What happens when you start running on an innocuous looking gooey liquid and then stop? And what about when you look at the world through reversing goggles? Judging by the looks on children's faces, what matters most is the fun of it, but it is also a precious hands-on learning experience. After days of heavy downpours, the sun shone again in Ljubljana on 1 June, just in time for the 15th Znanstival, a three-day festival of all things scientific organised by the House of Experiments where kids and adults alike can do hands-on science. Laughter, delight and applause filled the streets and br ..read more

Plastika Skaza, a family business specialising in plastic products, is one of the sustainability pioneers in Slovenia, using recycled or bio-based plastics where possible. It exports 95% of its products abroad. Based in Velenje in the northeast of the country, the company was launched in 1977 by Franc and Martina Skaza and is now in the hands of the second generation, Igor and Tanja Skaza. Employing some 250 people, they supply 56 markets and are present in most Central European, Scandinavian and SE European countries. Last year, one fifth of the material they use in their own brand products a ..read more

Nika Kovač, the head of a women's rights NGO, who is credited with bringing the MeToo movement to Slovenia, has received a Vital Voices Global Leadership award, given out by an organisation co-founded by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Kovač accepted the honour from US activist Tarana Burke, who started the MeToo movement in the mid-2000s. Addressing the awards ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, US, on 30 May, Burke noted Kovač helms the 8 March Institute, "which uses storytelling to inspire solidarity and push for social change". The A ..read more

Slovenia's annual inflation rate fell by another 0.5 percentage points to 2.5% in May, the lowest since September 2021. At the monthly level, prices went up by 0.5% on average, show the latest Statistics Office data. Measured with the harmonised index of consumer prices, an EU gauge, the May annual consumer prices growth was 2.5% as well, which compares to 3% in April and 8.1% in May 2023. This marks the first time since the autumn of 2022 that consumer price growth in Slovenia slipped below the euro area average, where the monthly rate stood at 2.6% in May according to the latest Eurostat dat ..read more

Slovenia's basketball superstar Luka Dončić has made it to his first NBA finals, putting on another historic performance in game 5 of the NBA Western Conference finals with his Dallas Mavericks in Minneapolis late on 30 May. The 25-year-old, who is in his sixth year in the NBA and previously helped take Dallas to the Western finals two years ago, stifled the hopes of the Minnesota Timberwolves for a second win in the best-of-seven series early on in the game, scoring 20 of his 36 points in the first quarter. Dallas, who have been the underdogs in the playoffs in all the rounds - beating the LA ..read more

Slovenia is just one step away from formally recognising Palestine as a state after the government endorsed the decision on 30 May and referred it to the National Assembly for final approval. That vote will be taken on 4 June. "Today the government made a decision to recognise Palestine as an independent and sovereign state," Prime Minister Robert Golob announced after the cabinet session. The ruling coalition is united on the issue and has a comfortable majority in parliament, which means there is little doubt that the decision will be passed. It requires a simple majority to get endorsed. A ..read more

Slovenian researchers, along with their German counterparts, have developed and tested a new method to deliver vaccines using mucoadhesive film that sticks to the cheek mucous membrane. This method could offer greater protection against respiratory infections compared to traditional methods, but further testing is needed. The cheek mucous membrane has great potential for vaccination because of easy access and an abundance of immune system cells, which are essential for the triggering of innate and acquired immune responses, according to the Chemistry Institute, where some of the researchers wo ..read more

HSE, the holding controlling one of Slovenia's two groups of power stations, has paid back in full the €492 million capital injection it received from the state in late 2022 amid the energy crisis. The company announced on 30 May that it had paid back the final €75 million. This was after it first repaid €100 million in June 2023, followed by €142 million and €100 million in September and December that year and €75 million in March 2024. HSE was able to return the state aid while supplying electricity at regulated rates because of successful operations of the HSE group in 2023 and the first ha ..read more

Henkel Maribor, part of the German multinational, has inaugurated its European centre of excellence for hair colouration in Slovenia's second largest city. The investment is worth more than €10 million, with the Slovenian government contributing €2.1 million in EU funds. Henkel's biggest single investment in Slovenia in 30 years, the new centre will increase production capacities and job opportunities, Henkel Maribor director Gregor Majcen said at the inauguration ceremony on 29 May. The government sees the investment as a great opportunity not only for the city of Maribor but for the entire c ..read more

Police searched the premises of the state-owned telecommunications company Telekom Slovenije and Nova24TV, a media company with links to the opposition Democrats (SDS), on 29 May, unofficially in connection with suspicious transactions between the two companies under the previous government. Police would not comment on the investigation beyond saying they were conducting operational activities in connection with corporate crime based on court orders and under the guidance of the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office. But media have reported the investigation is targeting transactions between T ..read more