December the 21st, 2022 - The City of Rijeka, known for its modern take when it comes to an array of issues, has put the welfare and health of pets and all other animals at the forefront by saying no to fireworks for this year's Rijeka NYE celebrations.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, The City of Rijeka is abandoning the classic form of celebration - New Year's fireworks, which until now were a regular part of the organised welcoming of a brand new year, reports local portal Novi list. This year, fireworks will not be part of the programme of the Rijeka NYE celebrations organised by the powers that be in that Northern Adriatic city.

As the City of Rijeka's administration has pointed out, this decision was made with the intention of protecting the health and welfare of pets and other animals, as well as the environment from the negative consequences of fireworks. There are also war veterans and other individuals who experience varying degrees of suffering because of fireworks, and all people for whom the use of pyrotechnics may have any consequences have been taken into consideration.

Rijeka's aim is for the New Year's celebration to be held in accordance with modern ecological and environmental standards, and part of the funds provided by the City of Rijeka which would have otherwise been allocated for the firework display will instead be redirected to associations across the region which care for animals.

This praiseworthy move for the Rijeka NYE celebrations will hopefully be an example to other cities and towns across the country which set off fireworks for this event, as well as for all forms of other celebrations, seeing dogs and cats sometimes terrified to the point of running away from home and getting injured or killed.

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January 1, 2022 - Across Croatia, the skies lit up with fireworks to bid farewell to 2021 and welcome in 2022. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to join in the celebrations, such as the Split firefighters, who received multiple reports and calls throughout the night.

On the last day of 2021 and the first hours of the new year, Split firefighters and their colleagues from the surrounding cities extinguished fires caused by pyrotechnics, reports Index.hr. Most fires were on garbage containers. Fortunately, no one was injured and there wasn't any greater material damage recorded.

Members of the Public Fire Brigade (JVP) of the city of Split had to put out a garbage fire in a metal container on Put Mostina at 19:19, while a plastic container was burning in Grabova Street at 23:12, so this required their intervention.

Ten minutes later they had to put out the grass fire in Domovinskog rata avenue, where about ten square meters burned, and only three minutes before the arrival of the new year they were called to Odeska Street, where a plastic box fire broke out on the balcony of an apartment. 

JVP also extinguished a garbage fire in a container in Velebitska street. Then, at 1:00, they had to put out a garbage fire in the stone bin in Marmontova, and 13 minutes later they extinguished the fire of a plastic container in Ljubićeva. Garbage was also burning in Burgenland at 1:37, as well as a waste container in Doverska Street at 3:33, and before 5:53 in the morning they had to go to the field in Ljubićeva again, where garbage was burning once more.

Their colleagues from the Voluntary Fire Brigade (DVD) Split also had work to do, and they intervened in the first hour of the year in Nazor's driveway under Marjan, where a garbage fire broke out on a playground.

There was also work for firefighters in Makarska, where a fire broke out in an abandoned building, an old oil mill, at around 5 pm on Friday. In Podstrana, a fire broke out at 11:28 pm near the Tisak kiosk, which was put out by members of the local JVP, then in Klis Varoš, where a garbage fire broke out in a metal container five minutes after midnight.

For more, check out our lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 17 Dec 2021 - It would be safer for everyone to attend outdoor New Year celebrations and for the faithful to follow Mass on TV, the head of the national COVID-19 response team, Minister of the Interior Davor Božinović, said on Friday, warning that the new, Omicron variant was much more infectious than the Delta variant.

"The Delta variant spreads much faster than the previous variants while Omicron spreads much faster than Delta. We have a mix of those two variants and we must bear that in mind," said Božinović.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to the coastal city of Zadar, he said that the number of new infections was growing in all four Dalmatian counties, calling on citizens to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

"We are entering the winter, people will tend to spend more time indoors and it is tremendously important that everyone takes care of themselves and not underestimate the situation," he said.

No relaxation of restrictions considering situation in Europe

Božinović noted that the latest epidemiological rules were introduced because of the situation in Europe and that there could be no relaxation of the rules.

"If the figures do not grow and if their mild decline is maintained, we will talk. It would be irresponsible of me to say anything else now because nobody knows what will happen in the next few days. It is a fact that we have a certain number of cases of infection with the Omicron variant and it is realistic to expect more rather than fewer cases. We should wait and see if the large figures in Europe result in more hospitalisations," he said.

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ZAGREB, 10 Dec 2021 - Asked about working hours for hotels and the hospitality sector on New Year's Eve, Interior Minister Davor Božinović said on Friday that the decision on closing at midnight was still in force, however, he did not entirely rule out the possibility of that decision being amended.

"Decisions that are in force refer to working hours until midnight. It's only the 10th of December today... the response team is considering all the possibilities and we won't wait until the eleventh hour but at the moment I would not like to say anything that might be interpreted as a decision or stance," Božinović said after a cabinet meeting.

"You know the rules of the game - if the current decline in the number of infections continues, I do not see any reason why, with some possible recommendations, something could not be allowed for that evening," he added.

Božinović added that one could not forecast how much the Omicron variant, which spreads quickly, would spread.

"A lot is still unknown. Everyone is following the situation in South Africa (...)  the experts there are analysing that variant and we all depend on those results, from governments to vaccine producers," he said.

For the latest news, follow TCN's dedicated page.

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