Daily headlines - Monday, 25 July

DELO

Utility prices
"After local elections, major price hikes": After the autumn local elections, prices of municipal utility services are expected to soar. Economist Matej Lahovnik believes the state should have control over those prices. (front page, 3)

Pope's Canada trip
"Penance is more than just an apology": Pope Francis started a four-day visit to Canada yesterday during which he is to apologise to the indigenous people for abuse in the Church-run schools and dorms and ask for their forgiveness. (front page, 6)

Kras fire
"Situation under control": After battling flames for ten days, firefighters, police officers, soldiers and foresters were gratified to see first drops of rain at the weekend and optimism prevailed. (front page, 4)

DNEVNIK

Vaccination
"Parents needed more convincing": As vaccination focused on Covid-19 in 2021, global rates of routine inoculation of children declined, including in Slovenia. (front page, 2)

Interview with Ursula von der Leyen
"We won't let Europeans freeze": Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, talks about the Russian energy crisis and ways to cope with it in a written interview with Dnevnik. (front page, 4)

Tour de France
"World's No 1 rider arrives in Paris as runner-up": The 109th Tour de France came to a close yesterday with a champions' parade. After a series of attacks, the defending champion, Slovenian Tadej Pogačar, had to concede to Dane Jonas Vingegaard. (front page, 13, commentary 12)

FINANCE

Interest rates
"End of negative interest rates. What follows?": Economists believe the European Central Bank will raise interest rates by half a percentage point in September again. The paper looks at the ramifications. (front page, 2-5)

Bad bank
"BAMC halts sale of loan batches too, sales to stop": After halting sale of its stakes in Cinkarna, Thermana, Istrabenz and MLM, the Bank Assets Management Company has now also stopped the sale of a package of claims worth almost half a billion euro in what is the end of the last major sales procedure before the bad bank is wound down. (front page, 5)

VEČER

Kras fire
"Fire contained as the ground remains under watch": With substantial assistance in staff and equipments from Slovenia and abroad, the wildfires raging in Kras have been contained. The damage, the assessment of which will start this week, will be enormous. (front page, 4, 5)

Local elections
"Who would become mayor": As preparations have started for local elections, Maribor Mayor Saša Arsenovič is getting ever more challengers. (front page, 2, 3)

Tour de France
"Second place isn't a disappointment": There was no miraculous turnaround as Dane Jonas Vingegaard kept a convincing lead in the Tour de France in Saturday's time trial to arrive at the Champs-Élysées in the yellow jersey on Sunday. Tadej Pogačar finished the race as the runner-up. (front page, 14)