News roundup - Thursday, 5 August, until 3pm

Slovenia to play for bronze after losing to France

TOKYO, Japan - The Slovenian men's basketball team lost 89:90 against France in the semi-finals of the Olympic basketball tournament on Thursday and will hence play for the bronze medal against Australia on Saturday. This is Slovenia's first loss at the tournament after the team sailed through the group phase and outperformed Germany in the semi-finals.

Two non-appointed delegated prosecutors suing govt again

LJUBLJANA - Prosecutors Tanja Frank Eler and Matej Oštir have filed another suit against the government over its decision not to appoint them Slovenia's European delegated prosecutors as proposed by the Justice Ministry after they were vetted by the Prosecution Council. The Ljubljana Administrative Court said it had received the lawsuit on Wednesday and would process it during the summer recess as a matter of priority.

Carinthian Slovenians critical of Austrian minorities report

KLAGENFURT, Austria - The National Council of Carinthian Slovenians (NSKS) is very critical in its response to Austria's report to the Council of Europe on the implementation of the CoE Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The report suggests that everything is fine with minorities in Austria, which is not the case, said lawyer Rudi Vouk, the author of the NSKS response to the 254-page report that Austria submitted to Strasbourg.

138 new coronavirus infections confirmed on Wednesday

LJUBLJANA - The week-on-week growth in new coronavirus cases continued in Slovenia for the 8th straight day, as 138 new infections were detected in 1,610 PCR tests on Wednesday, according to data by the National Institute of Public Health. The estimated number of active cases rose by 69 to 1,293, while the number of new cases was down by one compared to Tuesday.

Govt adopts decree on Covid certificate checks

LJUBLJANA - The government has adopted a decree setting down the method of checking compliance with the recovered-vaccinated-tested rule. Under a decision made at a correspondence session on Wednesday, the user scanning the Covid certificate QR code using a relevant app will have access to the certificate holder's name and year of birth.

England puts Slovenia on its green travel list

LONDON, UK - Late on Wednesday, the British government updated its entry requirements and placed several countries, including Slovenia, on the green list. As of Sunday morning, travellers from Slovenia will only need a negative Covid test to enter England, regardless of the person's vaccination status, foreign news agencies report.

NIJZ orders more doses of flu vaccine than last year

LJUBLJANA - The National Institute of Public Health has ordered 360,000 doses of flu vaccine for this season, which is more than last year, when demand exceeded expectations. It is not clear yet whether the vaccine will be available for free this year as well. Flu vaccination usually starts in October. Last year, 270,000 doses were ordered, but the vaccine ran out within weeks due to the high demand.

SID Bank to get new management as long-serving CEO Svilan bids farewell

LJUBLJANA - SID Bank, Slovenia's development and export bank, will get a new management in January 2022 as the term of the management led by Sibil Svilan expires at the end of 2021. The fully state-owned bank will be led by Damijan Dolinar, with Gašpar Ogris Martič and Stanka Šarc Majdič serving as board members. However, since Dolinar will take over on 1 February, Ogris Matič will lead the bank in January, to move to the post of a board member in February.

Koper police help migrants caught in a storm

KOPER - Koper police on Wednesday helped a group of migrants caught in a storm, and pulled over a van with eleven illegal migrants in south-western Slovenia, the Koper Police Department said. Police received a phone call from an Afghan citizen who said that a group of migrants was caught in a storm "somewhere in the hills".

Tina Šutej fifth in Olympic pole vault

TOKYO, Japan - Tina Šutej placed fifth in the women's pole vault at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The 32-year-old national record holder registered a clearance of 4.5 metres in the final and then failed to clear the height of 4.7 metres to join the top four. US Katie Nageotte cleared the final height of 4.9 metres to win gold. The Slovenian shared the fifth best result with Ukraine's Maryna Kylypko and Finland's Wilma Murto in what is her career-high in major outdoor pole vaulting events.