Monday, 8th February, 2010
Austrian embassy to sponsor lace festival in Croatia
The Austrian embassy in Croatia will be the main sponsor of the Festival of Lace on northern Pag Island this June, it was revealed over the weekend.
The embassy reportedly became interested in the event since women from Pag prepared lace for the Vienna court for 500 years.
Lace from Pag is a very well-known cultural heritage of Croatia.
The festival will start on 10 June with the participation of lace masters not only from Croatia but also from Austria, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. (croatiantimes.com)

Monday, 8th February, 2010
Iva Majoli to invest in a hotel in Zagreb
Former Croatian tennis star and Roland Garros winner Iva Majoli is to invest in a hotel in Zagreb.
The daily Jutarnji List has revealed that Majoli has already completed all the paperwork for the building site in Zagreb's Cmrok area.
"Building could start before the end of the year", Majoli told the paper.
According to her, it will be a so called boutique-hotel. (croatiantimes.com)

Monday, 8th February, 2010
Sport fisherman protest against the proposed new maritime law
Split fishermen who are members of  three associations want to meet with Petar Cobankovic, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and rural development, and State Secretary Tonci Bozanic.
The fishermen from "BIOS," for protection and conservation of the Adriatic Sea, "Riblje oko" and the Union of Seafarers want to discuss the proposed new law on marine fisheries with them.
The fishermen claim the proposed law will not protect the Adriatic Sea or Croatian fishermen and will hurt sport fishing.
Sport fishermen consider the new proposal to be the most restrictive in Europe and want the Ministry to withdraw it and not send it to the Croatian Parliament.
If Ministry officials refuse to meet with them, the fishermen will engage in huge protests and sue Bozanic.
They have already held protests in Split, Dubrovnik, Rijeka, Sibenik and Zagreb. (croatiantimes.com)

Friday, 5th February, 2010
Austria biggest foreign investor in Croatia in first nine months of 2009
Austria was the biggest foreign investor in Croatia in the first nine months of 2009, when Austrian companies invested one billion Euros in the country.
"Austrian investments comprise 29 percent of all foreign investments in Croatia. I believe there will be no change this year in the level of Austrian investment," Austrian embassy official Roman Raucher commented to Croatian daily Glas Slavonije today (Fri).
"I know that some bigger Austrian companies have said they will not invest any more money in Croatia due to administrative difficulties and corruption", Raucher added.
The Netherlands was the second biggest foreign investor in Croatia in the first nine months of 2009 with 326 million Euros, followed by Luxembourg with 150 million Euros and Slovenia with 132 million Euros.
Foreign investment in Croatia has amounted to almost 20 billion Euros since 1993. (croatiantimes.com)

Friday, 5th February, 2010
Australian Pink Floyd performs in Split
Australian Pink Floyd Show, the Pink Floyd tribute band formed in 1988 in Adelaide, Australia, will perform at Split's Spaladium Arena today (Friday).
The Australian band performed at Zagreb’s "Vatroslav Lisinski" concert hall yesterday and will perform in Osijek tomorrow.
The daily Slobodna Dalmacija has reported that the band had no special wishes other than to have a mini-kitchen in their wardrobe.
The band is unique because they have had the only chance to play with the original Pink Floyd group.
They had never been to Croatia so they had promised to play the greatest hits from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.
Guitar player Steve Mac said: "We do not want anyone to go home disappointed. The audience can expect two-and-a-half hours of excellent Pink Floyd music with a specific light show. In short, it will be a persuasive replica of the original Pink Floyd." (croatiantimes.com)

Friday, 5th February, 2010
Ciro dismisses rumours he is leaving Shanghai
Former Croatian national team coach Miroslav Ciro Blazevic has dismissed media rumours he is leaving Chinese Shanghai Shenhua club.
Some Turkish media have reported Blazevic will be the new coach of Turkish football club Besiktas, but Ciro told the daily Novi list that was not true.
According to unofficial information, the Chinese Super League will delay matches for two weeks over alleged game-fixing, so some media have speculated Ciro will leave for Turkey.
But Ciro said he was training with his team to be ready for spring when league play begins.
He said: "I am coach of the Shanghai Shenhua club, and those stories about Besiktas are not true. It is not easy for me in China, but I keep going."
Ciro became coach of the Shanghai Shenhua club in December 2009. (croatiantimes.com)

Thursday, 4th February, 2010
Croat sues Lufthansa for illegal use of his brand
Croatian entrepreneur Rikard Frgacic is suing German air carrier Lufthansa for illegal use of his brand for the last 12 years.
Frgacic, a former owner of a travel agency, filed suit against Lufthansa at Zagreb Commercial Court this week.
The daily Slobodna Dalmacija has reported that Frgacic has sued "Lufthansa AirPlus Servicekarten GmbH" for using his brand illegally since 1998.
He claims he copyrighted the brand "Air Plus" in 1996.
Frgacic said Lufthansa had offered him 1,000 Euros’ compensation and said it would change the name, but he claimed he had refused the offer.
Although he is demanding 625,000 kunas or 85,461 Euros in compensation, Frgacic is quite sure the amount could wind up as high as 30 million Euros. (croatiantimes.com)

Thursday, 4th February, 2010
Croatia 11th in FIFA rankings
FIFA has ranked the Croatian national football team 11th in the world - down from 10th.
Egypt, which has 16 more points, has replaced Croatia in 10th place.
The Africa Cup of Nations has had a major impact on the first FIFA/Coca-Cola World ranking of the year, with Egypt climbing 14 places to 10th place after successfully defending their title at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
It is the first time that Croatia is out of the top ten since June 2008, when they were ranked 15th.
Spain is still in first place, with Brazil second and the Netherlands third.
Croatia's highest ranking, third place, occurred after the team finished in third place at the 1998 World Cup. (croatiantimes.com)

World market oil & gold

Monday, 8th. February, 2010
Oil Prices Fall Sharply as General Market Sells Off
Oil Market Summary for 02/01/2010 to 02/05/2010
After starting the week on a firmer note, oil prices fell sharply toward the end of the week in a general market sell-off as investors sought the dollar as a safe haven amid worries about European Union economies.
Debt problems that have plagued Greece are now spreading to Portugal and Spain, driving the euro down temporarily below $1.36 and bringing the dollar to an 8-month high. Because oil and other commodities are priced in dollars, gains in the U.S. currency usually translate into declines in oil prices (more).

Wednesday, 16th December 2009
Climate Leaders Honor Reporters at Internews Earth Journalism Awards
From Nearly 1,000 Reports Across the Globe, 15 Win Awards in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN (December 14, 2009) - Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri and Internews, the international media development organization, celebrated the best in climate change reporting at the Internews Earth Journalism Awards in Copenhagen. (more).

Tuesday, 15th December 2009
BICYCLE TOUR OF THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST 2010 (23000km)
Vyacheslav Stovanov, the person, who made a bicycle tour along the Black Sea coast this year (6000km for 45 days), is the first person who has done this. Now he will continue his mission "REcycle" – combination of recycling and cycling. (more).