PM Kosor meets prospective investors of Croatian descent in New York

Prime Minister Kosor has spoken with a group of businessmen at the Croatian Permanent Mission to the UN interested in investing in Croatia.They discussed problems that affect the current investment climate in Croatia and which need to be removed in order to establish a quicker and more effective process. They emphasized administrative and bureaucratic barriers, and the need to establish a stable legal framework for investments.During her trip to New York where she spoke at the United Nation's General Assembly, the Croatian PM also met with representatives of 500 of the largest American companies interested in investing in Croatia.Kosor expressed

Racists slam Sammir national team suggestion

A racist Facebook group demanding Brazilian born Zagreb Dinamo midfielder Jorge Sammir Cruz Campos be banned from playing for the Croatian national side has been started.The Facebook site which has around 2,000 members calls itself a site for "All of us who do not want blacks on the Croatian national team.""We are not racist but nor are we colour blind. We don't want Sammir or Eduardo (da Silva - a Brazilian-born former Croatian national team player) or any other blacks on the Croatian team," the site tells its visitors.The Facebook site started following suggestions that Sammir join the national side

Workers´ hunger strike goes into eighth day

Workers on hunger strike at a textile factory in Zagreb are continuing for the eighth day in a row, demanding five months of salaries.Despite not having received wages since May, the employees at the Kamensko factory are still coming to work because the company threatens to fire them otherwise, they say.This places the workers in a difficult position as the Centre for Social Welfare cannot give them short-term assistance as they are considered technically employed.The all-female workforce has received support from various segments of society, including students, veterans' associations and the centre for women's studies, which asked for a grace

Budget cuts not responsible for MIG accident, PM says

Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has denied allegations that yesterday's (Thu) military air crash which left two pilots and a woman on the ground injured was caused by budget cuts.After visiting the injured pilots who ejected themselves from the two MIG-21 planes after one of the cockpit covers flew off smashing into the other plane, PM Kosor said that a lack of funding or Ministry of Defense's budget cuts were not responsible for the accident. According to the pilots, both planes were operational, she said, but added that a detailed investigation is underway.Croatian president Ivo Josipovic, on the other hand,

Peace fleet sails into Biograd

Underprivileged children from 12 countries are taking part in a UN annual sailing jaunt in Croatia.The 'Peaceful Sea' event started in 1992 to help bring children from warring Yugoslavia together, aims at bring "peace and social integration, tolerance and understanding among nations."Event organisers say the children from countries including Croatia, Austria, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina will spend several days working as a team under the slogan "discard prejudice."Austrian ambassador to Croatia Jan Kickert said: "For me this project is the embodiment of all of the values that the European Union advocates and promotes, and those

Samobor to help flooded households

The town of Samobor will give 500 kunas (70 Euros) to households most affected by the recent floods, the city's authorities have announced.The money will come from the town's budget.Severe rains caused damages to several parts of Croatia this week. The local population and authorities are currently surveying the damage to households, communal infrastructure and the crops.In Istria, early first estimates place the damage at 11 million Euros.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Austrian tourist accused of child pornography

Residents of Banjol locality on the island Rab have reported a 42-year-old Austrian citizen to the local police for filming children in front of his hotel.The police search revealed a mobile phone with 11 photographs of child pornography,  downloaded allegedly from the internet.The man is facing criminal charges, the daily 24 Sata reports.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Red Cross volunteers learn water purification methods in Istria

Red Cross volunteers and workers from Croatia, Slovenia and Austria have come to Buzet (Istria) for water purification training "XH20 Istria."Some thirty participants are sharing their knowledge and experience aimed at equipping them with skills necessary for those involved in disaster alleviation missions around the world.One of the leaders, Marinko Metlicic, said that the idea behind the training is to simulate real-life situations the volunteers could facing. The priority in cases of catastrophes is ensuring drinking water in order to prevent the appearance and spreading of contagious disease, the daily Glas Istre writes.Georg Ecker, a volunteer from Vienna, said that

Josipovic and Clinton meet in New York

Croatian head of state Ivo Josipovic met with the former president of the United States Bill Clinton yesterday (Mon) in New York.The ex US president said that he perceives Croatia as a country that could significantly contribute to the development of better relations amongst the states in the region, the portal Dalje writes.He added that he would be ready, upon Josipovic's invitation, to bring a group of American investors interested in Croatia's tourism industry.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Skradin mayor attacked

Skradin mayor Nediljko Dujic got an unpleasant surprise when a 71-year-old man punched him in the head during a celebration on the town's main square.According to Dujic pensioner Benjamin Skarica was drunk when he came up behind Dujic, hurled abuse at him and then hit out at the mayor, on Saturday evening.But while Dujic believes the attack was a diversion intended to spoil the festivities, others say it is related to sums of money that Skarica - then living in Germany - was sending back to help his hometown during the 1990s war.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

E-Health comes to Croatia in January

Starting 1 January patients will be able to schedule doctors' appointments on line and all paper referrals, prescriptions and test results will be replaced by electronic forms.To begin with only primary care will be linked, but an integral information system uniting the operations of all healthcare institutions is expected to be completed within the next year.So far 10 Counties are participating, but the remainder is expected on board by October 15.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Bye bye summer

The dreary weekend weather could be announcing the end of summer and the beginning of a wet autumn season judging from the bleak predictions of the Croatia's Meteorological and Hydrological Services.The northern parts of the country both inland and along the coast will experience cloudy skies and occasional rains, with a possibility of some thunder on Friday. A more determined rainfall is coming over the weekend.Eastern Croatia may still see some sun, but the end of Friday will bring occasional rain. Temperatures will remain high, up to 26 degrees.Only Dalmatia will maintain its sunny skies with highest temperatures in the

Corrupt border guard filmed taking bribe

A corrupt border guard has found notoriety after a film of him asking for bribes was put on the internet.The film (which can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGp6au4_hN4 ) shows the guard identified as D.C. asking three Turks to put a 5 Euro 'donation' into their passports, before he allows them to cross the border.The border guard is now being questioned by anti-corruption officers and tests are being made to authenticate the film which was shot four or five years ago, writes the daily Vecernji List.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Presidency of European People´s Party to meet in Zagreb

The presidency of the European People's Party (EPP) would hold one of its future meetings in Croatian capital Zagreb, the country's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said after the Party's summit yesterday (Weds) in Brussels.While the date has not yet been set, the meeting is expected to take place before the end of the year, Croatian Radio Television has reported.EPP, the largest European-level party, includes 72 centre-right parties from 39 states. Kosor's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) are EPP members.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Croat wife kills husband with vacuum cleaner

A Croatian woman has killed her husband with a vacuum cleaner.The couple had been arguing following their recent return from Switzerland where they had lived for 40 years when the 60-year-old woman battered her 68-year-old husband to death with the tube from a vacuum cleaner.Police say they found the man dead in the family home in the southern village of Glavice and the woman nearby with injuries.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Court bans family´s use of their chimney

A Croatian family from Glina (central Croatia) can no longer use their chimney after a municipal court ruled that no "smoke, soot, or grime" is to come out of it.The verdict says that Ivanka and Krunoslav Butorac's chimney action "disrupts the property of their neighbours" Ivko and Ivana Zupanic.Court expert Anita Trstenja testified that Butorac's chimney was not a recent addition to the 50-year-old house, but the court did not take her testimony into consideration when ruling in Zupanic's favour, the daily Jutarnji List writes.The ban on chimney use appears to be the last in a series of feuds amongst

Croatian president calls for regional scientific cooperation

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has stressed the importance of regional cooperation at the opening of the Faculty of Political Science (Zagreb) and the Centre for the International and Security Studies summer school in Medulin (Istria).Josipovic said cooperation between educational institutions in Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro and Slovenia was the backbone of regional scientific cooperation and should include not only countries of former Yugoslavia but also other neighbours.He added that Croatia will push for their neighbour's accession into the European Union once they fulfill the requirements, saying membership would lead to greater security in the region.The school attracted some 30 participants

Compulsive Croat gambler makes up mugging

A Croat worker who lost more than 1,000 Euros gambling faces charges for wasting police time for claiming he was robbed.The
24-year-old told police officers in Stockerau, Lower Austria, on
Wednesday night two men beat him up and threatened him with knives after
work.The warehouseman said the duo took 1,176 Euros he planned to spend on doing his driving licence.Officers however soon found out that the man was lying after his story included more and more contradictions as he went on.The
would-be mugging victim eventually admitted he spent all the money on
playing on one-armed bandits. He

Croatia through to European Water Polo Championship final

Croatia won the European Water Polo Championship semi finals last night (Thu) in a 10-9 win over Serbia.'It is a victory of the will. We knew the game would be tough at this very high level of a European semi-final," said the Croatian coach Ratko Rudic adding that the support of from fans on their home turf forced the Croatian players into doing their best."The atmosphere was perfect, this gave us more motivation. We are already thinking about Saturday's final, because we would like to win the title in front of our home crowd,' said Sandro Sukno, one of the

Man threatens waitress with bomb for refusing to serve him

A drunk man threatened a cafe waitress on Pasman island with a hand grenade when she refused to serve him after he staggered in shortly after midnight last Thursday.A retired policemen who was dining in the cafe wrestled him to the ground and disarmed him before calling for back up.Police found another hand grenade in the man's apartment.He is now facing charges of public disturbance and illegal possession of weapons, the daily 24 Sata writes.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Healthcare and pensions considered main culprits for deficit

Health care and pensions that have cost the state budget 1.6 billion Euros so far this year are seen as the main culprits for the budget deficit totalling 8.6 billion kunas (1.2 billion Euros), or 2.6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).State revenue during the first eight months of the year was 70.8 billion kunas (9.7 billion Euros), while expenditures was 79.4 billion kunas (10.9 billion), Ministry of Finance data show.In the first eight months of the year, the state collected 2.4 per cent more VAT taxes, a signal of a slight increase in consumption.  Excise-tax revenue grew

Croatian anarchist stuck in Serbia for seven months

Croatian Davor Bilic has been stuck in Serbia for the past seven months after police confiscated his passport for participating in an anarchist demonstration.

The Croat had gone to the Serbian capital in February to lend support to six of his colleagues on trial for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at the Greek embassy in the Serbian capital in August 2009. Bilic was arrested on February 17 after displaying a sign that read "Anarchism is not Terrorism" in the courtroom's window.

He was kept in the detention for 48 hours and was charged with disruption of justice. His accused colleagues known

Unions collect enough signatures for referendum, but government withdraws amendments

A sufficient number of valid signatures had been collected to call a referendum on proposed changes to Croatia's labour laws, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Administration has announced.After the government alleged that 300,000 of over 800,000 signatures were invalid, the Constitution Committee confirmed that the requirements for calling the referendum had been met, with only 92,229 signatures questionable. A referendum can be called if 10 per cent of registered voters sign the petition - the unions collected 15.95.The Committee postponed the decision, however, on whether to call the referendum given that the government has now withdrawn the proposed

Zemunik Gornji residents gather to expel Roma from landfill

Hundreds of locals in Zemunik Gornji (Zadar County) gathered on Sunday to protest against Roma gypsies settling near the town's landfill.The head of the district Josip Marusic said the town was not racist, but that the Roma's lifestyle contradicted that of the majority of residents who had complained about Roma burning tires and polluting their environment."We simply want them to leave," Marusic said, claiming that the authorities had tried talking with the settlers "with little success."  He avoided any comparisons to France, where over 1,000 Roma had been expelled from illegal camps in the past few weeks.The Roma arrived at

Firemen on mission fall into septic pit

Three firemen from Privlaka district(Dalmatia) got stuck in a three-metre deep septic tank when they rushed to put out a fire that broke out around 3pm yesterday (Thu).The vehicle fell into the hole that had been covered with net, wooden boards and earth by an owner who proceeded with the pit's construction even after the inspection had forbidden it.The firemen were transported in an ambulance to the Zadar hospital where they were treated for minor injuries, the daily Jutarnji List reports.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Firemen on mission fall into septic pit

Three firemen from Privlaka district(Dalmatia) got stuck in a three-metre deep septic tank when they rushed to put out a fire that broke out around 3pm yesterday (Thu).The vehicle fell into the hole that had been covered with net, wooden boards and earth by an owner who proceeded with the pit's construction even after the inspection had forbidden it.The firemen were transported in an ambulance to the Zadar hospital where they were treated for minor injuries, the daily Jutarnji List reports.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Some Istrian mussels could cause diarrhoea

Veterinarian services have closed several mussel collection and cultivation areas between Savudrija and Barbariga (Istria) due to health concerns.Five days before the closing order, the services determined a large amount of biotoxins in the molluscs' flesh, the consumption of which could lead to digestive problems, or diarrhoea.Since then the nurseries have been controlled every day and will reopen once two consecutive samples are negative. The Public Health Department of Istria County said that they have not registered any cases of mussel poisoning of yet.

Source: Croatian Times Online News

Croatian diaspora in Australia wants to invest in homeland

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic met recently with a delegation of Croatian emigrant entrepreneurs from Australia interested in investing in their homeland.While there has been an increase in interest in such investment from the Croatian diaspora, it has so far amounted to approximately 15 million dollars or 11.7 million Euros.Josipovic emphasized that Croatia's relationship with its diaspora was very important and could contribute to the country's advancement, business portal Poslovni Dnevnik has reported. The diaspora, he said, was a real link between Croatia and the rest of the world."Croatia must be a place to which they can return and in which

Vukovar starts crusade against ambrosia

Vukovar has started an action to rid the town of ambrosia plants that are making many of its allergic citizens miserable.Vukovar's mayor Zeljko Sabo inaugurated the project that pays out 0.03 Euros for every stem collected. The action is aimed at trying to root out the plant known as common ragweed which is causing serious problems for those suffering from allergies.The city has put aside 100,000 kunas (13,700 Euros) and the action will last until the money is spent. The daily collection limit is 1,000 plants, the daily Vecernji List writes.But the mayor warned locals to stay away from potentially