August 1, 2021 - A German couple was arrested, the Croatian police reported, after they left two small children and a dog locked in a car in a parking lot for over an hour.

The passers-by reported to the police around 7:30 pm that the children and the dog were in a hot, locked car (German licence plates) with fully closed windows for way too long. The car with the three sufferers inside was at a supermarket parking lot. Just as the police were approaching, the 28-year-old woman unlocked the car. The children were taken to the hospital in Pula, because of the obvious symptoms of serious heat exhaustion. The dog was taken to a local vet, to be treated for the same condition, Croatian Radiotelevision reports.

The police have concluded that the German citizens, a man and a woman, both 28 years old, have committed the felony of endangering the children's rights, as well as the felony of endangering animals. They were arrested last night and spent the night in jail. The local social services were notified and looked after the children, while the dog continues to be in the care of the veterinary clinic. It remains to be seen what the legal consequences for the couple will be.

Please, never leave your children (and/or pets) in locked vehicles for any amount of time in such heat. It was over 30°C yesterday in Poreč, and it was pure luck that the children and the dog made it out alive and seemingly without any permanent consequences.

For more news from Croatia, follow our "News" section.

August 1, 2021 - After winning the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Croatian sailor Tonči Stipanović won his second Olympic silver medal today in Tokyo!

The ten best sailors competed for medals, and among them was the Croatian silver medalist from Rio de Janeiro, who came in third with 74 negative points, only three more than the second-placed Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard. In the end, he climbed a step higher and won another Olympic silver!

Gold was secured by Australian Matt Wearn before the medal race.

The Mornar Split member had a great start and was holding silver until the first turn, but then after turning the buoy in sailing down the wind, he fell to fourth place. But in the third section with the wind, he came among the leaders again. In a fantastic finish, Tonči entered the finish line fourth, winning silver with a total of 82 negative points.

"It was very difficult, somehow I lost constantly during the regatta after a very good start. I was not satisfied with the speed and I sailed the first stern very badly, i.e., down the wind on the right side I was completely windless and the Norwegian passed there. Luckily Pavlos was still behind, but finding the penultimate or pen-penultimate one is not very good. At that moment, I couldn't even count what happened to the others or if someone was behind me or maybe passing me so I stayed focused on my sailing and after I came to the second buoy I said to myself ‘now I’m going left to the stern, stay calm, sail as I know and it will surely be good," said Stipanović or HRT.

Australian Wearn took the gold with 53 negative points and bronze Norwegian Thomasgaard collected 85 negative points.

"Paris 2024? It’s going to be really hard, I’m getting older and older. I’ll sit down and think about what to do next, I’m not sure yet, maybe I’ll decide to get ready for Paris as well. We'll see," the two-time Olympic runner-up concluded.

Source; HRT

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ZAGREB, 31 July 2021, 2021 - The command ship of the United States Sixth Fleet, USS Mount Whitney, is visiting the southern Croatian Adriatic city of Split, and its commander said on Saturday that the US-Croatian partnership on land and at sea is crucial for the military cooperation and common security of the two countries. 

The US vessel arrived on Friday and visited the Split shipyard, while reporters were invited to visit the ship on Saturday.

US Chargé d'Affaires Mark Fleming said they were glad to be in Split and that the defence cooperation between the United States and Croatia was the corner stone of their bilateral relations.

Over the last 10 years, US military aid to Croatia has reached nearly HRK 4.5 billion, which is more than $700 million, for training, equipment, infrastructure building and specialised military training, Fleming said. Since Croatia joined NATO 12 years ago, US and Croatian personnel have served together from Afghanistan to Iraq to Kosovo. The US-Croatian partnership on land and at sea is crucial for the military cooperation and common security of our two countries, he added.

US naval ships often stop in Croatia for maintenance and mutual security operations. The northern port of Rijeka has been the centre of US-Croatian cooperation since 2011, benefiting from contracts with the US Navy worth nearly HRK 900 million. This year three US naval ships have been berthed in the Kraljevica shipyard for regular maintenance.

In April, US Navy EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) divers held a training course on humanitarian mine clearance for Croatian Navy personnel and launched a project to develop an EOD training facility for the Croatian Navy.

Vice Admiral Gene Black, Commander of the US Sixth Fleet, said that Croatia stands as an important NATO ally, facilitating the maintenance of US Navy forward deployed ships.  

Croatian shipyards are world class, and mine action capabilities ensure a continued maritime presence and security in the whole region, Black said.

Dave Pollard, Commander of USS Mount Whitney, said that the US-Croatian military cooperation and sharing the same values brings stability and prosperity to this region.

After the visit, USS Mount Whitney will begin a two-week scenario-driven integrated exercise that will provide high-end training at sea and ashore against a challenging adversary force.

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July 31, 2021 - In a clear sign of recovery, Makarska registers 56 thousand guests on its riviera, reaching 70% of what was achieved in 2019, a record year for tourism in the Dalmatian town.

Tportal.hr reports that in the resorts on the Makarska Riviera, according to the data of tourist offices, more than 56,000 domestic and foreign guests spend their holidays, which is about 70 percent compared to the same time in 2019.

According to the number of tourists, Makarska leads with 15,800 guests, in Baška Voda where a 'bed more' is still sought, 11,500 tourists rest, in Tučepi there are more than 8000, and in Podgora 5.5 thousand, while the Municipality of Gradac hosts more than 6000 guests.

Almost all hotel houses on the Makarska Riviera operate without free rooms, so it is recommended to book accommodation in advance to continue your summer stay in hotels.

There are few vacancies left in holiday homes as well as apartments with private homeowners on the entire coast, and more beds are in demand in most tourist offices, according to tourist offices.

The last weekend of July was marked by significantly increased traffic on the roads of the Makarska Riviera and in ferry ports.

On the state road, the D8 is driven in longer intermittent columns with occasional shorter delays, and smaller crowds are created at the entrances to tourist places. Traffic was significantly increased on the state road 535 from Baško Polje to the Sveti Ilija tunnel in Basto, while at the entrance to the highway near Zagvozd, a convoy of vehicles was about two kilometers long.

The ferry Pelješčanka, which runs on the line Makarska-Sumartin, is full in both directions for today's and tomorrow's voyages.

There are two ferries on the Drvenik-Sučuraj line, the wait for boarding in Drvenik is about two and a half hours, and it takes so long to return from Hvar to the mainland.

Good occupancy of hotels, holiday homes, and family accommodation is expected in the summer, say the tourist offices on the Riviera, where the end of July pleasantly surprised hoteliers and tourism workers.

Are you planning to visit Makarska? Take a look at the Total Croatia 2021 guide, where you will find all the information about accommodation, restaurants, things to do, tours, how to get to the riviera, and much more HERE. Now available in your language!

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

July 31, 2021 - The Split ports expect 101 thousand passengers will arrive in the city and the surrounding islands this weekend from numerous destinations around the world, Croatia as well.

The Split Airport will thus conclude July with a share of 48 percent of passengers compared to July 2019, and the city airport, where they do not hide their satisfaction with a share of 75 percent compared to July 2019, a record month for the airport, reports Index.hr.

The Split Airport expects 190 planes to land and takes off over the weekend, of which 150 are on a regular route, while the remaining 40 private planes will carry 36,000 passengers through the port.

"July should be completed with 350 thousand passengers, and for comparison last year in the same period there were about 170 thousand, while July 2019 ended with 720 thousand", said to Hina the head of the Passenger Reception and Dispatch Service of Split Airport Mate Melvan.

He noted that the last weekend in July and the first in August have been the most numerous in terms of tourism for years. "We are still monitoring the situation with the crown, and for now the season is going great," Melvan added.

''The weekend is also a record in the ferry port, where more than 65 thousand passengers and over 15 thousand vehicles are expected'', said the coordinator of Jadrolinija, Jelena Ivulić.

According to the data she presented by Saturday at 1 pm, two extraordinary lines to Supetar have been introduced, while the ferries to other islands are full. Passengers in vehicles in a column in Zvonimirova Street continued to wait for more than two hours to the ferry port.

"We are now at 75 percent of the numbers we achieved in July 2019. We are more than satisfied and we believe that the season will not end abruptly", said Ivulić.

She mentioned that the traffic pressure is from all sides, from the entrance to Split, but also at the entrance to the ferry port. "We recommend everyone who needs to go to the port to start as soon as possible and arm themselves with patience, but it is worth enduring for our islands", she said.

For everything you need to know about Split, from what to do, what to see, where to eat, where to stay, tours, and much more, check out the Total Croatia 2021 guide.

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 31 July, 2021 - Croatia and Kosovo act together in accidents, such as one that occurred on the motorway in eastern Croatia last week when 10 Kosovo citizens were killed, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in an interview with the Kosovo Albanian website Albanian Post.

"In accidents we stand and act together. We showed this not just in this accident, but also in earlier crisis situations and emergencies in the last 30 years," Plenković said.

"Croatia and Kosovo have good bilateral relations and understand each other well because we know how challenging the road to independence and state-building is," he added, recalling that Croatia had been among the first countries to recognise Kosovo's independence and was actively advocating its European path.

A Kosovo-registered bus, travelling en route from Frankfurt to Kosovo, ran off the A3 motorway at Slavonski Brod last Sunday. Ten Kosovo citizens were killed and another 10 seriously injured. All Croatian emergency services responded promptly, providing medical and other assistance to those injured and arranging accommodation for those uninjured. Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the injured passengers.

"Prime Minister Kurti wanted to visit the Kosovo citizens. He showed great commitment to his people and to those involved in this great tragedy that occurred," Plenković said.

The representative of the Albanian minority in the Croatian parliament, Ermina Lekaj Prljaskaj, also provided a great contribution, he added.

"All relevant Croatian services and institutions responded promptly and made maximum effort to help the people involved in the accident, both those who were injured and those who were not," Plenković said. "The Croatian authorities did for the Kosovo citizens what they would do for Croatian citizens" and the rapid response prevented "the number of casualties from increasing."

An image of the Croatian flag, with an inscription saying "Thank you, Croatia", was projected on the Kosovo government building in Priština on Friday as a sign of gratitude to Croatia for helping the bus crash victims.

For latest news about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, 31 July, 2021 - Croatia has registered 218 new coronavirus cases and five COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours, the national coronavirus response team said on Saturday.

The number of active cases currently stands at 1,118. This includes 150 people who are receiving hospital treatment, 11 of whom are on ventilators. A total of 3,920 people are in self-isolation.

Since late February 2020, when the first case was confirmed in Croatia, 363,615 people have been registered as having contracted the novel virus, of whom 8,259 have died and 354,238 have recovered, including 183 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 2,299,700 people have been tested for coronavirus to date, including 6,881 in the last 24 hours.

By 30 July, 3,068,657 doses of vaccine against COVID-19 had been administered, with 40.5 percent of the total population and 48.7 percent of the adult population having been vaccinated. A total of 1,643,402 people have been vaccinated with at least one dose and 1,476,402 of them have been fully vaccinated, which makes up 43.81 percent of the adult population. 

For more on COVID-19, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

July 31, 2021 - Dubrovnik's impressive wooing of the important US market continues with a big feature on CNN's World of Wonder with Richard Quest. 

Of all the tourism promotional campaigns undertaken by Croatia over the last 12 months, few have been as targetted, or as successful as Dubrovnik's attempts to woo tourists in the United States. 

Traditionally among the best guests to the Pearl of the Adriatic, the pandemic interrupted their regular visits, but the city has been working hard to promote its beauty, heritage and culture over a period of time. 

Dubrovnik was aided by the fact that Croatia was the only EU country which was open to American tourists last summer, a message brought home to American audiences through a series of feature stories on ABC News last summer, including one on Good Morning America, which was watched by 12.5 million people. While many Americans may not have been ready or able to travel last summer, the message of a stunning Adriatic historic town openly welcoming Americans stuck home.  

A targeted 3-month campaign in Spring promoting Dubrovnik in 73 US airports reinforced the message, and it was not long before not one, but two major US airlines - Delta Air and Uniited - announced direct routes to Dubrovnik from New York for the summer season, with Delta increasing weekly rotations due to strong demand before the inaugural flight.

Popular CNN braodcaster Richard Quest arrived in June to spend some time in the city, including an interview with Dubrovnik  Mayor, Mato Frankovic, on the city's welcome to American tourists during the pandemic. 

That story went out in early June, but this week saw the release of an excellent extended feature on Quest's time in the city on the popular Quest's World of Wonder, getting to know it up close through the company of local tour guide Ivan Vukovic. The 24-minute show is available on the CNN website by clicking on the image above.

To learn more about the destination, check out the Total Croatia Dubrovnik in a Page guide.