Croatia News - CroatiaPress.com

Zagreb, June 8 (CP) – A retired medical doctor, 71, climbing with a group of walking enthusiasts dropped dead after reaching the top of Mount Biokovo near Split and complaining of not feeling well on Sunday morning.

Split rescue services managed to bring his body down from the mountain using a helicopter and by the late morning it was already at the coroner’s office in Split.

Although it is believed the man died from heart failure, more will be known once a post mortem is carried out.

Zagreb, June 7 (CP) – At a press conference held prior to the start of Croatia’s matches at the EURO2008 in Austria, the Croatian football coach Slaven Bilic refused to respond to an English speaking journalist’s question in English saying he would do the same as other coaches and speak in his mother tongue with a simultaneous translation into English.

Bilic spoke to the press prior to the first game for the Croats at the EURO2008 to be played on Sunday and his conduct although completely justified, may also be a reaction to the nerves felt prior to the start of the championships.

Zagreb, June 7 (CP) – The Slovene border police and Croatian football fans on their way to the EURO2008 in Austria are squabbling over the small Croatian flags that the Croats are flying on their cars.

The Slovene police have decided to blindly follow the word of law which stipulates that apart from protocol vehicles none others should be flying flags, so this means that the football fans are in breach of the law.

All those who had made their way towards Austria through Slovenia with flags on their cars were forced to pay a € 41 fine by the traffic police who would flag them aside once they got into Slovenia.

The border police have not been warning the drivers to take down the flags, as they would be fined once the start driving on Slovene roads.

Zagreb, June 7 (CP) – The ancient port of Dubrovnik in Croatia’s southern coast has been swarmed by as many as 12,000 guests travelling on four mega cruisers that had sailed into its port.

The cruisers MSC Musica, Zenith, Costa Serena and Emerald Princess all came in so that extra policemen had to be called in to regulate traffic of both vehicles and people, as there are huge crowds in the old segments of the city.

The local media have been warning locals not to leave their homes unless necessary and to refrain from using their cars in the city centre.

Zagreb, May 6 (CP) – The Croatian Journalists’ Association (HND) is holding a silent protest at Zagreb’s Kamenita Vrata monument and march to the upper town’s Mark’s Square following an attack on their colleague and a general rise of violent attacks on journalists.

The latest incident happened on Monday, when crime reporter Dusan Miljus was savagely beaten in front of his home by attackers wielding metal clubs.

Miljus, who has been covering crime for 20 years had been receiving threats of attacks for a long time, but did not seek police protection.

The journalists are protesting in a bid to highlight the fact of the alarming state of affairs in the Croatian society where attacks on journalists have become a frequent occurrence and perpetrators are never found.
 

Zagreb, May 5 (CP) – A Czech tourist had his nose bitten off by a stingray he was attempting to take a picture of in a fish pool it was placed in at the Kornati national park.

The fish had been tied by its tail as it was waiting for a customer and when the Czech tourist decided to take a picture of it, it attacked after the third picture was taken.

Luckily for the attacked snapper, a Czech surgeon carrying basic medical equipment was at hand to stitch back the nose that was hanging on a thread.

Zagreb, June 5 (CP) – Two Croatian sailors from the northern port of Rijeka have been jailed in Panama on drug smuggling charges.

The two men have been placed in a Panama jail after the police found small quantities of cocaine and heroin on their ship Therese administered by the Croatian Split Ship Management shipping company.

The representative of the Croatian company said he was convinced the two would be set free, as they were innocent.

The shipper has commissioned two lawyers from a renowned Panama law practice to represent the two.

The Foreign Ministry has not confirmed the happenings, as it is still gathering information on the incident.

Zagreb, June 4 (CP) – A malfunction has been detected at the Krsko nuclear power plant owned jointly by Slovenia and Croatia and located some 50 kilometres from the Croatian border with Slovenia.

The plant had to be stopped while experts detect the problem and resolve it.

The Croatian Electricity Board (HEP) has informed customers that despite the problem there would be no shortage of power, as it would dip in its other energy resources.

Meanwhile, there had been no word of warning from the Croatian Environment Protection Ministry on how dangerous the problem may be, while at the same time the European Commission issued a warning to all EU countries of the incident and the possible implications.

There had been no word on whether the any dangerous substances had been released into the air.

Zagreb, June 4 (CP) – The daughter of the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman, Nevenka, is to go on trial on Thursday for the third time on charges of using her position to secure jobs for a business partner and receiving commission for this.

She was acquitted twice and twice the Supreme Court overturned the ruling paving the way for a second re-trial.

Her business partner, Igor Knezevic had been given a suspended two-year sentence for his role in the case.

The original indictment drawn up in 2003 has shrunk to a single charge from four.

There existed a wide-spread belief among regular Croatians that Neveka Tudjman had been using her good fortune to secure a good business position with her and her younger brother opening several businesses that went bust at the time of her father’s death.

Zagreb, June 4 (CP) – A 29-year-old man from a village near Slavonski Brod had lost his life while a shotgun he was transporting on his motorbike fired.

He was hit in the stomach in the evening hours and lay on the ground until dawn, when he was found by his grandmother.

It was established by the police and investigative judge that the man was killed by his own gun and no one else was implicated in the killing.

He is survived by his wife and unborn child.