News roundup - Wednesday, 4 August

Coronavirus case count at 139 on Tuesday

LJUBLJANA - A total of 139 people tested positive for coronavirus in Slovenia on Tuesday, as the week-on-week growth in new cases continued for the 7th straight day, shows data from the National Institute of Public Health. As rising trend continues, the 7-day average of new cases has now topped 100, at 105, up eight from the day before. The 14-day incidence per 100,000 residents increased by two to 57. There are now an estimated 1,224 active cases in the country.

Slovenia sends firefighters to N Macedonia

LJUBLJANA - Slovenia deployed a civil protection unit and vehicles to North Macedonia to help fight wildfires there in response to the country's asking for help through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Slovenia sent 48 members of civil protection specialising in fighting wildfires with 17 vehicles, including fire engines, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration said.

Ministry condemns tweet labelling Adolf Hitler a hero

LJUBLJANA - The Culture Ministry condemned as reprehensible a tweet labelling Adolf Hitler a hero by Urban Purgar, the president of the Association for the Promotion of Traditional Values, an NGO in public interest in the field of culture. It also resolutely rejected incitement of hatred and totalitarian ideas. The ministry told the STA that the association had been awarded the special status under all rules for the relevant administrative procedure. The tweet will be investigated by the Ljubljana District Prosecution.

Three police officers given warnings over conduct in two protests

LJUBLJANA - The General Police Directorate confirmed for the STA that three officers of the Ljubljana Police Department have been given written warnings before termination of employment due to violations of the employment contract in relation to their conduct in two separate protests - an alternative celebration of Statehood Day in Ljubljana on 25 June by anti-government protesters and a rally by anti-maskers in front of parliament from 5 to 7 July. The SPS police trade union said this was an unlawful and inadmissible measure. Reportedly, all three officers hold senior positions at the department.

Petrol launches its second wind farm in Croatia

KNIN, Croatia - Slovenian energy company Petrol has opened its second wind farm in Croatia. Ljubač, situated near the town of Knin in south Croatia, has nine turbines, which should generate around 96 gigawatts of electricity a year, covering the needs of 30,000 households. The company built its first wind farm in Croatia, near the coastal town of Šibenik, in 2017.

Slovenia's joblessness keeps falling

LJUBLJANA - A total of 70,655 people were registered as unemployed in Slovenia in July, a decline of 0.6% from June and down as much as 21% from July 2020, according to a report released by the Employment Service. The total kept falling despite the number of the newly registered rising by 54% from June to 5,443. The latter figure was still nearly 34% below last year's.

Sailing: Mrak and Macarol finish fifth at Tokyo Olympics

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenian Olympic sailors Tina Mrak and Veronika Macarol finished fifth in the 470 class at the Tokyo Olympics, losing one more place (69 points) after the final medal race, in which they finished seventh. The gold was won by Britain's Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre (37 points). Poland's Agnieszka Skrzypulec and Jolanta Ogar finished second, while France's Aloise Retornaz and Camille Lecointre finished third.

Slovenia's Mišmaš Zrimšek sixth in 3000-meter steeplechase

TOKYO, Japan - Slovenia's Maruša Mišmaš Zrimšek placed sixth in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after securing the finals on Sunday. By clocking 9:14.84 at what are her debut Olympics, she set a new Slovenian record. Gold went to Peruth Chemutai from Uganda, who finished 13.39 seconds ahead of her.