Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, April 25 (CP) – The wife of journalist Ivo Pukanic, Mirjana, who is in a bitter dispute with her husband over him attempting to place her in a mental hospital in hope of getting her certified has tested positive for cocaine.

Meanwhile, a test on Ivo Pukanic showed he did not use the drug.

The couple have been tested after some cocaine was found in their home.

The high-profile couple are in a wrangle over the vast property of Ivo Pukanic who would have to split it mid-way with his wife if they were to divorce.

Ivo Pukanic is the co-owner of the Nacional weekly and is said to be close both to the ruling clique and the underworld. Recently, there was an alleged attack on his life, but some media are speculating his staged his own assassination to draw attention to himself.

Zagreb, April 25 (CP) – The Croatian parliament is to debate the zero alcohol tolerance provision of the Transport Law and scrap the provision.

The ineffective provision is to become history as of June 1 and the provision on the return of 0.5 blood alcohol will be reintroduced.

However, the 0.5 would be in effect only if the driver had not committed an offence, was not a professional driver (for them the zero alcohol tolerance remains in force) and is over the age of 24.

The provision will be welcomed by restaurateurs and bar owners, who are expecting their sales of alcohol to return to the levels of before the provision was introduced some three years ago.

Zagreb, April 24 (CP) – The Italian media are claiming that Croatian striker Eduardo da Silva may be back on the football pitch by September, two months prior to previous plans.

Eduardo is currently undergoing physio in his native Brazil, where he is being cared for by the Brazilian national squad physician Jose Luis Runca and physiotherapist Odira De Souza.

Eduardo da Silva, currently playing for Arsenal had suffered a horrific foot injury during a premier league game between Arsenal and Birmingham in February.

Zagreb, April 24 (CP) — The Croatian government has adopted the protected personal number law and forwarded it to parliament.

The tax number or OIB will enable easier tracking of the citizen’s incomes, tax payments and real estate purchases.

The tax numbers will be awarded to citizens as of Jan. 1, 2008 and will not contain any personal data.

Access to all data will only be allowed at the central tax office registry.

Zagreb, April 24 (CP) — In order to protect young viewers, the Council for Electronic media has presented its set of rules that includes TV stations introducing special ratings for TV content divided into three categories: 12, 15 and 18.

The watershed for 18 labelled content will be 11 pm, the 15 will have a 10 pm watershed and 12, 9 pm.

A written warning of a 10 second duration will have to be shown and the appropriate categories will be marked in the corner of the TV screen.

Zagreb, April 24 (CP) – An ad has come out in Croatian papers for the sale of half of the Piskera island situated in the heart of the Kornati national park offered for $15.8 million kuna.

The 586,000 land plot on which there are two homes of 100 and 120 square meters lies right across the ACI marina on the island of Pantula .

Currently some 20 islets, island land plots and homes are offered for sale within and near the Kornati national park, their value totalling some 130 million kuna.

Zagreb, April 23 (CP) — The HT shares at the Zagreb Stock Exchange have dropped to an all time low in value of 281 kuna.

HT gained in value on Monday, so the Tuesday’s decrease can be attributed to the pessimistic sentiment by investors.

Investors are still waiting for the payment of the dividend and on Monday the HT Shareholders Assembly confirmed the decision to pay the better part of last year’s net profit worth HRK 2.42bn in dividends, the payment due on May 19.

Zagreb, April 23 (CP) — Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic said speaking at a gathering on Wednesday that the state institutions, with the exception of the Interior Ministry, are not effective in discovering corruption, something criticized by the European Commission.

It was stated that the functioning of institutions as one of the major determinants in fighting corruption. Recent survey has shown that businessmen perceive corruption as one of the biggest problems in business.

The World Bank estimates that global corruption is worth USD 1,000-1,500 billion a year, which makes 3-5 percent of economic activities, which are not discovered.

If this was applied to Croatia, its corruption would stand at six billion kuna each year.

Zagreb, April 23 (CP) — A 16-year-old boy commits suicide by throwing himself off the 12th floor of a skyscraper in Zagreb on Wednesday.

The reasons for the suicide are sketchy, but neighbours and friends of the boy are claiming he was simply testing a parachute that had malfunctioned.

Zagreb, April 23 (CP) – A wandering pit bull terrier mauled to death a small Malteser dog and injured his owner in the centre of Zagreb on Tuesday afternoon.

The pit bull was by itself when it attacked the dog and killed him. The owner of the attacked dog was injured while she tried to save him.

The Malteser owner managed to track down the owner of the Pit Bull, who said that he had given the dog to a friend. He had misdemeanour charges filed against him.

The woman received help at a trauma centre.