News digest: One seeks Slovak citizenship by descent, the other by choice

Good evening. Here is theWednesday, September 20 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

The conspiracies young people believe in

Illustrative stock photo (source: Pixabay)

Aliens, planned obsolescence, Jews ruling world. These are just a few of several conspiracy theories young voters in Slovakia believe in, according to research by the Focus polling agency.

In all tested claims, voters of the far-right Republika party believed them most frequently.

Several surveys over the last few years have shown that Slovaks are among the most likely to believe conspiracy theories. Last year, psychologists from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Comenius University in Bratislava found that just 48 percent of teenagers could identify true information.

Still, young people face an uphill battle to fight disinformation at home as older family members become more entangled in disinformation and children and their parents run into conspiracy theories on the website of the Slovakia's largest toystore chain.

Road expansion 16 years in the making

The reconstructed Harmincova Street was expanded into a 4-lane road. (source: TASR)

One of the city's most significant traffic projects is being finished on the busy Harmincova Street in Dúbravka,

Although some parts need to be fleshed out, the two-lane road, often causing delays due to traffic jams, has already been changed to a four-lane road. New sidewalks were built as well, and cycling paths are planned in the future.

The Dúbravka and Karlova Ves boroughs are now better connected with the D2 highway, and getting to and from the city centre from both is much easier.

EVENT FOR SATURDAY

Popular street festival is back

The Dobrý Trh open air market. (source: Marek Jančúch)

The autumn edition of the Dobrý Trh (Good Market) street festival returns this Saturday, September 23 to Panenská Street near the Presidential Palace. The theme of this year's edition is renewal, showcasing how upcycling can influence art and craft, and how various items can be given a new life. In addition, visitors will be able to buy hand-made items and street food.

The [fjúžn] festival will hold its own community event during the market in the garden in front of the Veľký Evanjelický Kostol church.

IN OTHER NEWS

After several failed attempts, the Slovak parliament will no try to convene an extraordinary session on the reintroduction of checks at the Slovak-Hungarian border due to illegal migration. Once again, there were not enough MPs to open the Wednesday session. (TASR)
On Wednesday, the majority of employees of the Poprad-Tatry Airport went on strike alert. According to union head Michal Pavela, Transport Minister Pavel Lančarič failed to allay concerns that the airport may be sold or downsized in the future. The Minister has said that such fears are unfounded. (TASR)
The first Slovak skyscraper, Manderlák, has been declared a national cultural monument. The 11-floor, 44-metre tall building was erected on SNP Square in Bratislava in 1935. Learn more about the building here. (TASR)
Comenius University (UK), considered the best in the country, has fallen further behind the best universities in neighbouring countries, according to the Strategy and Analysis Institute of the Government Office. Between 2016 – 2018, UK was ranked between 601st a 800th place in the Times list, but at the moment no Slovak university has made it into the best 1000. Hungary and Poland each have a single university in the top 500, while Austria has seven. (Denník N)
The network of children's outpatient emergency departments will be reduced in three phases, after Health Minister Michal Palkovič signed the regulation regarding the modification of the network on Wednesday. The regulation will come into force on October 1. (TASR)