News digest: LGBT+ people better off in Malta

From Bratislava to Komárno with a new rail operator. Take a look at timeless Czechoslovak glasses.

(Source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)

Good evening. The Wednesday, August 17 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.


Slightly rainbow Slovakia

With 34 percent achieved in the latest Rainbow Europe survey, which looks at the quality of LGBT+ human rights, Slovakia ended up in 26th place.

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The country fared better than most of its neighbours, but there is still a long way to go for Slovakia, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).

Slovakia has done well when it comes to civil society, which means no laws limiting funds for LGBT+ organisations or banning of organisations. Conversely, the country has done nothing in categories such as intersex bodily integrity and family.

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The ILGA, for example, recommends that Slovakia adopt registered partnership legislation, better hate crime laws, and a fair legal framework for legal gender recognition.

Related: Slovakia's higher position in the survey may have been due to the ILGA's late response to the suspended gender recognition protocol.

Pride: After Bratislava's Rainbow Pride, Košice will host their Pride festival from August 20 to 28. The march itself will be held on August 27.


More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:

  • Travel: The Turzovské lakes near Gelnica are a little-known but interesting attraction in eastern Slovakia.
  • Migration: The war in Ukraine has altered the attitudes of Slovaks towards refugees.

FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY

The evolution of Czechoslovak eyeglasses

Despite communism, Czechoslovakia saw plenty of great eyewear designs, which people were not reluctant to put on their faces. Bratislava is hosting Ondřej Vicena's display of Czechoslovak eyewear.

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IN OTHER NEWS:

  • Slovalco, an aluminium plant in Žiar nad Hronom and one of the largest employers in the Banská Bystrica Region, will shut down all of its 226 furnaces by the end of September. The shutdown will last for at least one year, due to poor compensation payments from the government at a time of surging electricity prices, the company's management announced.
  • Smer, an opposition party, has filed a criminal report with the Prosecutor General's Office against several National Crime Agency investigators. The party, led by charged ex-PM Robert Fico, suspects them of sabotage.
  • Leo Express, a Czech rail operator, will run trains between Bratislava and Komárno from December 2023. Yet the Transport Ministry has said that the operator could dispatch first trains as early as this December.
  • On August 16, Slovak sprinter Ján Volko came fourth in the men's 100 at the 2022 European Athletic Championships in Munich with a time of 10.16 seconds. Only 0.03 seconds stopped him from winning the bronze.
  • Bratislava has opened six outdoor workout sites alongside the Danube: Lanfranconi Bridge, SNP Bridge, Promenáda, Tyršák and Apollo Bridge. The city also suggests five running routes around the Danube.
  • Regarding Covid-19, the parents of school pupils will continue to submit a paper to schools confirming that their child is symptomless at the start of the new school year, and every time their child returns to school after being home for more than five days (excluding weekends or holidays), the Education Ministry said.
  • Trams in Košice carrying passengers to the Nad Jazerom neighbourhood are changing their routes for two weeks, until August 31, due to repair work on the tracks.

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.


Top stories

Two bear incidents over weekend, an effort to revive Bratislava calvary, and storks in Trnava.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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