Ljubljana (Slovenia), Sep 18 (IANS) The Kingdom of Bhutan has become the 185th country to forge diplomatic ties with Slovenia. Slovenian Ambassador to the UN Sanja Stiglic and her Bhutanese counterpart Lhatu Wangchuk signed a joint statement Friday establishing diplomatic relations, Xinhua reported quoting the foreign ministry. Declared independence from former Yugoslavia in June 1991, Slovenia covers 20,273 sq km and has a population of about two million. It is today a member state of both the European Union and the NATO, in addition to the UN. Bhutan is a landlocked kingdom located at the eastern end of the Himalayas in South Asia, bordering with China and India. Its territory stretches over 38,000 sq km. Its population is about 700,000.

Ljubljana (Slovenia), Aug 28 (IANS) Slovenian accordionist Zoran Zorko has set a new Guinness world record with a marathon accordion performances that lasted 35 hours and 32 minutes, Xinhua reported. Zorko's record was set during performances in Ljubljana's Congress Square, the lakeside resort of Bled, and an accordion festival in the border town of Brezice between Thursday and Sunday. Finland's Anssi Laitinen held the previous record by continuously playing for 31 hours and 25 minutes in 2010. Under Guinness rules, Zorko had to play the accordion continuously with a maximum of 30-second breaks between songs. He could not improvise and all his songs needed to be by recognised authors. A song could only be played once within a four-hour period. Every full hour of playing earned Zorko a five-minute break. "During these five minutes, I go to eat, go to the toilet and do everything else necessary for my daily life," Zorko told Xinhua in Brezice. The self-taught accordionist cannot read notes, making his record all the more remarkable.

Ljubljana (Slovenia), July 4 (IANS) Slovenia will send 64 athletes to London for the 2012 Olympics and expects to win seven medals. The 64-strong team consists of 28 men and 36 women. Besides, a team of 54 coaches, six doctors, five physiotherapists and two sports psychologists will join the athletes, Janez Kocijancic, president of the Slovenian Olympic Committee, told reporters here Tuesday. The Slovenian sports authorities are apparently optimistic about the athletes' performance. "I predicted a result better than the Beijing Olympics, where we took five medals. I think number seven is realistic, a result we can achieve," said Bogdan Gabrovec, leader of the Slovenian team.