July the 26th, 2021 - The Croatian coast is stunning. With the coastline dotted with many islands, both inhabited and uninhabited, it isn't difficult to find a beautiful place to go swimming and soak up the sun's rays. That said, long sandy beaches aren't common along the country's rugged, mountainous coastline, but they do exist. The longest Croatian sandy beach is one which many have hailed to be among the most gorgeous of all.

As Morski writes, the long and natural sandy beaches of Nin spanning a total length of 8000 metres are one of this regions trademarks and an impressive image that is easily remembered by visitors to the oldest Croatian royal city. According to the American Travel Channel, the Queen's Beach (Croatian: Kraljicina plaza) is ranked among the 100 most beautiful beaches in the entire world.

The Queen's Beach is unique in many ways when one looks as the bigger picture of Croatia and the typical beaches it boasts. It is the longest Croatian sandy beach, and its name is associated with a prominent legend.

During his stay in Nin, the first Croatian king, King Tomislav, watched unforgettable sunrises with a breathtaking view of the Velebit mountain with his queen and enjoyed some very rare moments of pure relaxation.

Near this Croatian sandy beach is the largest locality of medicinal mud in all of the Republic of Croatia. Queen Jelena used to cover her entire body with this mud, and back in 1960, Nin was registered as a health resort on the coast with the organised Nin Outdoor Spa, where therapy under medical supervision has been taking place for almost 60 years during the warmer summer months.

Numerous wooden walking paths have been constructed which lead to this stunning Croatian sandy beach part through a unique area of biodiversity with as many as four habitats of the NATURA 2000 network with endemic and rare plant species living there. According to biologists, such a shaping of nature with this botanical garden is something truly unique here in Croatia, and perhaps in all of Europe.

Due to the shallow and warm sea, it is especially attractive to families with babies and small children and the elderly, and outside the main season it is a favourite place for long romantic walks.

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July the 26th, 2021 - With the tourist season in full swing and hopes for a longer summer season than last year high, the vaccination programme is still going full steam ahead. With some growing pains which caused issues at the beginning and still not enough people vaccinated with at least one dose, Zagreb is leading in terms of Croatian vaccinations.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, on Saturday, July the 24th, the number of total doses of administered vaccines against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, reached 3,005,376, reports the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

A total of 1,620,106 Croatian residents have now been vaccinated with their first dose of the vaccine, of which 1,385,270 have been vaccinated with two doses, while the Croatian vaccination (full vaccination) was completed for 1,429,990 persons (with two doses and 44,720 doses of Janssen, which are single dose vaccines), added the Croatian Institute of Public Health in new statement.

“Even after consuming more than three million doses of the vaccine, HALMED has not received a single report of a suspected fatal side effect that has been found to be even causally related to vaccination. Of the 4435 reports of suspected adverse reactions received, the most commonly reported adverse reactions were fever, headache, muscle aches, chills, general feelings of weakness, fatigue, redness at the vaccine site, nausea and some joint pain. These are the expected side effects,'' stated the CNIPH head, epidemiologist Krunoslav Capak.

The highest coverage of those vaccinated with the first dose was achieved in the City of Zagreb (46.1 percent of the total population, ie 55.8 percent of the adult population), and the highest coverage of the completed vaccination processes was also achieved in the City of Zagreb (40.4 percent of the total population, ie 48.9 percent of the capital's adult population).

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July 26, 2021 - A global citizen equally proud of his Serb origin and Croat homeland, what would Nikola Tesla have made of the latest Balkan political row over his identity?

It is almost 80 years since the genius that was Nikola Tesla died alone in a New York hotel room, the end of an extraordinary life of invention and creativity that changed the world for the better. 

He certainly deserves to be remembered and celebrated for all he contributed, but the latest proposed recognition of his genius has once more ignited a Balkan political row and fired up the Internet's army of Balkan keyboard warriors. 

It wasn't long after starting Total Croatia News 6 years ago that I learned that the two most clickbait evergreen topics which would attract tons of aggressive comments were the origins of Nikola Tesla and anything that mentioned the word Tito. As such, I have learned to avoid referring to either for the most part, but the latest row regarding Tesla's origins has included statements from the Croatian President, as well as both Croatian and Serbian Prime Ministers.

Someone once told me that the quickest way to start a lively negative debate on Facebook in this region is to invite thoughts on whether Tesla was a Serb or a Croat. It is a question that the Serb authorities take very seriously, as appears to be the case once again after Nikola Tesla was voted to appear as a symbol of Croatia on three coins when Croatia eventually joins the EU.  

Before we dive into the quagmire, it is worth recalling Tesla's own words on the subject, back in 1936:

"I am equally proud of my Serb origin and my Croat homeland. Long live all Yugoslavs."

A nice, balanced statement paying tribute to the two nationalities with which he clearly associated, even though he went on to be an American citizen. Nobody disputes that he was ethnically Serb, or that he was born and grew up in Smiljan, a small village in what is today modern Croatia. 

But then things get interesting. Serbia claims Tesla as their own - and ONLY theirs - there is no question that Tesla is anything but a Serb, despite the great man professing equal pride at his Croat homeland. Serbia has certainly done a great job at getting the message out there, even naming its main international airport after him. But the proud Serbs who claim him as their own fail to mention a couple of relevant facts. Tesla never had Serbian citizenship, and he only actually spent 31 hours in Serbia in his entire life, a solitary visit in 1892. If you travel to Serbia to search for places that Tesla spent time or created things, then you are going to be disappointed, as there is nothing to see, apart from his ashes which were transferred to Belgrade in 1952. Hardly surprising, given that he only spent 31 hours of his life in Serbia. 

The claim that he was born in Croatia should also be clarified, as Croatia was not an independent country at the time of his birth, rather part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Smiljan was in the zone of the Military Frontier at the time, and his citizenship was Austrian, before he bcame an American later in life. Having said that, the quote above shows that Tesla identified with both his Serb ethnicity and Croatian homeland. 

There is, of course, a certain irony - given the nationalist passions in some quarters of this region - of Serbia objecting to the celebration of a Serb on a Croatian coin, but that is perhaps another discussion. 

What can also not be disputed is that Smiljan today is firmly within the boundaries of modern Croatia. And for those looking for evidence of Tesla's formative years, there is plenty to explore, from the visitor centre at Smiljan, his school in Karlovac, the surrounding nature which inspired him, and the city of Sibenik, which was the first city in the world to have street lights powered by alternating current. It is probably worth mentioning that had Tesla's education and life experience continued in this region, he would probably not have fulfilled his potential, as it was only once he got to the States and was exposed to bigger things that he flourished. 

As I wrote a couple of years ago in It is Time for Croatia to Claim its Nikola Tesla Heritage, Croatia has thus far done a terrible job marketing its Tesla heritage, and it is one of the several gifts that it possesses which are totally underutilised. The birthplace of Tesla should be a global attraction, and one which is there to inspire the minds of the next generation. It could - and should - be developed for that purpose, rather than the very poor effort that we have at the moment at Smiljan - there was not even a cafe the last time I visited. Combining the Tesla story with the huge success of Croatia's 21st-century innovator, Mate Rimac, is a compelling story which will bring more interest not just to Croatia, but to the wider region. 

Would Tesla have preferred to be represented on a Croatian or Serbian coin 80 years after his death? He would probably not have had to choose, as Serbia will also get to choose its motifs for the coins if and when it adopts the euro. And wouldn't it be nice for him to be commemorated by both, given that he was equally proud of his association to both?

Just as Nikola Tesla was equally proud of his Serb origins and his Croat homeland, wouldn't it be nice if his Serb origins and Croat homeland could agree to celebrate the genius of a man who gave the world so much, rather than try and score cheap political points?

ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021 - The Animal Friends Croatia association recalled earlier this week that on 21 July 2005 the dogs from the "beagle scandal" at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine were released and adopted, and it warned about a report from the European Commission that 26,000 animals are used in experiments in Croatia.

Animal Friends Croatia said in the press release that the number of dogs used in experiments was unfortunately increasing, which is confirmed by the latest report from the European Commission, according to which over 10.5 million animals were used in experiments in European laboratories in 2018, including nearly 26,000 in Croatia.

The association recalled that on 21 July 2005, 32 scared and traumatised beagles, on which bone-breaking experiments had been conducted illegally at Zagreb's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, had been released.

Despite the reports filed, no one responsible for the procurement and conducting of experiments has been prosecuted to date, the association warned.

It believes, however, that there has been a shift because last week's report from the European Commission states that Croatia did not use dogs in experiments in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Unfortunately, Croatia still used a huge number of mostly mice, followed by rats, domestic poultry, rabbits, zebrafish, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys and their hybrids, as well as guinea pigs, the association warned.

According to data, over 1,200 animals have never recovered from the experiments.

Animal Friends Croatia stressed that the European Commission, in order to move towards the ultimate goal of completely replacing animals and in response to requests for greater transparency, had launched the first statistical database, ALURES, which provides free access to information on using animals for scientific purposes in the EU. The data are collected by member states and sent to the Commission every year.

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ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021- Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Sunday that given an increase in calls following a serious bus crash, an information centre was established at the Slavonski Brod General Hospital which the families of those killed and injured could call at 035 201 111.

Beroš said in a statement that "those injured are in the best hands at the Slavonski Brod General Hospital," and that the Kosovo ambassador and a translator were with them "so that we can make these difficult moments as easy as possible for them."

The information centre collects all relevant information from the Civil Protection, the Brod-Posavina County police, the Croatian Red Cross and other medical services.

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ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021 - The Lonjsko Polje Nature Park has seen a three-digit rise in visitors' statistics so far this year compared to 2020, and the planned opening of a centre for the black stork (ciconia nigra) in September will make the park even more attractive for guests, the park's representatives have told Hina.

In the first half of 2021, the number of visitors in this nature park, 90 kilometres southeast of Zagreb, skyrocketed by 150% compared to H1 2020, however the figures are still below the pre-pandemic period.

Broken down by citizenship, apart from local guests from all parts of Croatia, there were also more and more French, German, Polish and British travellers visiting this part of Croatia.

Of the 250 bird species living in the park, 170 also nest there. The village of Čigoč is known as the stork village.

A new centre dedicated to the black stork in the village of Osekovo will be opened within the park in September, and this project, worth 20 million kuna, has been co-funded by the European Union in the amount of HRK 12.8 million.

Some of the attractions in the 511-square-kilometre-large park are the village of Krapje, bird-watching in the ornithological reserve Krapje Đol, and traditional cattle grazing in Repušnicko Polje field.

The park, which is the largest protected wetland in Croatia is in the basin of the Sava and Lonja rivers.

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ZAGREB, 25 July, 2021 - The driver of the bus which skidded off the road near Slavonski Brod this morning, as a result of which ten persons have been killed, has been taken into custody after an on-the-scene investigation, the Slavonski Brod deputy municipal prosecutor, Slavko Pranjić, told the press on Sunday.

Asked if the driver admitted that he had fallen asleep, which was why the vehicle skidded off the road, Pranjić said, "According to the information I have from the police on the scene, that's what he claims, but the circumstances will continue to be established."

Pranjić said the investigation was continuing to instigate criminal proceedings against the driver who, he added, was currently suspected of committing a crime against traffic safety with serious consequences.

As for what has been established in the on-the-scene investigation, he said the bus skidded off the road, that there were 69 passengers on board, ten were killed and so far 23 were established to have sustained serious or light injuries.

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July 25, 2021 - Luka Plantić made sure that the small Croatian boxing delegation maintained a clean sheet at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after his first competition, where he defeated Jordanian Odai Riyad Adel Al Hindawi in a light heavyweight bout by a split decision (3-2).

Plantić thus joined Nikolina Ćaćić in the second round of the Olympic boxing tournament, but in a significantly different way.

The Croatian boxer was more restrained in the first round, which the judges scored (2-3) in favor of the Jordanian fighter. In the second round, Al Hindawi waited longer for counterattack opportunities and tried to keep Plantić at a distance, but the judges rewarded Plantić's greater activity (3-2).

In the third round, especially towards the end of the fight, both fighters ran out of strength which affected the accuracy and strength of the punches. Plantić was more aggressive again and perhaps that was the impression that ruled.

Namely, the Russian and Algerian scoring judges gave Plantić an advantage in all three rounds, the Moroccan and the Korean scored the same fight in favor of the Jordanian boxer, and the Argentine judge prevailed, giving the first round to Al Hindawi, and the second and third to the Croatian fighter, who was given the opportunity to continue on his way to the Olympic medal.

Rogelio Romero Torres, a 26-year-old Mexican who was free in the first round, is waiting for him on that trip on Wednesday, July 28, at 1:12 PM CET.

Source: HRT

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