News roundup - Tuesday, 21 March, until 3pm

Church to host religious dignitaries from Balkans in June

LJUBLJANA - The Catholic Church in Slovenia will organise a meeting of religious dignitaries from 15 countries in the Balkans to foster dialogue and peace. The Forum for Dialogue and Peace in the Balkans will be held in the port city of Koper on 17 and 18 June in a bid to prevent the erosion of peace in the region in interreligious dialogue. The event enjoys the support of the Holy See and Pope Francis and according to Božo Rustja, the forum's PR officer, a visit by the pope "could not be ruled out".

Foreign Ministry calls for elimination of hate speech

LJUBLJANA - The Foreign Ministry called for tolerance, respect and for elimination of hate speech on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, the ministry said.

Over 80% of Slovenian mothers with three or more kids work

LJUBLJANA - There were around 700,000 mothers in Slovenia in 2021, when the majority of children were born to mothers aged 30-34, the Statistics Office said before the 25 March Mothers's Day. Total employment rate for mothers with three or more kids in Slovenia, which has had a negative birth rate since 2017, was the highest in the EU, at nearly 81%.

Author of giant hill in Planica dies aged 89

LJUBLJANA - Janez Gorišek, a ski jumper and civil engineer who designed the giant hill in Planica in the 1960s together with his older brother Vlado and is considered a pioneer of ski flying, has died aged 89, several media report. The giant hill in Planica was built in 1969 as the largest such facility in the world at the time and paved the way for a new discipline, ski flying, that the International Ski Federation (FIS) recognised as an official event in 1971.