ZAGREB, 5 July 2021 - In the past 24 hours, nine coronavirus cases and one death have been registered in Croatia, the national COVID-19 crisis management team said on Monday.

There are 499 active cases, including 140 hospitalized patients, 11 of whom are on ventilators, while 3,817 persons are self-isolating.

Croatia has registered 360,246 coronavirus cases to date, 8,219 COVID deaths, and 351,528 recoveries, including 67 in the past 24 hours.

To date, 2,166,780 persons have been tested for the virus, including 1,618 in the past 24 hours, and 2,669,307 COVID vaccines have been administered, with 1,508,083 persons having received at least one dose and 1,161,224 both.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, including travel, border, and quarantine rules, as well as the locations of vaccination points and testing centers across the country, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and select your preferred language.

July 5, 2021 - Split bowling club and Croatian bowling champion Mertojak is the 3rd best team in Europe! 

With the triumph of the German champion SKV Rot Weis Zerbst 1999, the 2020 European Bowling Champions League ended. The finals in the men's and women's competitions, with the participation of four teams each, were held in the German town of Bamberg, about thirty kilometers away from Nimberg.

In the final, SKV Rot Weis Zerbst was better than the Hungarian champion, Zengo Alfold Szegedi TE 7:1 (3964:3835).

Croatia had three representatives, Mertojak and Zaprešić in the men's competition and Mlaka from Rijeka in the women's competition.

In the semifinals, Zerbst beat Mertojak 7:1 (3866: 3724).  In the second semifinal, Zengo Alfold Szegedi TE beat Zaprešić 8:0. The match for third place was thus between the two best Croatian teams.

Mertojak, this year's Croatian champion, once again confirmed its dominance, defeating Zaprešić 6:2, but this time by 100 (3832:3732). Coach and player Hrvoje Marinović achieved the best individual result in the entire competition, exceeding the magical 700 figure. His new personal record is 705, once again confirming his outstanding international class.

Mertojak once again achieved extraordinary international success, which strengthened their position among the best bowling clubs in Europe, certainly the best bowling team in the history of Split. 

As the champion of Croatia, Mertojak will perform at the World Cup (World Club Championship) in Otočac at the beginning of November, with the participation of 14 national champions. It will be an opportunity, on neutral ground, to win the World Cup after the Champions League, and at the same time to qualify for the new season of the Champions League. In addition to epidemiological measures, the arrival of European clubs is expected at Poljud at the end of the year.

Denis Delić, Goran Žubrinić, Paško Dragičević, Ljubo Budić, Siniša Papak, Davor Zoković and President Mladen Vuković were also in the Mertojak delegation at the Final Four.

"This success means a lot to our club. The Champions League is the toughest club competition as it requires great form throughout the season. Getting to the semifinals meant a lot to us, and in the end, we won the bronze medal. We are very proud of our success and consider it one of the greatest in the history of Split bowling," said Mertojak captain Goran Žubrinić. 

"Croatian club bowling has long been on the European map, especially because of the success of Zagreb and Osijek clubs, but now Split bowling has joined because of Mertojak. Therefore, we hope that on the occasion of this success we will be able to get a better status in the city of Split and that we will profit on the financial side because we need it to become a financially stable club and to be able to repeat these successes in the future," added Žubrinić.

"The plans for Mertojak are the same as every season. The goal is to fight for the title of Croatian champion and to reach the finals of European competitions, which this year are the World Cup in Otočac and the Champions League during the season."

Croatia won the 2025 World Cup bid in Varaždin; the 2021 World Cup will be held in Otočac, while Slavonski Brod will host the 2023 NBC Cup. As a result, this year's World Team Championship in Slovenia has been moved to the end of October. Hrvoje Marinović and Nikola Muše from Mertojak, Luka Bolanča, Branko Manev, and Matija Mance from Zaprešić, Alen Kujundžić from Medveščak 1958, and Bojan Vlakevski from SK FWT NeuNKirchen (AUT) will play for the Croatia national team. 

Source: Dalmacija Danas

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July 4th, 2021 - A rally ironically called "Illegal Construction and Nature Devastation Festival" was held in Vruja cove between Pisak and Brela on Sunday to protest against illegal construction on the maritime domain and state-owned land.

Protesters raised their voice against Stipe Latković, a businessman from Split, saying that because of his friendships with former presidents Stjepan Mesić and Ivo Josipović and the incumbent Zoran Milanović, to whose campaign he contributed, he has been able to devastate Vruja for 20 years.

Despite numerous complaints, decisions and bans, Latković is continuing to build around the cove, they said, asking who could stop development in Vruja.

The protest has been supported by numerous public figures, including actor Rade Šerbedžija.

One of the protest organizers, Boris Dežulović, said the protesters demanded that Milanović be urgently removed from office "because he directly supports the occupation of Croatian territory."

The president recently defended Latković, calling those who criticized the businessman parasites.

The protesters also demanded that Latković be prosecuted for "occupying" the Vruja cove.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

5 July, 2021 - Split singer Ursula Najev had to postpone and then cancel her concert series because of organisational difficulties arising from anti-COVID regulations. She posted a statement on her social media outlets that is causing quite a stir.

We are heading towards the middle of a very interesting summer. On one hand, tourist mubers are rising leading to a glimpse of optimism from many in Croatia. On the other, we are seeing increased tensions in the expectation of a potential new wave of infections. The dreaded delta strain of the COVID19 virus is in everyone's minds. The government is trying to disable the spread of the virus by imposing various restrictions. They are also trying to put pressure on those still not vaccinated to do so.

Protest against Aggressive Measures

Media statements by Split performing artist Ursula Najev have grabbed many people's attention. After spending years preparing her concert program „For Amy“, Ursula Najev had to cancel her performance on the Split Riva. The concert was scheduled for tomorrow. After the organisers switched venues and dates of subsequent perfomances because of related restrictions, they eventually cancelled the entire series. The singer spoke out over her social media outlets claiming she refuses to perform under the current conditions.

She claims discriminating against those not vaccinated and forcing people to pay for very expensive PCR tests in order to attend a performance is unethical. In fact, she compared singing in a concert like that to performing at Hitler's wedding. As Index.hr reports, Najev wrote she refuses to organise a concert her family members will not be able to attend. She went on to make a very compelling point by referring to government ideas on offering citizens free theatre or cultural events' tickets as a vaccination incentive. Instead, she proposes the government uses food and beverage vouchers as Croatians are rarely attending cultural events as it is.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with Split based singer, her public statement does raise awareness on massive problems facing performance artists in Croatia. Culture and art were difficult fields to make a living in even before the COVID pandemic. In the past year and a half very little was done to try and alleviate the financial problems of people whose sector is one of the most brutally hit by the pandemic restrictions.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

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July 4th, 2021 - The president and vice president of the Bridge opposition party on Sunday announced lawsuits against the Zagreb Pride organization, which accused them of spreading intolerance and homophobia and inciting division and hatred.

President Božo Petrov said on Facebook he would file a suit because of the untruths stated, adding that all his life, he had fought violence and condemned violent behavior.

"For days, I have been exposed to attacks just for stating that nobody has the right to impose what my child will learn and how I will raise them. And that it's my legitimate right to protect my child by asking that they be educated based on facts and social consensus. Have I perhaps attacked anyone? Deprived another man or child of a right? I haven't," said Petrov.

He asked what kind of aggressive group did not allow someone to state their view without being attacked.

The party's vice president Nikola Grmoja said Zagreb Pride accused him of sharing the responsibility for the incidents that occurred after Saturday's Pride Parade, calling this an attempt at censorship by equating any criticism of LGBT policies and activist goals with hate and a call to violence.

"I won't agree to that and will defend my right to free speech and to criticize all public stakeholders, including LGBT activists," he said on Facebook, adding that he would take legal action to protect his "constitutional and civil rights. Not just mine, but the rights of all people in democratic Croatia who want to think and speak freely."

Grmoja said that since raising the topic of early sexualization of children, the LGBT propaganda, and pedophilia in Croatian society, he received more threats and insults than ever in his life, as did his family.

"Professional human rights activists, as expected, have not said a word to protect our rights and defend our human dignity," he added.

For more, follow our lifestyle section.

July 5th, 2021 - At a presentation of the European Climate Pact, a new European Commission initiative, experts warned earlier this week that the Mediterranean Sea was still the area in the world under the greatest threat from plastic waste and that the enormous consumption of bottled water was an increasing problem.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, 55% of the world's plastic waste is accumulated in the Mediterranean Sea. With poor waste management and mass tourism without adequate infrastructure, high consumption of plastic packaging, especially bottled water, is an increasing problem.

The Mediterranean is the region in the world under the greatest threat from plastic waste. We are literally suffocating in plastics. In Croatia, huge quantities of bottled water are bought. Don't buy water in plastic packaging. Croatia is a country rich in water sources, said Nataša Kalauz of WWF Adria at the online presentation of the European Climate Pact in Zagreb.

The European Climate Pact is an initiative launched by the European Commission in 27 EU member states to raise awareness of the problem of climate change and encourage joint action. WWF Adria is the project coordinator for Croatia and Slovenia.

Julije Domac, the Croatian president's special advisor on energy and climate and European Climate Pact ambassador, said that "unless the future is green, we wouldn't have it."

He also said that Croatia, as a country rich in renewable resources, could recognize an opportunity in that, not only for the production of energy for its own needs but also for export.

Perhaps a fifth of energy production comes from renewable resources globally, and in about twenty years, it should reach four-fifths. That is an opportunity for Croatia, said Domac.

The director of the Croatian Business Council for Sustainable Development, Mirjana Matešić, cited the unsustainability of the current tourism model as one of the major problems Croatia is facing at the moment, referring to the devastation and degradation of space for tourism as well as corruption in spatial planning in mass tourism.

Dunja Mazzocco Drvar, head of the Directorate for Climate Activities at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, said that on 2 June, the Ministry adopted a new low-carbon strategy.

We are waiting for new European laws announced for mid-July, so in about two weeks, we will have new laws that will reflect the latest European ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, said Mazzocco Drvar.

The results of a study recently conducted among young people in the EU were also mentioned at the panel discussion, and they show that even though 78% of young people are concerned about climate change, most of them, 90%, are not ready to give up various amenities to reduce their harmful impact on the environment.

Mazzocco Drvar stressed that all citizens had to be educated about sustainable living and energy use.

The CountUsIn platform (https://www.count-us-in.org/en-gb/) was also presented, and citizens can use it to choose a way to reduce their harmful impact on the environment or to have a positive effect on the climate crisis.

The online panel discussion was the first event within the European Climate Pact project, and WWF has announced that new panels, forums, and other forms of education and interaction with citizens will take place soon to raise awareness of the climate change problem and support citizens in their attempts to contribute to positive change.

For more follow TCN's dedicated page. 

July the 5th, 2021 - The Delta variant of the novel coronavirus is on the road to becoming the dominant strain currently in circulation in Croatia, and with a mere 35 percent of the Croatian population fully vaccinated, questions are being asked.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, following ten more than impressive weeks of a steady decline in the number of new infections, Croatia unfortunately now has growth of 22 percent when compared to the week before, owing to the presence of the Delta variant of the virus. The Croatian Institute of Public Health is not satisfied with the number of vaccinated people.

"Unfortunately, we aren't satisfied with the percentage of vaccinated people we hoped to have. We all wanted to vaccinate more than 50 percent of the total Croatian population during June, but sadly our numbers in that regard are much lower. Only about 35 percent of the total Croatian population has been vaccinated, which isn't enough for them to be calm and to be able to live according to the old normal,'' said epidemiologist Dijana Mayer.

The highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus is spreading rapidly across Europe and will almost certainly become dominant in Croatia as well, as it has in the likes of the United Kingdom which has rightly been hailed for its enviable vaccination rollout. As a precaution, many countries are stepping up their now extremely boring epidemiological measures once again. All returnees from high-risk countries, of which neighbouring Slovenia, for example, considers about 40 to be, must once again enter a ten day self-isolation period.

The European Centre for Disease Control estimates that by the end of August, the Delta strain will account for 90 percent of all new cases of infection across the European Union. Those who haven't been vaccinated yet, as well as younger people who perhaps are still waiting, have been warned to be careful.

According to the World Health Organisation, the Delta strain has already spread to 100 countries, HRT reports.

For all you need to know about coronavirus specific to Croatia, make sure to bookmark our dedicated COVID-19 section and choose your preferred language.

July 5, 2021 - A new Rimac Automobili milestone will be announced tonight at 8 pm, just one month after the Nevera was revealed. 

Rimac Automobili has announced on Facebook that it will present the next "milestone in the company's history" tonight, reports Index.hr.

They invited people to join the live presentation of their new venture on Monday at 8 pm Croatian time.

"What's next? Here at Rimac, we never rest.
Following the recent launch of the #Nevera, we are announcing the next major milestone in our company's history. Join us in this celebration and watch the live stream on July 5th at 8pm CEST / 11am PDT," Rimac Automobil wrote on Facebook, and Mate Rimac also shared the post on his profile.

They also shared a link where you can follow the presentation. 

It’s hard to even guess what this could be about after Mate Rimac recently, after a long wait, introduced the sensational Nevera that pushed all boundaries.  

This second-generation hypercar is limited to 150 units, and deliveries of Nevera to customers will start this year.

The price of the car is two million euros, and in recent weeks the review has appeared in almost every auto-moto magazine and portal.

"The Nevera is the most powerful production car ever produced, with 1900 horsepower, under 2 seconds from 0 to 100, under 9 seconds per quarter-mile, making it the fastest accelerating car ever on the road. It is an indicator of what we can think of in technology and work for other manufacturers such as Porsche or Hyundai who are our investors. Of course, we want to build a strong business in the production of sports cars," said Mate Rimac.

Mate Rimac announced the big news three weeks ago, which he will finally announce tonight. It was during a speech at the Auto @ 2030 Adria convention of the automotive industry, organized by the Swiss School of Business and Management (SSBM).

He said that he was sorry that on the ten-year path of development he no longer ignored the competition, that is, that he analyzed it too much, instead of working on his own. He stressed that the car industry is facing huge changes - in his opinion, in the near future, there will most likely no longer be car owners, vehicles will be autonomous and will not use only three percent of available time as now, but more than 90 percent.

"Cities will change, real estate prices, there will be fewer police on the roads," Rimac said, adding that there are still many unknowns in the whole story. The question, he said, is whether some new kids will even take the driving test, whether they will have the time and will to service the vehicles.

He also announced that Rimac Automobili will soon start with the serial production of components for vehicles.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about Rimac going public, but also about taking over Bugatti. German Manager Magazine wrote, and Reuters reported the news, that Rimac Automobili will go public in 2022 with a company value of five billion euros.

"We are considering different possibilities, but it has not been decided in which direction we will go," Rimac Automobili said for Index. 

Recall, the contract to take over Bugatti is likely to be announced over the summer and will transfer this brand from VW to Porsche. Car and Driver also recently announced that Rimac and Porsche would then launch a joint venture with Rimac, in which Rimac would be the majority shareholder.

"Getting a Bugatti at the age of 33 would be impressive enough. But this year, Volkswagen is expected to leave the Bugatti brand, or at least a major part of it, to 33-year-old Mate Rimac because he can better design the electric powertrains that Bugatti will need in the electrified era," Car and Driver wrote recently about Rimac.

Spiegel also wrote about Rimac taking over Bugatti.

"As a supplier, Rimac has caused a sensation in the automotive industry due to deals with Hyundai and the VW Group, and the company is also supplying components for Koenigsegg and Aston Martin. Porsche has just increased its stake in the company from 15 to 24 percent. It is said that Rimac will soon take over Bugatti and make the most exclusive VW brand capable of the future with an extreme electric car," the renowned German newspaper Spiegel said about Rimac's business successes.

Under Rimac's leadership, Bugatti could produce an electric super sports car with a luxurious ambiance, the media wrote.

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