News roundup - Sunday, 1 August

Ljubljana, 1 August - Below is a roundup of major events on Sunday, 1 August:

Slovenia's basketball team continues winning streak at Olympics

TOKYO, Japan - After securing a place in the quarter-finals of the basketball tournament at the Tokyo Olympic Games, Slovenia continued their winning strike by beating Spain 95:87 in the third game of the tournament, in which Slovenia remains undefeated. Slovenia will face either Italy or Germany in the quarter-finals.

Janša and Lithuanian president call for aid to Lithuania in face of migration

LJUBLJANA - Prime Minister Janez Janša and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda have called on EU member countries to provide aid to Lithuania in the face of "ongoing critical security situation" on the Lithuanian-Belarus border due to illegal migration. Protection of the EU's external border is our common responsibility, Janša said in a Tweet.

Slovenia logs 58 new coronavirus cases on Saturday

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia logged 58 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, an almost 45% increase over the week ago. A total of 761 PCR tests were conducted for a positivity rate of 7.6%, show data provided by the National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). On Friday, the positivity rate was 8.1%. One Covid-19 patient died on Saturday.

Olympics: Mišmaš Zrimšek in the finals in Women's 3000mSC

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenia's Maruša Mišmaš Zrimšek made it to the finals in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase in Tokyo. By clocking 9:23.36, she was second in the third group and tenth overall, thus securing a place in the finals on Wednesday. In her debut appearance at the Olympics, Mišmaš Zrimšek was in the lead after the first kilometre and second in the finish line, preceded only by Kenyan Hyvin Kiyeng (9:23.17).

Summer puppetry festival celebrating Slovenian independent puppet artists

MARIBOR - The 32nd Summer Puppet Pier festival dedicated to the art of puppetry got under way in Maribor to run until late August. Same as last year, the international festival will put Slovenian independent puppeteers in spotlight in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The organisers are glad the festival will promote quality domestic puppetry production as they believe supporting independent puppet artists is all the more important in the light of Covid-related challenges and struggles.

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