that Bosnia needed to obtain an action plan for NATO membership "without delay", because "it has done all that had to be done". Komsic thanked Slovenia for its support, especially for its understanding of the interests of Bosnia and the situation there. He added support was easy to come by, however true understanding as demonstrated by Slovenia was rare. "This is very important for us," he added.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - A member of the European Parliament responsible for overseeing Croatia's progress in EU membership talks urged Slovenia on Thursday to ratify the border arbitration agreement with Croatia. Hannes Swoboda hopes the border dispute will be resolved by the time Croatia enters the EU. In an interview published on the website of the European Parliament, Swoboda said that Croatia could become a member of the EU in 2012.
MARIBOR - A survey carried out by Maribor-based daily Vecer on Thursday sees the opposition Democrats (SDS) as the most popular party with 17.5%, followed by the ruling Social Democrats (SD) with 14%. Other parties are trailing with a wide margin. Meanwhile, more than 22.1% of the people polled said they would not vote and almost 30% were undecided.
MARIBOR - A poll carried by daily Vecer on Thursday shows that 35% of those questioned would vote in favour of the border arbitration agreement with Croatia, against 22% who would vote against it in a referendum. The poll also found that 22% of the respondents were undecided about the agreement, while 15% would not vote in a referendum on the issue.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
LJUBLJANA - The government dismissed on Thursday the head of Slovenia's telecoms and post regulator, STA learnt from sources close to the matter. Tomaz Simonic faced criticism over the way the Agency for Post and Electronic Communications (APEK) issued a license for third-generation mobile services to Tusmobil. APEK issued the license to Tusmobil in December 2007 without a public tender and free of charge after it had issue a public call to expressions of interests to which only Tusmobil responded.
BRDO PRI KRANJU - President Danilo Tuerk and the visiting chair of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Zeljko Komsic agreed at a Slovenia-Bosnian business conference at Brdo on Thursday that economic cooperation between the two countries needed to be strengthened further in the future. "We know that Bosnia is a sovereign country with its own economic potential," Tuerk told participants. Komsic explained that there was wide agreement at the recent regional economic forum in Sarajevo that a solution to the difficult situation needed to be found and that there was a joint wish for better international cooperation.
LJUBLJANA - Slovenian economy must become innovative, transparent and open to find synergies for a technological breakthrough, the general manager of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) Samo Hribar Milic stressed at a conference on Thursday, underlining the need for closer ties between businesses and the research sphere. The Slovenian economy has too few centres of development and also lacks business teams which are able to cooperate with science and research sectors, Hribar Milic stressed at the conference dedicated to a debate on technological platforms and open innovation.
NOVO MESTO - The government has allocated about EUR 2.8m to cover the debt of the Novo Mesto general hospital, the hospital's director Mira Retelj told the press on Wednesday. She is expecting the funds, coupled with the hospital's saving measures, to fix the financial situation at the institution. According to Retelj, over 80% of the saving measures put in place have been realised, while the government has already allocated the sum from the budget.
LJUBLJANA - The Ljubljana Stock Exchange has not seen a positive day since 13 November, with the main indices again finishing in the red on Thursday. The benchmark SBI 20 index and the SBI TOP index of the ten blue chips both shed 0.46% to 4,188.04 and 1,011.94 points, respectively.
HEALTH
LJUBLJANA - A service member shot himself at his home on Wednesday in what is the second suicide in the army ranks this week, the Slovenian army said on Thursday. Spokesman Simon Korez said the man, who worked as a military driving instructor in the northeastern town of Slovenj Gradec, was found dead at his home. According to the 24ur.com news site, the man took his life after having recently returned from psychiatric treatment. Contrary to the suicide of the 27-year-old who shot herself while on duty as part of the Slovenian peacekeeping mission to Kosovo on Tuesday, the man involved in yesterday's suicide has never served abroad.
LJUBLJANA - Lung cancer is becoming an increasing problem as 1,200 new cases occur every year in Slovenia, also among non-smokers, pulmonologist Nadja Triller said on Wednesday at a press conference marking the start of the Lung Cancer Awareness Month. One of the biggest problems is late detection, as only 16% of lung cancer cases are detected in the phase when they are still curable. Marija Vegelj Pirc, the chair of the Association of Oncology Patients of Slovenia, noted that in many cases doctors did not suspect lung cancer, while patients were unable to recognise early signs of the disease.
MARIBOR - The majority of the respondents (86.8%) in a survey carried out by Maribor-based daily Vecer on Thursday said they would not get vaccinated, while only 6.5% saying they would. Somewhat more than 6% were undecided.
SCIENCE
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Slovenia is among the European countries that have the lowest share of women researchers, according to a survey on statistics and indicators on gender equality in science published on Wednesday by the European Commission. According to the latest edition of the "She Figures" survey, published every three years, Slovenia is also among the five countries where the share of women researchers in the area of social sciences decreased between 2002 and 2006.
CRIME
LJUBLJANA - Acclaimed theatre director Jernej Lorenci (36) was stabbed with a knife by one of his students on Wednesday around 6 PM at the Faculty of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGFRT), dean of the faculty Ales Valic said on Thursday, confirming media reports about the incident. Valic also told STA that Lorenci was immediately taken to hospital but his injuries are not considered life-threatening.
