Good evening. Here is the Wednesday, January 22 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
More threats in schools
Illustrative image. (source: TASR)
Not a week has passed since the tragic knife attack at a grammar school in Spišská Stará Ves, eastern Slovakia, leaving two dead and one critically injured. On Wednesday, two incidents occurred in two schools not too far away.
According to TV Markíza, a father is alleged to have yelled at a cleaning lady in the primary school in the village of Huncovce. The cleaner prevented him from accessing his son's locker, after which the man said that it was good that the student in Spisšká Stará Ves killed the victim. He then proceeded to another school building where he met a teacher and started yelling he would kill everybody.
Huncovce mayor Peter Majerčák, confirmed the incident, adding that the man is a resident of the village. Police were called to the scene and detained him.
In addition, a 15-year-old boy is said to have threatened a teacher with killing. The incident took place in the primary school in the village of Hranovnica near Poprad during the school day. Police were called and detained the boy.
According to the TASR newswire, the police are investigating both cases, but since the proceedings are currently ongoing, no further information can be provided at this time.
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HISTORY TALKS
When beer saved a town
Illustrative image of the Zlatica Oravcová Primary school in Rimavská Sobota. (source: TASR)
In early 16th century, a man from the Baranya district in what is now Hungary came to Rimavská Sobota in Slovakia, when the former was threatened by Ottomans. His relatives managed to establish themselves in the town relatively quickly. His son Benedikt was among the area’s wealthiest citizens. When the Ottomans eventually reached it, he donated a lot of money to help protect it.
EVENT FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS
Can you feel the cold?
The Kino Lumiere cinema. (source: TASR)
Starting today and continuing over the next seven days across cinemas all over Slovakia, the Scandi film festival will allow you to experience the diversity of the contemporary award-winning films from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland. And not only that, there will be opportunities to talk directly to filmmakers behind them. Find out more about the films, programme, participating cinemas and more here.
IN OTHER NEWS
On Wednesday, opposition parties Progressive Slovakia (PS), SaS and KDH submitted a renewed motion of no-confidence in the government. The parties collected more than 50 signatures from MPs. Originally, vote was to take place on Tuesday, January 21, but the opposition parties withdrew it because PM Robert Fico asked acting speaker Peter Žiga (Hlas) to close the session to the public, citing the need to present a confidential report. The PM later said that another session regarding a no-confidence vote would only take place if the opposition manages to have a majority in the parliament. (TASR)
The Parking Assistant System (PAAS) in Bratislava has been launched in more localities of the Nové Mesto borough: Ľudová štvrť, Zátišie and Hostinského Sídlisko near the Kuchajda lake. Visitors will be charged €1 per hour on weekdays from 12:00 to midnight and on Sundays from 18:00 to midnight. The city notes that due to weather, parking in the section between Kukučínova and Hálkova Streets have not yet been marked. Therefore, parking on places that are not marked will not be checked. (PAAS)
Opposition party SaS filed a criminal complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office over the suspicion of the misuse of a public official's powers, which the party believes might have happened in regards to the confidential report by the Slovak Information Service (SIS), either during the process of its drafting, ordering, or the way it was used at Tuesday's extraordinary session on the no-confidence vote in the government. According to MP Ondrej Dostál, the report didn't contain any confidential information, with the exception of an e-mail exchanged between protest organisers. SaS called on SIS head Pavol Gašpar to resign. Opposition Progressive Slovakia is demanding that an extraordinary session of the special parliamentary committee for supervising SIS should be convened. The party wants to know how this report was created, how much money SIS spent on drawing it up and whether its content is in any way in accordance with the law. (TASR, SITA)
NGO Amnesty International Slovensko (AIS) has expressed deep concern over the extraordinary session held in secret and the possible misuse of SIS to monitor and subsequently discredit civil society organisations and initiatives. This may constitute a serious violation of the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. "The mere suspicions of surveillance of activists and civil society organisations are serious. Surveillance is an effective tool of intimidation that paralyses legitimate expressions of criticism and undermines the activities of those who demand change. People must be able to organise, express their opinions and advocate for change without fear of monitoring or stigmatisation," said AIS head Rado Sloboda. (AIS)
The historical hillside settlement of Vlkolínec, a UNESCO World Heritage site listed for its folk architecture. (source: TASR)
WEATHER FOR THURSDAY: Cloudy to overcast skies and foggy. Throughout the day drizzle, light rain and snowing expected in many places. Level 1 ground ice warning issued for the entire country. Temperatures will rise up to 6 °C. (SHMÚ)
JANUARY 23 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Miloš
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