Geography of Slovenia

Lado Kralj, a literary and theatre critic who died in December, has been posthumously awarded the Kresnik Prize for Slovenian novel of the year for a story taking place in Ljubljana between the Italian occupation in the early 1940s and the post-war period in the 1950s.

More than 1,800 extreme sport enthusiasts will travel to the Vipava Valley to take on one of the biggest ultra marathon challenges in the country from 4 to 7 May. The toughest runners will choose the 170-kilometre Emperor route.

Everything is coming up roses in Nova Gorica as the 18th annual Festival of Roses is starting on 27 April. Running until 21 May, this celebration of the rose will feature different flower-related events and workshops.

The seaside resort Portorož has reopened a section of the promenade connecting the main pier and the central beach. The municipality invested some €700,000 in the renovation that will help the resort restore the shine it lost through the years.

A tonne of waste was removed from the Ljubljanica on Earth Day but the divers exploring the riverbed find the situation is improving as the pile of rubbish pulled out of the river is getting smaller by the year.

The weather was good and the water clear for the annual clean-up campaign, Miro Potočnik, head of the Vivera underwater activities association, told the STA.

Lek, the Ljubljana-based pharmaceutical company which is part of the Swiss generics group Sandoz, will build a US$400 million high-tech production centre for biosimilars in Lendava, in north-eastern Slovenia. The investment is to create around 300 new jobs.

As boating and sailing trade fairs get under way this month, the Izola Marina will promote itself as Slovenia's leading, having extended its capacity to overtake rival Portorož.

Having built a new €2.3 million pier, the marina now has nearly 800 berths altogether and can take vessels up to 12 metres in length.

Known for its snow-capped peaks, green meadows and the emerald river, Slovenia's western region of Posočje is dotted with small farms, many of them organic. Now the region hopes to become the first ecoregion in the country.

The Debeli Rtič refugee centre at the seaside has unveiled a new addition to its playground. The 28 Ukrainian children staying there will be able to pass time by playing an outdoor wooden percussion instrument donated by the International Women's Club Ljubljana (SILA IWCL).

Pokljuka – A project as part of which a fraction of a glacier from Slovenia travelled to the Beijing Winter Olympics has ended as 16,000 trees have been planted in Slovenia this year to offset the CO2 emissions generated during the 13,000-kilometre journey from Mojstrana in the Julian Alps to the Chinese capital for the 2022 Olympics.