(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Wednesday, July 20 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Enough gas for winter?
A gas pipeline station near the Slovak-Polish border near Výrava in the district of Medzilaborce, eastern Slovakia, on May 27, 2022. (source: TASR)
An International Monetary Fund study published on July 19 shows that a shutdown of Russian gas supplies could have a negative impact on Central and Eastern European countries, with Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic most affected.
However, the Economy Ministry said earlier that Slovakia has enough gas for the next winter season, both for households and firms.
Most recently, the European Commission has published a European Gas Demand Reduction Plan for how EU member states could cut gas demand. According to the plan, the EU aims to reduce gas use in Europe by 15 percent until next spring.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
CORONAVIRUS: Slovakia has begun offering a fourth dose of Covid vaccinations to people over 50.The country reported 1,159 new Covid-19 cases, seven deaths, and almost 400 hospitalised patients with Covid-19on July 19. Several hospitals have recently banned visits, including a Ružomberok military hospital.
VARÍN: Varín councillors have refused to rename a local street that bears the name of Slovakia's wartime president and Nazi collaborator, Jozef Tiso.
RIVER: The pollution on the river Slaná has reached an extreme scale, prompting the government to declare an emergency in several districts.
TRAVEL: A trailpark has opened in the Spiš region, eastern Slovakia.
Event to look forward to:
On Saturday, July 23, Venice Nightwill take place at Štrbské Pleso lake in the Tatras. Visitors can meet people in Baroque costumes, listen to music, try any of 22 boats, and taste Italian food. The event is free.
FEATURE STORY FOR WEDNESDAY
Canadian-Icelandic writer inspires Slovak women in equality fight
Eliza Reid reads from her debut book at a July 15 event during this year's Authors' Reading Month in Bratislava. (source: Dominika Bolgáčová)
Eliza Reid, a former travel journalist and the First Lady of Iceland, recently visited Slovakia to take part in the Authors' Reading Month, the largest literature festival in Central Europe, which this year was celebrating writers from Iceland.
The Canadian author describes her debut book, "Secrets of the Sprakkar", which came out earlier this year and will be published in Slovakia later this year, as a love letter to Iceland, the country that became Reid's new home nearly 20 years ago.
In the book, she recounts her story as an immigrant, pays tribute to extraordinary Icelandic women, and takes readers on a journey around the island, a great place for women, the first lady emphasises – it has performed the best in the Global Gender Gap Index for more than a decade - but not a paradise.
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IN OTHER NEWS:
The police have identified the human remains found during a shooting incident in Bratislava last weekend. They belong to a 68-year-old woman. The shooter had killed the woman and tried to burn her in a home-made furnace.
Mondelez International will create an additional 180 jobs at its plant in Kostolné Kračany, southern Slovakia, and increase the production of croissants. The firm produces the well-known 7 Days croissants and Bake Rolls.
A first-contact centre for Ukrainian citizens at Kramáre hospital in Bratislava has been shut down. Another centre, at Petržalka hospital, remains open, University Hospital Bratislava said on Facebook.
Two thirds of Ukrainian refugees want to return to Ukraine when possible, shows the latest International Organisation for Migration report based on 1,027 interviews with refugees. Fourteen percent of the surveyed refugees told the organisation that they would want to stay in Slovakia. The interviews were carried out between March 9 and June 30.
A motorised ice cream cone, a useful tool during a heatwave, was patented in the USA by inventor Richard B. Hartman in 1998. (source: Facebook/Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic)
The public administration website, Slovensko.sk, is up and running after yesterday's outage due to a damaged cable in a railway tunnel.
The registered unemployment rate in Slovakia stood at 6.28 percent in June, Labour Minister Milan Krajniak (Sme Rodina) said. It is down 1.48 percentage points year on year.
The Interior Ministry will buy two helicopters for rescuers and police officers, spending €29 million on the purchase.
The government on Wednesday endorsed the NATO accession protocol for Sweden and Finland.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
