A certain event devoted to Azerbaijan took place at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The said event was intended to introduce two peoples, support scientific as well as cultural exchange. It took place at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, the Azerbaijani embassy in Slovenia. During the event, Vesna Chrnivets a well known photojournalist, artist and translator shared his thoughts. She informed the participants of the event regarding the history, ethnography and ancient cultural heritage, current socio-economic situation of Azerbaijan including the problems the country is currently facing. Furthermore, she talked about the rave consequences of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict including the refugee children and internally displaced individuals. Pictures as well as video materials regarding the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan plus the photos of Gobustan Reserve, Shirvanshah palace, Ateshgah were also presented.

Slovenia has begun its ski advertising campaign wherein the said country does its best to promote skiing holidays especially for beginners.

This country is a small state located on the Balkan Peninsula that borders between Italy as well as Austria. Sometimes, it is confused with another skiing area Slovakia, which is located in Central Europe. The newest marketing firm within Slovenia aims to attract beginning skiers as well as stop the confusion between Slovenia and Slovakia.

Approximately 40% of the Slovenian area is composed of mountains which is why alpine skiing is amongst the Slovenia’s national sport. At present, Slovenia is composed of approximately 12 ski resorts. Some of the most famous resorts are Kranjska Gora and Maribor where the World Cup competition for alpine skiing is held every year.

Slovenia is also considered among the cheapest countries to have ski holidays wherein an average cost of ski pass will be around 147 Euros. This is certainly 10 to 15% lower than other countries like Italy and Austria. That’s why Slovenes claim that they do ski holidays with western standards but with eastern European charges.

February 2010 was the peak month for the ski season wherein approximately 153,000 people came to visit Slovenia. The number of visitors was 8% higher than the visitors from February of last year. This truly means that Slovenia is becoming one of the most famous skiing havens.

The nuclear plant located in Krsko, Slovenia has been temporarily closed for a regular overhaul and will start its operations on October 30, 2010.

The said nuclear plant is located near the Croatian border which is jointly owned by the countries Slovenia and Croatia. Since the last overhaul 514 days ago, the plant has been working properly and without any problems. This plant has been supplying a part of the electricity in both countries since year 1983.

Stane Rozman, the CEO of the nuclear plant stated recently that the Office for Nuclear Safety of the country is thinking about the extension of the operation of the plant for 20 years which will be until 2043. Slovenian and Austrian environmental activists have long been fighting for the closure of Krsko nuclear plant long before the declaration of its scheduled closure this coming 2023.

Recently, the Slovenian police claimed they discovered a man’s body when the level of the water went down last weekend which makes the death toll reach three persons.

The 43-year –old man that who was missing since last Saturday, drowned near his house by the river of Pivka located in northwestern Slovenia. His body was discovered last Wednesday.

This took place because of the torrential rains last weekend that made the river banks burst that flooded big areas within Slovenia.

Slovenia’s leading insurance company claims that the damaged cause by the flood is to exceed €20 million ($15 million). The Slovenian deputies in the European Parliament stated that they could ask the EU for funds to fix the damages.

Few scientists has ranked Slovenia among the nations with the highest biodiversity within the European Union thus regarded it as one of the hot spots in the continent. Approximately 22,000 plant and animal species have been noted within Slovenia however it is stated that it has at least 50,000 to 120,000 that actually exist there. These composed of both native species with 850 such species that lives in Slovenia’s caves.

Furthermore, Slovenia is also composed on a huge number and animal and plant species that are considered endangered in Europe or in the verge of extinction. Approximately 26% of Slovenia’s surface is protected which is regarded as the highest area within Europe.

The biodiversity of Slovenia is specifically threatened by the alteration in the natural habitat of these species. This includes collecting, harvesting, fishing, hunting and trading of endangered species.

Around 30 municipalities from Slovenia will be joining the 9th European Mobility Week to be held from September 16 and 22 with the theme, “Travel Smarter, Live Better”. The week will end with a car-free-day wherein the centre of the city will be closed to traffic.

Reinforced by the European Commission, the goal of the project is to encourage different municipalities to do certain actions to lessen the car traffic plus increasing the utilization of environment-friendly means of transportation.

The most economical, quickest and most effective methods of promoting the clean means of transportation and improving the lifestyle of those living in urban areas is through the use of spatial planning and appropriate traffic policy.

Last Wednesday, an exhibition was held at the city entitled “I Love Green Ljubljana: An Exhibition of Sustainable Mobility and Green Solutions for the City” as part of the launching of the Mobility Week in Ljubljana.

Certain events will take place in the different municipalities and cities within Slovenia as they take part on the 9^th Mobility Week. During the last day of the event, city centres will be closed to traffic.

The European Car Free Day was initiated by European Environment Commissioner namely Margot Wallstroem last year 2000. This innovative event helps the participating towns and cities to present their efforts in doing environmental protection.

Last year, around 2,181 cities together with 237 million citizens participated in the Mobility week which was record breaking in number.

Due to heavy rains within Slovenia, the rivers banks across the country to burst causing certain areas to experience flooding thus the need to evacuate by villagers. It even prompted the closures of road into the capital city, Ljubljana.

The Slovenian Environmental Agency stated last Saturday, that a town named Lasko, located 50 kilometers or 30 miles north of Ljubljana, a cultural center, spa and police stations experienced flooding.

Some families were evacuated in the Zagorje region. Furthermore, a kindergarten and 3 factories were flooded. 30 kilometres or 20 miles from the west of the capital city were Ziro is located, the river filled the buildings within the town’s old quarter were filled with water.

Within the capital city, Ljubljanica river rose which caused the forced closure of certain roads.

BMW, a German car maker decided recently to put on hold their deal with the Slovenian government. This deal is regarding BMW supplying the government with energy-efficient models in lieu of the Slovenian government’s commitment to purchase and utilize solar panels. The deal is placed on hold because of certain questions that has been raised regarding the deal like whether it is in line with the Slovenian public procurement and tax legislation.

The deal was supposed to cover BMW donating the lease on the cars to the government which in return promised to purchase for itself solar panels to be placed on the government building’s roof. Based on the deal, BMW will be supplying new cars every year for 5 years for the government to save about EUR 290,000.

The Slovenian government has been planning to accumulate around EUR 300,000 through replacing their most outdated vehicles with energy-friendly models that it get will get with no cost as part of their agreement to utilize the money generated to purchase solar panels.

The deal has been agreed with BMW, a German car maker which will be donating the lease on the cars to the Slovenian government which has likewise committed to purchase solar panels for its two infrastructures within Ljubljana.

The Government Climate Change Office who monitored the negotiations that the actual signing of the deal has not taken place yet. The said deal will be running for 5 years with BMW supplying new cars annually. An estimated savings of the government will reach about EUR 290,000.

Just recently, a mass grave from the end of World War II was found in Slovenia. The grave was 20 meters long which is close to the town of Prevalje. It is believed that it possesses the remains of approximately 700 men and women.

Certain people within the grave seem they have been shot, while others appear to have been hacked to death. The researchers think that these victims might have been suspected Nazi collaborators who were kill by communist-backed anti-fascists. Furthermore, the victim’ displays that some of them were just civilians who worked for the government commission to dig mass graves. Initial findings show that the hands of the victims were tied behind their backs.

Rumors have been spreading for years regarding the mass killing in the Prevalje forest situated in northern Slovenia after a boy stated that he witnessed the executions while he was hiding behind a tree.