The second day of Stage One in the 2024 Champions League Men tournament has already identified few key contenders for the knockout stage French Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier leads the standings with two victories and Esteban DORR will face Slovakia’s TJ Geológ Rožňava next the competition is split into two clear halves Germany’s Postsportverein Mühlhausen 1951 e.V and Czech SF SKK EL NINO PRAHA each hold two wins while Romania’s CSS SZAK Odorheiu Secuiesc and Croatia’s STK STARR are winless so far Polish KS GLOBAL PHARMA ORLICZ 1924 Suchedniów remains unbeaten with wins over Czech TTC Ostrava 2016 and French Lille Metropole T.T Both Ostrava and Lille share the second position Polish UKS Dojlidy Białystok is the only unbeaten club in their group and Piotr MICHALSKI led the team to victories over Czech SKST Havirov and Croatia’s STK LIBERTAS MARINKOLOR the final standings and the full list of knockout stage participants tomorrow will be confirmed The top two ranked teams in each group will advance to the Round of 16 where they will face the Top 8 seeded teams of the Champions League The draw for the next stage will take place on Sunday following the conclusion of the last group-stage match.Group A HB Ostrov z.s.- Alliance Nîmes/Montpellier 2-3 ENOLI BORGES VALL – TJ Geológ Rožňava 3-1 CSS SZAK Odorheiu Secuiesc – SF SKK EL NINO PRAHA 1-3 STK STARR – Postsportverein Mühlhausen 1951 e.V TTC Ostrava 2016 – KS GLOBAL PHARMA ORLICZ 1924 SUCHEDNIÓW 2-3 TTC SOKAH HOBOKEN – LILLE METROPOLE T.T 1-3 UKS Dojlidy Białystok – SKST Havirov 3-0 STK LIBERTAS MARINKOLOR – Roskilde Bordtennis 1-3 The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations and the organization of continental table tennis competitions A bookstore and a café have already moved into the Rožňava monastery A group of enthusiasts from the civic association Otvor dvor (Open the Yard) has been restoring an abandoned Franciscan monastery in the centre of Rožňava over the last six years After the expulsion of the Franciscans, the monastery served as a hospice and then fell into disrepair for years. Now, the association is turning it into a cultural and creative hub for local people that can also be used by artists seeking inspiration in the Gemer region as a gateway, as reported by the My Novohrad daily “When we established the association in 2012 we began to shape the public space in Rožňava we created the Rožňavské Radiály cycle where artists from all over Slovakia performed we lacked the most important thing - our own space,” said Tomáš Székely Otvor dvor’s bold intention won the local government’s support in 2016 The association can use the monastery for twenty years if they transform it into a functioning cultural hub the group of enthusiasts has cleaned the monastery of “socialist deposits,” replaced the windows and restored the original paintings in the former dining room “It has become the main common room where events take place,” Székely said adding the reconstruction is going well thanks to their cooperation with a local labour office a stylish bookstore and the Rajský dvor café have moved into the monastery Other spaces on the ground floor are being renovated too Small shops should open here at a later stage accommodation is available for residents or performers “We have not given up on the initial goal to create the urban public space in a broad sense,” said Székely adding he would like to teach people that events will always take place in town even if they do not follow any structure in terms of content at present “We also want to motivate citizens to volunteer so that they realise a public space is what we need.” more people are helping to revive life in the monastery but the pandemic complicates the works on the historical building “Perhaps there will now be an even greater need for active citizenship that will replace some institutions in the education of cultural audiences,” Székely concluded Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence Battalion Rožňava hosted a special thank you ceremony where Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď along with Vladimír Zajačik MP and Head of the Rožňava County Office Jaroslav Šíp thanked the Rožňava-based military personnel for supporting the nation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic The head of the MOD was keen to learn more about the needs of soldiers their experience and expertise in combating the spread of COVID-19 and the state of local equipment and infrastructure Praising the CBRN Defence Battalion and the MLRS Battalion in the national response to the pandemic Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “First and foremost I would like to thank all members of both military units based in Rožňava who alongside their colleagues from other military units participated in carrying out very important domestic crisis management tasks – to the benefit of protecting the health and lives of our citizens Your efforts and determination were visible to the citizens of our country day in and day out over the entire course of the pandemic it is important to invest in equipment and infrastructure in Rožňava and I am pleased to confirm that extensive investment projects have already been launched and that the investment we are going to make in the defence infrastructure in Rožňava will be worth millions of euros this year and next year Unlike the empty promises [of previous governments] our soldiers can see real improvements to the environment in which they work and to the equipment they work with.“ The day-to-day commitment and assistance of Rožňava-based soldiers at the Rožňava Hospital to take the pressure off hospital staff were appreciated by Director of the Rožňava Hospital Dušan Suchý The Minister also spoke with Regional Hygienist Jozef Varga about the incidence rates in the region asked about ways how the military could help in the event of negative developments and praised the Regional Health Authority's vaccination campaign across the county's towns and villages The CBRN Defence Battalion Rožňava can deploy its assets and forces to support military operations to assist with Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) requests from the Ministry of Interior and civil authorities in eliminating chemical and to aid the national response to environmental accidents and natural disasters Among the Battalion's basic tasks is to decontaminate people The Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) Battalion Rožňava is a SVK Army tactical unit tasked with protecting the vital interests of the State and its Allies against all military and non-military threats The Battalion is ready to deploy its forces and assets across Slovakia in order to deliver national defence in line with the SVK Armed Forces Deployment Plan and to support international crisis management operations International troops have gathered for the opening ceremony of Ex Toxic Valley 2021 a three-week CBRN exercise held at the CBRN Defence Training and Testing Centre Zemianske Kostoľany The exercise is designed to train Sampling and Identification of Chemical Agents (SICA) teams and CBRN mobile lab teams to identify chemical warfare agents (CWAs) Ex Toxic Valley 2021 involves almost 300 personnel from the SVK Armed Forces and the SVK Interior Ministry and the Armed Forces from Austria Exercise Director and Commander CBRN Defence Battalion Rožňava said: “After last year's pause over the coronavirus pandemic in the containment of which many of the exercising soldiers were involved we once again have an opportunity to put our capabilities to the test in realistic conditions.“ the CBRN Defence Training and Testing Centre Zemianske Kostoľany offers unique options for training CBRND specialists with the use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) accredited by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) enhances training for military and civilian specialists in detecting CWAs and preparing their response to CBRN incidents which serves as the cultural centre Kláštor (Monastery) today Then the state wanted to use it as an archive it ended up as surplus property of the town of Rožňava it has been put to good use and makes for a great attraction for visitors to the Gemer region There is increasing interest in the events taking place in the Rožňava monastery built in the latter half of the 18th century as well as accommodation in its former monastic cells What restaurateur Tomáš Székely saw after opening the massive doors of the national cultural monument left unused for approximately 15 years was not very motivating He is co-founder and member of the civic association Otvor Dvor (Open a Yard) The rest of this article is premium content at Spectator.skSubscribe now for full access Immediate access to all locked articles (premium content) on Spectator.sk Special weekly news summary + an audio recording with a weekly news summary to listen to at your convenience (received on a weekly basis directly to your e-mail) PDF version of the latest issue of our newspaper Access to all premium content on Sme.sk and Korzar.sk A green tiled stove is one of many attractions in the Slavec manor house recently won an award in the prestigious Fénix – Cultural Monument of the Year contest thanks to people's votes Its rococo mansion, which belonged to the Andrássy family back in the day, was declared a national cultural monument in 1975. The old house, which almost vanished, was saved by the Sine Metu civic association. It owns the repaired house, the Korzár website reports the mansion narrowly defeated the Komárno fortress in southern Slovakia by 163 votes The manor house was renovated between 2021 and 2023 said that the home had been in a destitute state A green tiled stove can be found in the representative room Nászaly described that it is a replica of the oven the remains of which were discovered during excavations in the nearby Pauline monastery "It was a 15th century stove from a Banská Bystrica tile workshop It collapsed and disintegrated into a thousand pieces A sculptor managed to create a replica based on these pieces and the tile craftsmen from Hungary built a functional stove according the replica One is the discovery of a Renaissance wall painting from the beginning of the 17th century it was possible to restore the coat of arms and the circular inscription on the ceiling mirror of the salon an older vault from the times of the Pauline monastery with a mirror has also been preserved there is a permanent exhibition in the manor house consisting of findings from the archaeological survey of the monastery ruins It also hosts a display that presents the history of the local ironworks Ironworks were built in Slavec in the second half of the 18th century The Andrássy family bought the manor house in 1869 and used it until 1945 The monument is part of the educational trail in the Gombasek area visitors will learn more about local nature there in Slavec visitors can find the ruins of the Pauline monastery and an observation tower resembling a bell tower A helping hand in the heart of Europe thanks to the Slovakia travel guide with more than 1,000 photos and hundreds of tourist spots Our detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains Lost in Bratislava? It's impossible with our City Guide The village needs a solution before an ecological disaster The village of Nižná Slaná in south-east Slovakia has asked the state to solve a problem regarding the polluted river Slaná before an ecological disaster occurs The local municipality shared about it on social networks adding that at least temporary solutions could be applied – filters or a cleaning system “The rusty colour of the Slaná River worries more and more people and it affects a large area,” the municipality stated “Water of such a colour can be also seen behind Tornaľa which is 50 kilometres away from the shaft Gabriela from which the orange water is flowing.” a meeting took place at the District Office in Rožňava and subsequently in the area of the former mining plant Siderit which was attended by invited representatives of the local municipality representatives of the Environment Ministry and councillors They should have proposed a solution for cleaning the river and adequate measures to prevent it from reocurring will be put into practice as soon as possible,” the municipality Nižná Slaná declared The Slaná River turned orange in mid-February The reason is the outflow of mining waters from an iron-ore mine in the compound of the former mining company Siderit in Nižná Slaná The authorities that monitor the situation in the river took samples of the water and are waiting for lab test results The mining company Siderit in Nižná Slaná functioned between the years 1975 and 2008 when it went bankrupt The state company Rudné Bane (Ore Mines) said that the company Siderit did not fulfil its commitments to eliminate mining works after mining activities were over Therefor Rudné Bane took necessary measures in 2012 Rudné Bane is currently working on a proposal to include groundwater outflows in the register of environmental burdens A harrowing climb revealed new spaces that have long been suspected but never foun Members of the caving group Speleo Rožňava led by Tomáš and Ľuboš Suchý They man an exceptional discovery in the unexplored areas of Gombasecká Cave If the rediscovered cave spaces will be available for the public cavers promise that visitors will have a beautiful experience Circumstances of the discovery looked like scenes from an adventure film After the detection of the Gombasecká cave at the beginning of 20th century old cavers knew that there was a high possibility of more caving areas because of its connection with the cave system of the abyss of Silická Ľadnica Cave Ambrúž told to the Gemer.korzar.sme website who were looking for the connection with the Silická Ľadnica Cave whether they went out of the Gombasecká Cave against the flow of the brook in the direction of Silická Ľadnica or vice versa from the abyss in the direction of the cave always reached a point where it wasn't possible to go further as there was an impassable fissure where although there was less water than in other places it was still insurmountable for a man,” Ambrúž explained for Gemer.korzar.sme Based on the unsuccessful research of the past the cavers tried a new path where they found an old 25-meter-long hall Tomáš and Ľuboš Suchý then climbed up a hole of about 20 meters “This climb was very difficult as walls are unstable in this part [of the cave],” Šturmann told Gemer.korzar.sme adding that sometimes it seemed that they wouldn’t ever come through and that it was one of the most difficult ascents he’s ever done Other members of Speleo Rožňava were also part of the great finding - Mikuláš Repaszký as well as András Hegedus and speleologist Katka Csondor from Hungary The decoration of the newly discovered parts of the Gombasecká Cave is unique thanks to formations called “hektility” which are rare both in Slovakia and abroad the only big news event on March 10 in Slovakia On the same day a huge fire engulfed one of the country’s best-preserved medieval castles The fire struck the hill-top castle’s wooden roof which was almost completely destroyed in a blaze visible from many kilometres away On the same day a huge fire engulfed one of the country’s best-preserved medieval castles The fire struck the hill-top castle’s wooden roof Investigations so far suggest that the fire originated at the foot of the castle hill It seems they inadvertently set fire to nearby dry grass which in turn set alight brush on the hill Firemen told the TASR newswire that from there strong winds helped the fire spread to the castle roof the wind again fanned the smouldering timbers starting another fire to which firefighters had to be called Overall the fire destroyed the recently reconstructed upper Gothic palace and some of the museum exhibits and furnishings inside the castle Apart from an insurance payout that should cover the bulk of the necessary repair work several fund-raising activities have already begun: the castle’s owner opened a special account from which all contributions will go towards renovation; and the LINAJE foundation of civic activists and fans of the castle founded a community profile on Facebook and also opened an account to collect money for Krásna Hôrka Košice Self-Governing Region (KSK) said it will help in two ways: it has offered room for the displaced exhibits in its own museums and its spokesperson Zuzana Bobriková told TASR that KSK would donate resources from the Terra Incognita / Krajina nespoznaná grant scheme On a visit to the site Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer said that although the damage was considerable the ministry hopes to re-open the castle and museum in September The Nový Čas tabloid appeared to scotch speculation that the Roma youths who are alleged to have started the fire were from a nearby Roma settlement when it reported that they in fact live in the village of Krásnohorské Podhradie the boys’ families have stopped communicating with the media and locals and some members were reported to have fled the village In a sign that extremists are looking to exploit the fire to fan ethnic tension extreme nationalist activist Marian Kotleba and his Ľudová Strana – Naše Slovensko / People’s Party – Our Slovakia party announced that it would hold a rally on the weekend of March 17-18 in Krásnohorské Podhradie to “stop Roma from destroying our past” A FORD Model-T built in 1923 was the oldest vehicle travelling the roads at this year’s inaugural Gemer 2009 meeting of vintage cars in Rožňava on May 23-24 A FORD Model-T built in 1923 was the oldest vehicle travelling the roads at this year’s inaugural Gemer 2009 meeting of vintage cars in Rožňava on May 23-24 “This is the first year of the event and 76 vehicles from Slovakia and one from France took part," the head of the Auto Veterán Gemer association The biggest curiosity was a sports car with a California licence plate according to Mariňák.In addition to private cars historical motorbikes and two old fire-fighting trucks were also displayed After registration on Saturday morning participants made a short drive to Krásnohorské Podhradie and from there went on to the village of Betliar they paraded their historical vehicles on Námestie Baníkov square in Rožňava while the associated programme took place adding that the presentation on the square lasted until 19:00 the gathering visited Domica cave and the vintage car owners also drove to the Hungarian town of Aggtelek The season of various events organised by clubs and associations of vintage car fans usually begins in May and ends in September For more details see www.oldtimer-ahv.sk/kluby.php (in Slovak only) Meteorologists issued weather warnings for both August 7 and 8 Several intense thunderstorms hit Slovakia on August 6. The Slovak Karst in eastern Slovakia was even struck by a supercell storm, the meteorologists from the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMÚ) wrote on Facebook “We detected intense storms in the Rožňava district today some of which brought up to 30 millimetres of precipitation,” the meteorologists wrote “They moved further to the southeast and on the Slovak-Hungarian borders one of the storms turned into a supercell storm.” Slovakia should prepare for several weather extremes in the following days. SHMÚ issued weather warnings against both heat and thunderstorms that will be in place on August 7 and 8 A weak Pope John Paul struggled to celebrate a mass for tens of thousands of people yesterday including many who crossed the border from his native Poland fearing it was the last time they would see him who suffers from Parkinson's disease and can no longer walk had difficulty pronouncing the prayers at the mass on a field in the far eastern part of the country who has looked exceptionally weak on his 102nd trip abroad braved stiff winds in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains where he said mass in a natural amphitheatre Wearing gold vestments and his head slumped at times the pope could see dozens of Polish flags waved by fellow Poles who crossed the border some 150 km away to see him The pope started the trip on Thursday and was so weak that aides had to help him finish his two speeches on his first day when he spoke in a clearer and firmer voice but yesterday he seemed very weak again as he presided at the mass and sounded short of breath at times He read only brief parts of his sermon in Slovak and Hungarian In what now appears to have become a scripted part of the tour a Slovak cardinal read most of it for him to help him conserve his strength The pope often had his head slumped in his hands as his delegate read his sermon he asked his listeners to build a more just and fraternal society Given the pope's advancing age and ailments his followers are turning out in droves knowing each trip to his native central Europe where he spurred the struggle against Soviet domination and was instrumental in its fall The pontiff has urged Slovaks and the rest of the region's Catholic faithful to defend their authentic Christian values as a number of countries in the region prepare to join the European Union next year has so far been obscured by fears over his health as he approaches the 25th anniversary of his election next month To underscore the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion two four-year-old twin girls who were born joined at the pelvis before they were separated by surgery The local Catholic Church has held up their mother as an example because she refused to abort even though she knew she was bearing Siamese twins please register for free or log in to your account.