The Slovenia Times

Society

A still from Alpha. Photo: Douwe Hennink/Courtesy of Jožko Rutar
Alpha, a film by the Dutch director and screenwriter Jan-Willem van Ewijk which has been shot almost entirely in Slovenia, won the Europa Cinemas Label award at the 81st Venice International Film Festival. The award is presented by Europa Cinemas, an association of over 3,000 art-house cinemas acro
An installation of slippers to commemorate those who committed suicide. Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
Slovenia's suicide rate dropped to 16.96 per 100,000 people last year, the lowest level in a decade. The rate fluctuated in 2014-2023 but on the whole it trended downwards, show official data released ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day, observed on 10 September.
"The data is certainly encouragin
The 24th World Festival of Sautéed Potatoes in Črna na Koroškem. Photo: KN Media
Lovers of one of the most popular Slovenian traditional dishes gathered in large numbers in the northern town of Črna na Koroškem on 7 September for the 24th World Festival of Sautéed Potatoes.
Over 50 teams of onion and potato roasters prepared the dish out of 50 kilos of spuds each following thei
Apple CEO Tim Cook writes into the Postojna Cave visitors' book. Photo: Postojna Cave operator
Tim Cook, CEO of US tech giant Apple, has been spotted in Slovenia in recent days. He visited the famous Postojna Cave and Ljubljana.
Cook took part in a cave tour called In the Footsteps of Luka Čeč, which takes the visitors along the trails of the first cave explorers.
As part of the tour, he als
Secondary school students tour the Planica Nordic Centre laboratory, which specialises in human physiology and medicine in space or extreme conditions. Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA

Planica centre hidden world of space technology

Health & MedicineScience & Education
Nestled in an Alpine valley in northwestern Slovenia, the Planica Nordic Centre is not only a place famous for ski jumping but also a scientific hub where researchers study human physiology and medicine in space and extreme environmental conditions.
As secondary school students participating in a U
The city of Nova Gorica and Gorizia to the right pictured from a hilltop. Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
The city of Nova Gorica and its Italian neighbour Gorizia are counting down to the 2025 European Capital of Culture (ECOC) when they will host more than one event per day on average. Head of programme Stojan Pelko says most of the events will be admission-free.
The grand opening ceremony is schedul
Researchers Mojca M. Plesničar and Tina Lebar win ERC starting grants. Photo: STA
Slovenian researchers Mojca Mihelj Plesničar and Tina Lebar have each won a €1.5 million starting grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for projects dealing respectively with penal decision-making in the criminal justice system and the expansion of genome editing capabilities.
The two Slov
Passengers at a bus station. Photo: Daniel Novakovič/STA
Passengers travelling by bus to busy tourist centres or those living in remoter rural areas have been complaining about poor or inefficient services. A new model introduced in July was to change that, but since the new timetables kicked in on 1 September some passengers have been facing chaos.
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A photo of the young protagonists of Block 5. Photo: Ajdovščina Cinema
A new action adventure film about a group of 12-year-olds fighting to prevent their playground from being turned into a parking lot will hit Slovenian cinemas on 5 September, accompanied by a campaign trying to reclaim kids from screens and encourage them to spend time with their friends outdoors.
Barbara Breznik, head of the Cancer Biology Group at the National Institute of Biology. Photo: Bor Slana/STA

Research offers new hope for glioblastoma treatment

Health & MedicineScience & Education
Researchers at the National Institute of Biology are exploring new avenues for more effective treatment of glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. They have discovered different biomarkers that could be used as drug targets in the future.
In Slovenia, approximately 100 patients are
Heat wave in Ljubljana.Photo: Bor Slana/STA

Hottest summer on record

Environment & Nature
This summer was the hottest on record in Slovenia and so was August, while the highest September temperature was recorded on the first day of the month, according to the Environment Agency.
The average summer temperature deviated from the average in the 1991-2020 period by 2.5 degrees Celsius, Rena
Mosquito-transmitted West Nile virus infections confirmed in Slovenia. Photo: Xinhua/STA
Three people have been infected with the West Nile virus in Slovenia in what are the first cases of the disease in the country since 2018. The National Institute of Public Heath (NIJZ) said all three cases of the mosquito-transmitted disease were reported in the north-east of the country.
After NIJ