Slovenia

Slovenia is a country rich in timber, but the annual wood industry event heard that a shift should be made to focus on exporting finished and semi-finished products rather than logs, which have lower added value. The industry will also need to attract more young people.

Light installations exploring the subject of space have transformed Ljubljana into a venue of modern art for a month as the Lighting Guerilla festival is back in town for the 17th year.

Opening outside the Vžigalica (Match) Gallery opposite the Kržanke open-air theatre late on 22 May, the festival is running until the Summer Museum Night on 17 June.

Defence Minister Marjan Šarec and his State Secretary Damir Črnčec have received Ukrainian decorations for their contribution to strengthening bilateral relations and assisting in Ukraine's defence.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Slovenia Andriy Taran bestowed the Mark of Esteem on Šarec and the Medal for Supporting the Armed Forces on Črnčec on behalf of the Ukrainian Defence ministry.

Around 6,000 students danced the quadrille, a traditional prom dance, in 20 Slovenian towns at noon on 19 May, in what has become a popular way to mark the end of school for final-year secondary school students.

Roughly 2,500 students danced in the capital of Ljubljana and around 1,000 in Maribor, the country's second largest city.

Slovenian researchers have carried out the first ever systematic census of the population of wild bee species in the country. Some of the results are surprising, including the discovery of one species previously not found on Slovenian territory.

Slovenia is one of the few ex-communist or ex-socialist countries that has not opted for tearing down monuments associated with the former regime after it adopted democracy in the 1990s. However, now Slovenia's first president and last head of the country's Communist party has suggested just that.

The Slovenian minority in Croatia has elected its representatives in local communities amidst very low turnout. There will be Slovenian minority councils in nine local governments and Slovenian representatives in eight, Croatian Electoral Commission data shows.

Disappearing, an award-winning documentary that sheds light on how the Slovenian language and culture have been disappearing from everyday life in Carinthia, Austria, is on show at Ljubljana's Kinodvor Cinema. The director Andrina Mračnikar believes the reason for the disappearing has been systematic discrimination for the past 100 years.

Maxim, the legendary Ljubljana restaurant, has closed after serving as a hub of haute cuisine in the Slovenian capital for more than 50 years.

Located near Slovenia's parliament building, the headquarters of NLB and the Cankarjev Dom cultural centre, Maxim has for years been a place where the elite met either for business or pleasure.

Slovenia's population increased last year thanks to foreigners, which now represent 9% of Slovenia's entire population, official statistics show.