February 23, 2020 - LA Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac recorded a season-high 15 rebounds in the Clippers loss to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday. 

The Clippers lost to the Sacramento Kings 103:112 in Los Angeles. Ivica Zubac, the Croatian center in the Clippers jersey, recorded 8 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, and one block in 20 minutes on the court, setting a new record for rebounds recorded in a single game this season.  

Zubac was just two points shy of a double-double. However, he has only scored double-digits once in the last ten games for the Clippers. 

Hustle points.

Make that a season-high 15 rebounds for @ivicazubac. ?? pic.twitter.com/8DzsRHZozc

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 22, 2020

Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points, while Sacramento was led by Kent Bazemore with 23 points, and De'Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic with 20 points each.

Croatia’s best basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic had one of his weaker nights in the NBA, and the Utah Jazz lost to Houston 110:120.

Donovan Mitchell was the best for Utah with 31 points, while Bogdanovic scored 12 points in 36 minutes on the court with a poor shots in play ratio of 3/10, adding six rebounds. Houston was led by James Harden with 38 points and Russell Westbrook with 34 points.

After a long time, Zizic and Saric returned to the court.

The currently worst Eastern Conference team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, lost to Miami 105:124. The Cavs center Ante Zizic scored 7 points in 8:35 minutes on the court for the Cavs after a long time.

On Saturday night, the Heat retired the jersey of Dwyane Wade, a Miami player who has participated in All-Star meetings 13 times and won the championship title three times.

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Chicago Bulls 112:104. Dario Saric played just under five minutes for the Suns, recording one rebound and one assist. Recall, Dario Saric had not played a single game in February due to an ankle injury. Before his injury, Saric was averaging career-low points per game this season. 

Source: Index.hr

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ZAGREB, February 23, 2020 - Croatia's strongest opposition party, the Social Democrats (SDP), on Friday unveiled the main guidelines of their platform for the next parliamentary election, due in the autumn, saying that the party was seeking to secure order and stability.

Addressing party members and sympathisers in Koprivnica, 100 km northeast of Zagreb, SDP leader Davor Bernardić said that Croatia is currently ruled by corruption, there is a lack of trust in the institutions of the state, the ruling parties are unable to muster a majority in parliament, and the country is left without its chief state attorney.

"That's why the SDP seeks to secure order and stability through its programme. We will address judicial reform and the need to increase wages and pensions because a million people cannot live in dignity on the wages and pensions they currently receive. We want to provide subsidised rental housing for young people because we know that most of them are uncreditworthy and that's why we want to help them solve their housing problems so that they would stay in Croatia," Bernardić said.

He said that the SDP would need partners to win the election, adding that they would negotiate with two parties of pensioners, the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), the Civic Liberal Alliance (GLAS) of Anka Mrak-Taritaš, the Istrian Party (IDS) and all others with which they shared the same values.

Koprivnica mayor Mišel Jakšić, seen as one of the most successful SDP mayors in the country, said that he had just returned from Israel, "a country that has turned its desert territory into fertile land, while we can see our country, which is rich in natural resources, turning into a desert in many areas."

More SDP news can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, February 23, 2020 - A festival dedicated to the tradition of bell-ringing in the area of Rijeka is taking place in the municipality of Matulji on 21-25 February within the "Bells and Nothing Else!" programme, which is part of events celebrating Rijeka as the European Capital of Culture 2020.

"Bells and Nothing Else!" is a programme which brings together 22 local council committees of Matulji, a community northwest of Rijeka.

The traditional carnival processions in Matulji, as the local annual carnival bell ringers' pageant from the Kastav area, are part of UNESCO's list of intangible heritage.

During the January carnival period, bell ringers march through the villages that dot the Kastav region. Clothed in sheepskin throws with bells around their waists and sporting distinctive hats embellished with sprigs of evergreen, two to more than thirty ringers swagger in groups behind a guide carrying a small evergreen tree.

Groups may also include theatrical characters such as a prankster ‘bear’ who regularly escapes the control of his two 'guards', according to the description on UNESCO's website.

"With variations distinctive to each village, the annual carnival bell ringers’ pageant is a way to strengthen bonds within the community and a valuable means of renewing friendships among the towns in the region while integrating newcomers into its traditional culture."

During this year's marches, cooperation has been developed with the Academy of Performing Arts and the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre in Prague, the organisers of the "Bells and Nothing Else!" festival say.

More news about the European Capital of Culture can be found in the Lifestyle section.

February 23, 2020 - For the third year in a row, AndAdventure is organizing the humanitarian and educational campaign Maestralan Hike on March 14, 2020.

The Maestralan Hike is an admirable endeavor from the team at AndAdventure to give back to the community while creating an active atmosphere for everyone involved.

The idea of the Maestralan Hike is a humanitarian and educational campaign for the kids of the Maestral Children’s Home in Split. The team at AndAdventure has prepared a guided mountaineering trip to Mosor with workshops at the Ljuvač meadow (at the foot of the Umberto Girometta mountain hut) to give the kids of Maestral a chance to adventure in the mountains, play in nature, and learn new skills. By organizing this event, AndAdventure hopes the children of the home can be educated and find higher interests in the benefits of an active life outdoors.

Furthermore, the ultimate goal of the humanitarian action is to raise funds to provide children with the necessary equipment for sports and recreation, and to enable the education of young mountaineers at the HPD Mosor Children's Mountaineering School.

Schedule for March 14, 2020 

9:00 AM

Children and organizers meet in the parking lot of HEP (Poljička)

9:30 AM

Arrival in Sitno Gornje (ground parking at the beginning of the hiking trail)

9:45 AM

Start hiking to the mountain lodge

11:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Games workshops and entertainment in the meadow

3:00 PM

Return to Sitno Gornje

Maestralan hike is an event that gathers nature lovers and the children of the Maestral home in Split for a humanitarian hike. Through donations, the children and institutions are gifted with sports equipment. 

For any questions about how to get involved, how to get there and what to expect, call 0916047664 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. You can also track the Facebook event here.

Join AndAdventure for the day, or if you’d like to support the cause, you can donate money for sports equipment to HR9225030071100103296.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

February 23, 2020 - Mladost Zagreb, Jug Dubrovnik, and Jadran Split played in the 9th round of the LEN Champions League this week.

Mladost Zagreb lost to current European champion Ferencvaros 6-9 (0-2, 1-2, 3-3, 2-2) in the LEN Champions League 9th round game in Group B, played at the Sava Pool on Thursday.

Lovre Milos and Konstantin Kharkov scored two goals for Mladost, while Marton Vamos and Nicolas Constantin-Bicari scored two each for Ferencvaros.

Mladost missed the opportunity to increase the score in the first two quarters when they scored just one goal. On the other hand, the Budapest club scored the first two goals of the game at the very end of the first quarter and took control of the match.

Thanks to goals by Kharkov and Milos at the very beginning of the third quarter, Mladost was down by one (3-4), but Ferencvaros responded via Constantin-Bicari and Varga and returned to a three-goal advantage.

In the final quarter, after Bukic's goal for 5-7, there was a confrontation between Biljaka and Jansik. After long deliberation, the referees decided to punish Mladost with a player less for four minutes. The game thus ended 6-9.

With the away win against Szolnok 16:12 (4:4, 5:3, 5:3, 2:2), Jug Dubrovnik returned to second place in Group A. Recall, Jug was behind the leading Barceloneta, who beat Olympiakos away 15-9.

Jug dominated from the beginning of the match and started with a 3-0 lead. Szolnok was in trouble early. Still, by the end of the first quarter, Szolnok recovered and equalized at 4-4.

Jug did not allow the Hungarian club to get ahead at any point in the game - and was up 8-5 with a 3-0 series. From that point on, Jug had an easy finish for the 16-12 result.

Toni Popadic made 13 saves for Jug, while Loren Fatovic and Hrvoje Benic scored four goals each. Daniel Angyal, Gavril Subotic, David Jansik, and Radomir Drasovic scored two goals each for Szolnok.

With this victory, Jug directly helped Jadran Herceg Novi, who is now fourth place in Group A. That win came against Jadran Split (14-11).

Namely, Jadran Herceg Novi achieved a crucial victory against Jadran Split. With a 14-11 score, they continue the fight for the final eight.

Jadran Split held their own until the final quarter, in what was otherwise a fair fight. The Montenegrin club eventually celebrated in the end.

Petar Tesanovic led Jadran Herceg Novi with 15 saves, while Uros Vucurovic scored five goals and Konstantin Averka scored three. For Jadran Split, Andelo Setka scored three goals, while van Domagoj Zovic, Duje Pejkovic and Ante Viskovic scored two.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

February 23, 2020 - There is only one place to eat when the university holidays come - nothing quite beats the home cooking of Grandma's kitchen.

When you are a student, you often get sick of fast food and horrible meals from student cafeterias. Then the vacation comes and you visit your mother or grandmother, who makes the best food in the world. And if you are lucky enough, they will prepare the food for you and you will take it with you.

Top of the list of meals that my grandmother makes is Pamidore i jaja (Tomato sauce with eggs). When I ask people if they have ever eaten this meal, I usually get a negative answer. Nobody makes it except my grandmother and local people from the village called Miljevci, a village close to Šibenik. The meal is great during the summer because you have all the seasonal ingredients. For this meal you have to prepare the tomato sauce. You can also add some herbs, oregano or basil if you want to. When you finish your sauce, you then whisk eggs and cook them in that same sauce. The more eggs you put, the better the meal. There is no precise recipe of how much ingredients are used, you just go with your instinct. A great combination with this meal is bread, and it is best if the bread iss homemade as well. It is great for eating during the summer because it is easy to make.

Bread

There are two types of bread and they are prisnica and regular bread. They are both made „ispod pede" (under peka). For the regular bread, you need flour, yeast, salt and water. The amount of flour is how much do you want for your bread to be big. But approximately it is one kilogram of flour. The steps to do the dough is to put flour and salt together and then add yeast and water. When you get dough, you put it to rest for one hour on the warm place. After an hour you mix it again and then put it to rest for half an hour. When that time passes, you roll the dough or make the shape that you want. But the circle shape is the best. You put the dough on the racket (lopar), which you previously dusted with flour. You can poke the bread to make it look nicer.

Making prisnica is the same, but even easier. The same ingredients go to the bread, but without yeast. When prisnica is finished, it is good to eat it warm. And you can also put olive oil on the bread. Sadly many people don't do the bread this way. It is delicious and much healthier, but it takes a lot of time to make it. When you find yourself in a position to try homemade bread, don't hesitate.

Fritule (fritters)

There are a lot of recipes on how to make fritters. But there are two ways, even if you are a vegetarian. The first recipe is with eggs. You put in the bowl two yoghurts of 180 millilitres. In the same bowl, you add three eggs, pronounced lemon peel, two spoons of sugar and one vanilla sugar. Also, add some salt and 10 millilitres of rum or rakija (brandy, schnapps). Later put 358 grams of flour and half the package of baking powder. Mix all the ingredients and let them stay for at least 15 minutes, so in that way, the mixture is well united.

Heat the oil, but it must not be too hot, because the fritters will get brown and they will not taste good. When you are testing the heat of the oil put the wooden spoon in the pot and if there are a lot of the bubbles around the spoon, remove the pot from the stove and wait for the oil to cool down. Use a spoon to put fritters in the pot and cook them for like 3 or four minutes. After you are done, put them on the plate on which you have previously put a napkin to soak the oil. Sprinkle them with sugar powder or put chocolate on them, either way, is great. If you wish you can put some dry fruit in the mixture, like raisins. But before you put them in the mixture, soak them in rakija, for a couple of minutes for a better aroma.

You can also make fritters without the eggs. It is the same, but to replace the eggs it is good to put more yoghurt and flour. But for the mixture not to be too much starchy, it is better to maybe ad an apple or two. Many people are eating the fritters on this way on Christmas Eve or two days before Easter.

Uživaci

This meal is like pancakes, but a bit different. When you are preparing the mixture, you make the same as for French pancakes. Only this pancake is higher and it takes longer to cook. In the mixture you put two eggs, salt and a little sugar, milk or water, flour and a little bit of sparkling water and vanilla sugar. It is the same mixture as for pancakes, but it has to be thicker, so you have to add more flour. When you finish, you can sprinkle it with sugar or put Nutella or jam. This is a great breakfast or dinner, what you prefer more.

Anything under peka

The meals under peka have a special taste. It is rich with a natural aroma from the ingredients. You can eat veel, lamb, chicken, turkey and other meals. The real side dish with meat are potatoes, which you bake with meat. Except for the potatoes, you can put carrots, onions and pepper. If you are more of a seafood person, you can also eat octopus with potatoes or squid too. For those who are more into modern food, I would suggest a pizza under peka. Grilled meat is also one of the best meals to prepare. Whether it would be meat, fish, burgers, sausages, or vegetables.

Makes you hungry, while reading it. But if you ever find yourself in the opportunity to make those meals or eat them in the restaurants while you are travelling, I suggest you go for it. Because it is a traditional cuisine and it would be a shame to miss it.

February 22, 2020 - Croatian chefs again showed great quality and successfully promoted Croatia at the Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart. 

Great news arrives from the recently held Culinary Olympics, where the Croatian culinary team was presented for the fourth time, reports HRTurizam.

The Culinary Olympics is the largest and most prestigious culinary competition in the world, where over thirty Croatian chefs and confectioners in different competitive categories competed this year.

Croatian representatives once again shone among the crowd of competitors, which included more than 2,500 from over seventy countries around the world. Croatia proudly returns home with two team and six individual bronze medals, and four individual silver medals, and their work was followed by over 100,000 visitors who, in addition to culinary competitions, had the opportunity to visit the related gastro fair, which took place in parallel in 10 pavilions.

Croatia participated in two of the most prestigious categories of the competition: "Restaurant of the Nations,” where they won a bronze medal by preparing a 3-course menu in 6 hours for 110 people and "Chefs table" where they prepared 7-course meals for 12 people in 5 hours.

Ivan Djukic won the silver medal in the individual category "Culinary Arts - Classical Thai style carving", while Dražen Šafar won the diploma in the same category. Ivan Djukic also won the bronze medal in the category "Culinary Arts - Carving Live".

The current state champion in confectionery, Sandra Jadek, was brilliant in the individual confectionery category and brought home a silver medal. The Varazdin County Regional Team presented their knowledge and skills in a cold table set consisting of finger food, cold plates, three entrees, a 5-course festive menu, four different desserts, and petit fours and won a bronze medal.

Dinko Tomašić, the young hope of Croatian cuisine, won the silver medal in the individual culinary category. In the same category, Lovro Stancin, the youngest Croatian representative, Antonio Bukvić and Tomislav Sabolić, won the bronze. Antonio and Tomislav were also awarded the bronze in the culinary artist category, where Erich Glavica won the silver. The Chef.hr team was presented in the catering category and received a diploma for its performance.

Over the past year, Croatian contestants have worked tirelessly to present Croatian gastronomy on this large culinary stage.

They made a special effort to emphasize indigenous Croatian foods and successfully promoted Croatia as a gastronomic destination in the country's main tourist market and sent the best invitation to potential tourists.

“The Culinary Olympics, just like the one in sports, is held every four years and requires great renunciation, long and arduous preparation, and each member has given its best to present themselves and Croatia in the best possible light. It was not easy, but it was worth it, because Croatian chefs and pastry chefs brought home new knowledge and skills and a wealth of unforgettable memories in addition to winning medals. They have connected with the best chefs in the world and are motivated to continue working in the profession. They will also apply the newly acquired knowledge in their facilities and pass on to colleagues through various workshops of the Croatian Culinary Academy, thus raising the quality of the catering offer and facilities in Croatia,” the Croatian Chefs Association said.

Norway was named the best and is the new Olympic winner in the National Teams category, while Sweden had the best junior team.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 22nd of February, 2020, all employees of the Croatian company Kanaan who take out a housing loan at a commercial bank this year will receive a five percent non-refundable subsidy from the company on the amount of the loan raised, there are also awards for best employees, scholarships for their children, and more.

Kanaan, a leading producer of chips in Croatia, whose factory is located in Donji Miholjac very near the border with Hungary, bought 32 laptops back in early February 2020. What makes this praseworthy is the fact that those laptops Kanaan purchased are intended for the children of the company's employees, who are students of primary and secondary schools. The workers got the laptops as a gift from the company, for free. This, however, is only the beginning of the story, according to a report from Telegram.

All Kanaan employees whose children attend universities in Croatia are entitled to 1,500 kuna a month, no matter what they study. If they successfully complete their studies, they don't have to return the scholarship money. Those who have enrolled in a mechanical or electrical engineering college with the intention of finding a job at Kanaan after graduation will receive 3,500 kuna per month.

Kanaan offers its employees the opportunity to continue their education or further training. In the amount of 20,000 kuna a year, the company will pay them the cost of enrollment, tuition and other expenses related to continuing education.

If an employee takes out a housing loan of, for example, 50,000 euros, the company will pay him 2,500 euros.

If a Kanaan worker needs to take out an emergency loan, he can count on his company for up to 15,000 kuna at a four percent interest rate, which is a legal obligation when it comes to borrowing. In the last two years, about thirty Kanaan workers have used this opportunity on various occasions.

Zvonko Popovic, the 100 percent owner of Kanaan, a company that employs 130 people with an average salary of about six thousand kuna a month, finally agreed to talk to Telegram about the benefits he provides to his workers, which for many Croatian employees seem like utopian fairy tales about the perfect company and the dream employer.

Popovic says that he didn't do everything that his workers get to enjoy today in order to brag about it in the media, which is why he was so hesitant to discuss it publicly at all, but because he believes that, given the contribution they have made to the development and successful business of the company, they completely deserve such treatment.

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