Students of the School of Electrical Engineering and Economics from Nova Gradiška showed innovation in video making successfully combining financial literacy and creative expression Their video excelled at Hanfa's educational video contest this year dedicated to the topic "Financial Literacy: The Key to a Safe Future.” Hanfa has been organizing this contest for five years as part of the marking of the Global and European Money Week Through an interactive and innovative approach Hanfa aims to encourage not only the awareness of financial literacy and broadening of students' financial knowledge A total of 42 high school students from different parts of Croatia participated in the contest Hanfa’s expert committee evaluated their creativity clarity of presentation and the ability to convey key financial concepts in a comprehensible manner “Our contests are organised with the aim of increasing students’ financial literacy Research conducted by Hanfa on high school students’ financial literacy has shown a low level of their financial knowledge We are satisfied to see a large response to another video contest we have organised Hanfa is proud to encourage creativity and knowledge among high school students as financial literacy is actually key to a safer future We would like to thank to high school students and their teachers for their hard work and dedication This cooperation shows that there is a lot we can achieve together," said Anamarija Staničić students of the School of Electrical Engineering and Economics from Nova Gradiška answered the key questions relating to financial literacy in a clear and interesting manner basic components and how the proper management of personal finances affects everyday life They also provided concrete steps to improve financial literacy explaining how financial knowledge helps to make responsible decisions for the future The work undertaken by students from Nova Gradiška shows that young people are very much aware of the importance of financial education and that their innovative approach can contribute to the dissemination of knowledge on this important topic Their success in Hanfa's contest proves again that financially responsible and educated young people are the key to a safe and stable future The headteacher of the winning school Sanja Müller-Zoričić also commented on the contest and the success of her students: "This award is a strong incentive for our students to work even harder and an acknowledgement of the hard work and effort that students and their mentor have put in." pointed out: “By participating in these and similar projects our students are extending boundaries in understanding financial literacy.” added: “This has been an exciting experience providing the opportunity for all of us to learn a lot The most important lesson we would like to pass on is that we should always invest in ourselves set our goals and move towards them with understanding and responsibility because money is not only a means of payment but also a tool for building a good The award-winning video also won a valuable prize: an interactive display The awards were also presented to the second-placed School of Economics and Office Technology Bjelovar and the third-placed School of Economics and Administration Osijek Hanfa will continue to encourage students to use this kind of creative expression in order to promote financial literacy The large response and positive feedback received from schools confirm the importance of this approach to learning The award-winning video is available here: Your privacy and personal information are important to us.We use cookies and / or device identifiers for purposes such as traffic measurement or for analytical and statistical purposes. Read more about our Privacy Policy here. You can delete cookie settings. Read more in the Cookie Policy.You can change your choices at any time by returning to this website. We need the necessary cookies in order for the site to function properly and in order to maintain security standards as much as possible by complying with all applicable regulations. This category of cookies can also be called so-called. third-party cookies. Statistical cookies also belong to the group of functional cookies that allow us to store previously entered information (such as username or language) on the web service and to improve the possibility of providing a better service by tracking analytics or visit statistics. We must inform you that when using this category of cookies, data is transferred to third countries. An EU-funded project has strengthened flood defences on the left bank of the River Sava, in Croatia. The section covered by the project runs between the point at which Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia meet, near Račinovci, and Nova Gradiška. Work has been carried out on 172.5 km of the 236.7 km-long section, which forms part of the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Analyses of flood defences show that the modernisation of embankments is necessary on many sections from the Serbian border to Nova Gradiška and in the event of a recurrence of the floods of May 2014, there is a real danger of embankments being penetrated.” Analysis showed that 41 % of the embankment on the section was unstable, while the network of service roads covering 76 % of the section was inadequate for the performance of flood defence actions. Measures to reinforce the embankments include the construction of berms and drains, which will provide a uniform level of protection against the breakdown of the foundation soil and subsequent flooding. New service roads have been built to ensure fast, direct access to the embankments for flood defence work, monitoring and maintenance. From Račinovci to Nova Gradiška, the left bank of the Sava is protected by a line of embankments that is broken only at the mouths of other watercourses. In May 2014, some of the worst flooding ever to occur in the Sava basin affected the counties of Brod-Posavina and Vukovar-Srijem. On 18 May 2014 a level of 939 cm was recorded at a water meter in Slavonski Brod, a record in 100 years of measurement on the Sava. Slavonski Brod was saved thanks to the enormous flood defence efforts of more than 3 000 people. The flooding was caused by the subsidence and penetration by water of the embankments at two locations near Rajevo Selo and Račinovci. About 250 km² of land was flooded. Two people died and material damage estimated at some EUR 240 million was caused. Work to rebuild the embankments, including through the insertion of prefabricated concrete elements, started in July 2014. Actions under the current project are ‘no-regret’ actions, meaning that they are cost-effective under current and future scenarios and involve no trade-offs with other objectives. By safeguarding the embankments with materials such as earth, sand, stone and geotextiles, and facilitating transport of personnel and resources during flood defence interventions, the measures will increase protection for an area of over 2 200 km². Annually, it is expected that this will prevent around EUR 11 million in damage. Moreover, thanks to the work, fewer people will be needed to maintain the embankments. Total investment for the project “Modernisation of the embankments on the left bank of the Sava from Račinovci to Nova Gradiška” is EUR 48 066 723, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 40 856 714 through the “Competitiveness and Cohesion” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Climate change and risk management”. Ministarstvo regionalnoga razvoja i fondova Europske unije News, Analysis & Insights on Nutrition, Supplements, and Health 12-Apr-2022 Last updated on 11-Apr-2022 at 09:49 GMT Owned by private equity firm Waterland, EMPWR is a co-manufacturer of protein bars with headquarters in Ghent, Belgium and a manufacturing facility in Nova Gradiska, Croatia. Its product range takes in both vegan and dairy protein bars, from bars containing a lower (20%) protein content for lifestyle consumers to 50% protein bars for serious athletes. EMPWR said it first made overtures to acquire Noble Foods last autumn, when it started looking at establishing local manufacturing in North America to support its growth trajectory in this market. A nutritional bar manufacturer with manufacturing sites in Montreal, Canada, and McMinnville (Oregon), USA, Noble Foods was an obvious target. Like EMPWR, Noble Foods is a private label manufacturer but with complementary rather than competing product capabilities. Its expertise lies in producing customised recipes using its coating, layering and depositing capabilities. This can be applied to produce a variety of bars, including granola bars, crisp bars from soy, whey, pea, rice and ancient grain crisps, nut and dried fruit bars, and specialist health bars such as low carb, high protein, vitamin fortified and diet bars. Since it was founded in Montreal in 1999, Noble Foods has grown into a mid-sized manufacturer and was bought in 2018 by Novacap Private Equity, who invested in automation and expansion of capacity. Then in 2020, Noble Foods acquired Betty Lou, an Oregon based co-manufacturer. In a joint press release, EMPWR and Noble Foods said that together, they would be able to offer their existing customers “new products and capabilities”, thereby strengthening their position as “leader in the premium nutritional bar segment”. “The broader product portfolio and capabilities will support our customers in their journey to bring products to consumers looking for alternatives to high sugar confectionery: the so called ‘better for you products’,” said Peter Denolf, CEO of EMPWR Nutrition Group, adding: “The acquisition brings us a step closer to realising our ambition to be the market leader in this segment.” Lee Shulkin, co-founder and president of Noble Foods, said: “The nutritional bar market is growing fast. In North America it’s a $5b billion industry with a positive future growth outlook as more and more consumers consciously choose a convenient and healthier lifestyle. "Together, our companies will become an even stronger manufacturing partner with a broad product portfolio and excellent growth opportunities on both continents.” The combined EMPWR and Noble Foods Group will employ over 450 people. Cranberry’s A-type PACs effective in supporting urinary tract health, studies showPaid for and content provided by Ethical Naturals Inc. (ENI) ENI’s Polyphenol-C offers additional core health benefits, studies notePaid for and content provided by Ethical Naturals Inc. (ENI) Yeast beta-glucans: Redefining immune supportPaid for and content provided by Ohly Metrics details Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a pulse crop of high nutritional value and high importance for sustainable agriculture and soil protection With the objective of identifying gene-based SNPs transcriptome sequencing was performed in order to reduce faba bean genome complexity A set of 1,819 gene-based SNP markers polymorphic in three recombinant line populations was selected to enable the construction of a high-density consensus genetic map encompassing 1,728 markers well distributed in six linkage groups and spanning 1,547.71 cM with an average inter-marker distance of 0.89 cM Orthology-based comparison of the faba bean consensus map with legume genome assemblies highlighted synteny patterns that partly reflected the phylogenetic relationships among species Solid blocks of macrosynteny were observed between faba bean and the most closely-related sequenced legume species such as pea Numerous blocks could also be identified in more divergent species such as common bean or cowpea The genetic tools developed in this work can be used in association mapping linkage disequilibrium or comparative genomics and provide a backbone for map-based cloning This will make the identification of candidate genes of interest more efficient and will accelerate marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic-assisted breeding (GAB) in faba bean one of its most closely related crop species A high conservation of genomic blocks between V faba and these legume species was reported we chose to exploit next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and transcriptome sequencing to specifically address the expressed gene fraction (exome) for the discovery of gene-based SNPs The objective of our work was to develop high-resolution genetic linkage maps in three interconnected faba bean recombinant line populations and build a high-density consensus map Our work also took advantage of macrosynteny among legume relatives to locate faba bean genomic regions conserved in different sequenced species A comparative alignment and mapping between the faba bean consensus map developed herein and the genomes of barrel medic birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus japonicus L.; Lj) pea (Pisum sativum L.; Ps) and soybean has been performed The identification of highly syntenic and collinear areas between faba bean and already sequenced species will facilitate candidate gene discovery SNP markers developed in genes resulting from the present work will be very useful in MAS and in map-based isolation of candidate genes All segregating recombinant populations used for mapping were made of F3 plants produced by single seed descent (SSD) of F2 plants Pop2 147 F3 plants derived from two F1s and Pop3 96 F3 plants Samples were collected from the leaves of an F3 plant for each recombinant line Tissues were flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C until DNA extraction for genotyping the parental lines were grown in a growth chamber (photoperiod of 16 h light/day Samples of whole plant per parental line were collected Tissues were flash-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C until RNA extraction DNA samples were extracted from leaf tissues of the parents and the individuals of the three populations using the NucleoSpin Plant II Mini kit (https://www.mn-net.com/ France) following the manufacturer’s protocol DNAs were normalized before being fragmented with Adaptive Focused Acoustics Technology (Covaris Inc. A 250 bp target size value was obtained by using a Covaris E220 system according to the manufacture’s instructions Then DNA fragments underwent a NGS library preparation procedure consisting in end repair and Illumina adaptor ligation using the KAPA HTP kit (Roche Individual index sequences were added to each library for identifying reads and sorting them according to their initial origin Two thousand SNPs were targeted to design capture probes The Sequence Capture was done by using SeqCap EZ Developer kit from Roche according to the manufacture’s instructions The sequence capture reaction efficiency was evaluated by measuring a relative fold enrichment and loss of respectively targeted and non-targeted regions before and after the sequence capture reaction The captured samples were sequenced on HiSeq sequencing platform (Illumina USA) with a Paired End sequencing strategy of 2 reads of 100 bases The objective was to produce around 3 Million sequencing clusters per sample and to produce a genotyping matrix for all 2000 selected markers we produce a consensus map that summarizes the recombination information within the three populations Our method is quite general and in particular it does not assume collinearity of the individual maps Its key feature is the minimization of an index ID which measures the differences between the (unknown) consensus map M* and all of the individual maps M1 We forced our consensus map to include all the markers present in the individual maps M* is to be specified by assigning a genetic position for each marker and of course that will also define the marker ordering in M* the genetic position of the first marker of M* can be considered as the origin of genetic coordinates The task is then to estimate the genetic positions of the rest of the markers In our framework based on the minimization of the index ID we first define a “distance” between two maps via the formula: where i labels the markers that are common in the two maps and j(i) labels the markers that are not only in common in the two maps but also meet a criterion for their distance to marker i that corresponding interval does not provide much information so it is better to exclude it from the sum there are many of these markers and thus it is also computationally efficient to exclude them the corresponding distance is often not very well determined and so again it is better to exclude it our criterion imposes both a minimum and maximum distance between j(i) and i to avoid having many j(i) markers for some i and only a few for others we keep only a subset of the possible markers j(i) for a given i all the is are treated on an equal footing and have the same importance in D(M Given this definition for the distance D(M we numerically search for the positions of the markers in M* to minimize the index where n runs through all the individual maps from which the consensus is being built If the maps have been determined using very different population sizes we weight each term of this sum by the corresponding population size if a map has a much smaller population than the other maps it will have little influence on the construction of M* which is justified since its marker positions are not very accurate if a map has a much larger population than the other maps it will have a strong influence on the construction of M* which is again justified since its marker positions are rather precisely determined Faba bean individual genetic linkage maps constructed from three populations of (A) 102 F3 recombinant lines derived from the cross between Vicia faba cv. Nova Gradiska and Hiverna; (B) 147 F3 derived from the cross between cv. Silian and Hiverna and (C) 96 F3 derived from the cross between cv. Quasar and Hiverna. Venn diagram showing the SNP markers shared between the individual genetic maps of the three populations presented in this study. Order comparison of the marker assignments by linkage group between the individual linkage maps of the threee recombinant populations presented in this study There was a significant distortion of segregation (χ2 test P < 0.05) with respect to the expected Mendelian segregation ratio (37.5:25:37.5) for a minority of markers in the three populations (5.57% in Pop1 Only a few markers exceeded the index distortion threshold of 0.8 used for mapping (see Materials and Methods section) Distribution of the segregation distortion (χ2 test P = 0,05) of the SNPs used to contruct the three faba bean individual maps in the recombinant populations studied throughout the six linkage groups Red dashed line indicates the threshold above which segregation distorsion is significant Faba bean consensus genetic linkage map generated after the integration of three individual maps originated from three populations consisting of (A) 102 F3 recombinant lines derived from the cross between Vicia faba cv. Nova Gradiska and Hiverna; (B) 147 F3 derived from the cross between cv. Silian and Hiverna and (C) 96 F3 derived from the cross between cv. Quasar and Hiverna. Comparison of the marker assignments by position between the individual maps of the three populations and the consensus map which is another evidence of the reliability of the data presented here Dot-plots for synteny and collinearity comparisons between the faba bean consensus map (cM) and the genomes (bp) of (A) Pisum sativum; (B) Medicago truncatula; (C) Cicer arietinum; (D) Vigna unguiculata (E) Phaseolus vulgaris; (F) Glycine max and (G) Lotus japonicas The high quality of this set of markers was confirmed after the construction of three individual genetic maps derived from three different populations this work provides to faba bean researchers and breeders a new faba bean exome assembly originated from transcriptome data of four accessions (HIVERNA a set of 105,828 gene-based SNPs and 1,819 mapped SNP markers on three individual linkage maps and one consensus map The high quality of the assembly resulted in the identification of a large number of SNPs of the most informative type due to their location in genes The molecular markers designed from this set of SNPs were validated in three recombinant populations resulting in the densest faba bean consensus map to date The SNP markers designed here are available for genotyping other inbred populations that could be integrated later into our consensus map These robust resources will be useful for trait mapping genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium studies or map-based cloning and will enable faba bean MAS and GAB as well as the identification of candidate genes of agronomic interest through synteny-based approaches Multiple benefits of legumes for agriculture sustainability: an overview Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture 4 (2017) Advances in Faba Bean Genetics and Genomics Participatory varietal selection of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) for yield and yield components in Dabat district Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAOSTAT. Available at, http://www.fao.org/faostat (2017) Genetics of resistance to 3 isolates of Ascochyta fabae on Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in controlled conditions Estimating variability in grain legume yields across Europe and the Americas Development of faba bean productivity and production in the Nile Valley Interactive effect of floral abundance and semi-natural habitats on pollinators in field beans (Vicia faba) Nitrogen contributions from faba bean (Vicia faba L.) reliant on soil rhizobia or inoculation Enhancing faba bean (Vicia faba L.) genome resources Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Legume Vicia faba Development of a genetic composite map of Vicia faba using F 2 populations derived from trisomic plants Mapping of quantitative trait loci controlling broomrape (Orobanche crenata Forsk.) resistance in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) Isolate and organ-specific QTLs for ascochyta blight resistance in faba bean (Vicia faba L) Cross-species amplification of Medicago truncatula microsatellites across three major pulse crops Construction of a comparative genetic map in faba bean (Vicia faba L.); conservation of genome structure with Lens culinaris Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in faba bean: new loci from Orobanche -resistant cultivar ‘Giza 402’ Confirmation of QTLs controlling Ascochyta fabae resistance in different generations of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) A reference consensus genetic map for molecular markers and economically important traits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) SNP discovery and high-density genetic mapping in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) permits identification of QTLs for ascochyta blight resistance A SNP-based consensus genetic map for synteny-based trait targeting in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) SNP discovery via 454 transcriptome sequencing Development and characterization of 21 EST-derived microsatellite markers in Vicia faba (fava bean) Saturation of an Intra-Gene Pool Linkage Map: Towards a Unified Consensus Linkage Map for Fine Mapping and Synteny Analysis in Common Bean Transcriptome sequencing of field pea and faba bean for discovery and validation of SSR genetic markers Single-nucleotide polymorphism discovery and diversity in the model legume Medicago truncatula Ancient orphan crop joins modern era: Gene-based SNP discovery and mapping in lentil Transcriptome sequencing for high throughput SNP development and genetic mapping in Pea Application of genotyping by sequencing technology to a variety of crop breeding programs Genome-wide genetic marker discovery and genotyping using next-generation sequencing An integrated semiconductor device enabling non-optical genome sequencing Development of two major resources for pea genomics: The GenoPea 13.2K SNP Array and a high-density Opinion: The evolution of molecular markers — just a matter of fashion Array-based high-throughput DNA markers for crop improvement Identification of Novel Sources of Resistance to Seed Weevils (Bruchus spp.) in a Faba Bean Germplasm Collection The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools De novo transcript sequence reconstruction from RNA-seq using the Trinity platform for reference generation and analysis BUSCO Applications from Quality Assessments to Gene Prediction and Phylogenomics Fast Genome-Wide Functional Annotation through Orthology Assignment by eggNOG-Mapper functionally and phylogenetically annotated orthology resource based on 5090 organisms and 2502 viruses association mapping and population genetical parameter estimation from sequencing data Cutadapt removes adapter sequences from high-throughput sequencing reads a New Tool for QTL Analysis on Modern Datasets in PAG XXV - Plant and Animal Genome Conference (2017) A Large Maize (Zea mays L.) SNP Genotyping Array: Development and Germplasm Genotyping and Genetic Mapping to Compare with the B73 Reference Genome and the calculation of distances between the loci of linked factors Genetic dissection of drought tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) A reference genome for pea provides insight into legume genome evolution Whole-genome landscape of Medicago truncatula symbiotic genes Genome sequence of the palaeopolyploid soybean A reference genome for common bean and genome-wide analysis of dual domestications The genome of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) Introduction: Legumes in Sustainable Agriculture Pulses for Sustainability: Breaking Agriculture and Food Sectors Out of Lock-In Transcriptome profiling of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) drought-tolerant variety hassawi-2 under drought stress using RNA sequencing Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of faba bean in response to vernalization Estimating genome conservation between crop and model legume species as an aid to the candidate gene selection and for investigating synteny with the model legume Medicago truncatula Flow karyotyping and sorting of Vicia faba chromosomes High-resolution flow karyotyping and chromosome sorting in Vicia faba lines with standard and reconstructed karyotypes Comparative genomics to bridge Vicia faba with model and closely-related legume species: Stability of QTLs for flowering and yield-related traits Use of synteny to identify candidate genes underlying QTL controlling stomatal traits in faba bean (Vicia faba L.) Download references Authors thank the field and laboratory staff for technical assistance especially Philippe Declerck and Dominique Notteau (RAGT Semences) Gilles Furet and Corie Dekker (Limagrain) and Matthieu Floriot (Agri Obtentions) for their participation in the production of the recombinant populations authors are grateful to Nathalie Rivière (Biogemma) for useful advice in the choice of the genotyping technology This work was supported by the Project Investissements d’Avenir PeaMUST under the grant number ANR-11-BTBR-0002 GQE - Le Moulon benefited from the support of Saclay Plant Sciences-SPS (ANR-17-EUR-0007) Estefania Carrillo-Perdomo analysed the data built the genetic maps and wrote the manuscript; Adrien Vidal developed the mapping codes built the maps and critically reviewed the manuscript; Jonathan Kreplak filtered the contig sequences of the SNPs and contributed to transcriptome and synteny analyses; Hervé Duborjal Jean Philippe Pichon and Catherine Desmetz conducted experiments; Chrystel Deulvot Blandine Raffiot and Pascal Marget developed the recombinant populations; Nadim Tayeh contributed to map comparisons and synteny analyses and critically reviewed the manuscript; Matthieu Falque and Olivier C followed the developments and critically reviewed the manuscript; Judith Burstin conceived the experiments and critically reviewed the manuscript; Grégoire Aubert conceived and supervised the experiments All authors read and approved the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63664-7 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology Lauren Simmonds 2023 – A brand new Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre worth a massive 9.3 euros has now opened its doors As Poslovni Dnevnik writes the Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre covers 3,074 square metres of multi-functional content It has five of its own laboratories; for 3D technology Next to the new Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre itself a photovoltaic power plant with a power of 30 KW has also been installed At the opening of the Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre stated the following: “Since back in 2016 we’ve dreamed big and we’re now witnessing our dreams coming true The opening of this new Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre isn’t only a milestone for our organisation but also a symbol of our commitment to progress technological equipment and an expert team CEKOM NING is more than a building – it’s an incubator of ideas I’d very much like to thank everyone who has supported this project – employees the community and everyone who believes in the power of innovation we’re continuing our journey towards discoveries that will shape the future of our society emphasising: “When we received the citizens’ mandate to manage the city our first thought and task was to stop the exodus of young people from Nova Gradiška heading off elsewhere The only way this can be done is to create more jobs CEKOM and the Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre are the crown of our work and efforts over the past seven years people are returning home to Nova Gradiška and are entering a work environment that is technologically ahead of many environments in which they’d previously worked I’m very happy and proud of everything that has been done and what we’re continuing to do in the direction of research special adviser to President Zoran Milanović for the economy said the following: “Projects like this are the only way we can remain and survive in the conditions of the progressive development of technologies and it’s time to start using competitive advantages and not rely on comparative advantages that burden the Croatian economy projects like these will have the full support of President Zoran Milanović I’d like to sincerely congratulate everyone who has contributed to the realisation of such a successful project and thank them because they raised the competitiveness of this part of Croatia one step higher Sandra Petrović Đanić presented the content and business opportunities offered by the new Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre in a very creative presentation and then a tour of the facility was arranged The value of the Nova Gradiška tech-innovation centre stands at almost 9,280,000 euros and the value of the entire CEKOM NING project amounts to 15,820,000 euros The CEKOM NING project was co-financed from the European Fund for Regional Development within the scope of Support for the development of competence centres The value of the issued grants amounts to 10,372,357.99 euros which represents an intensity of co-financing of 80.78% and website in this browser for the next time I comment Total Croatia News If we’ve learned anything from the last 12 months it’s that you never know what’s just around the corner Unpredictable pandemics and earthquakes have sent shock waves through our society and psyches it’s sometimes essential to lean on the shoulders of others their workplaces to venture out into unknown situations to help complete strangers It’s a shame such actions are not always reciprocated HGSS Nova Gradisak pictured at work recently in the earthquake-affected area of Petrinja © HGSS Nova Gradiska vandals thought little of any consequences when they attacked a veteran HGSS vehicle parked up in their town The relatively minor damage caused by the Nova Gradiska vandals nevertheless rendered the vehicle inoperable It was later towed away and ineligible for emergency calls the Nova Gradiska vandals have placed lives – perhaps some within their own community The vehicle attacked by Nova Gradiska vandals belonged to the HGSS team of Slavonski Brod It was between shifts of service in the earthquake-affected area of Sisak-Moslavina Nova Gradiska vandals ripped off the vehicle’s rearview mirror its windscreen wipers and both of its number plates Both license plates – front and back – plus the rearview mirror and the windscreen wipers were torn off in the senseless and dangerous attack © HGSS Slavonski Brod’s HGSS team has four vehicles in their fleet and they were able to continue their efforts in Sisak-Moslavina the senseless actions of the Nova Gradiska vandals mean there is now one less vehicle at hand to cover the very area in which they themselves live friends and neighbours don’t unexpectedly need to lean on the shoulders of HGSS over forthcoming days The first week after Easter saw Croatia bitter on the tragic death of a 2-year-old girl followed by a shock of heavy snow fastly coming and fading in Croatia’s capital Dinamo fans were disappointed by the Europa League loss at Maksimir stadium while Pula is finally starting a big project of connecting its underground tunnels with an important surface site Citizens of Split saw two candidates coalition together to unify liberal and progressive election bodies Highlights of the week: New headmaster of Social Service in Nova Gradiška  Following the tragic death of a 2-year-old girl who was heavily beaten by her mother and neglected by her parents resulted in Marija Jugović taking the position as the new headmaster of Social Welfare Centre Nova Gradiška on Monday Jugović replaced the former headmaster Branko Medunić following the controversial decision of returning the girl from her foster family back to her biological parents As Večernji List reported and Jugović said on Monday that the investigation by the ministry would show if there were any misconducts in handling the case and he is currently doing the job according to his occupation“ Jugović announced lay-offs in the Nova Gradiška Centre The investigation was expected to be complete by Wednesday „It’s determined that there were mistakes in the procedure, which was the mistake of the headmaster. We are still waiting for professional findings from Croatian Social Workers chamber and Croatian Psychology Chamber“, said Josip Aladrović, Minister of family and social policies, on Wednesday as a guest On National Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) He added that restrictions in the Centre were done immediately based on those findings and other results are expected to be complete by the end of the week.   Highlights of the week: April snow in Zagreb brought shock and traffic  The heavy snow which was announced but still surprised the citizens of Zagreb thanks to its intensity Traffic was jammed and several accidents occurred the snow quickly melted away and meteorologists announced warmer weather by the end of the week.   Citizens of Zagreb were in disbelief of such heavy snowfall in early April a day after it was a little under 20 degrees Celsius Highlights of the week: Ivica Puljak and Bojan Ivošević competing together in Split local elections Mayoral candidate of Centre Party Ivica will compete in the upcoming local elections for Split Mayor with the independent candidate Bojan Ivošević who aims to be his vice-mayor. As Večernji List reported on Tuesday the pair said this decision was easy for them as neither one had to betray their beliefs when agreeing to this collaboration progressive Split we represent is waking up like never before Split has a chance it didn’t have in decades we won’t get another opportunity for four years Bojan Ivošević is confident they will win elections and „return freedom to the citizens of Split and end trading authority in Split“ Highlights of the week: Construction of connecting Kaštel fort with underground tunnels ongoing in Pula One of the most interesting tourist projects this year is taking place in Pula Fort Kaštel is being connected with a network of underground tunnels that date back from the Austro-Hungarian times when Pula was the main military port After the project was announced as early as 2019 the shaft where there will be a tourist elevator that will connect the fort with tunnels was finally been pierced last Friday Highlights of the week: Dinamo defeated by Villareal After the brilliant victory against Tottenham, Dinamo’s luck and skill took a blow in the clash with Villareal on Thursday.   Despite Dinamo handling well against the first attempt of Villareal and few risky shots aimed at Zagreb’s gate it all went well until the very end of half-time when Moreno scored for the Spanish club taking advantage of a penalty Dinamo received for Theophile’s handball Dinamo didn’t manage to level the result or turnover the game but reduced the loss to the lowest possible outcome Whether Dinamo is able to come on top against Villareal will be known next Thursday when they visit Villareal in Spain For more about politics in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page To follow all news from Croatia, subscribe to our newsletter HOT: » What kind of news would you like to see more of? We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria The European Commission is proposing significant changes to EU regulations concerning road safety and vehicle registration According to preliminary data from Eurostat the eurozone economy grew by 0.4% in the first quarter of the year compared to the previous three months doubling the 0.2% increase recorded at the end of 2024 The European Commission has announced a €910 million investment under the European Defence Fund (EDF) to enhance defence manufacturing capabilities across the European Union The European Commission has strongly condemned the circumstances surrounding the death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna Friedrich Merz is poised to become Germany's next chancellor following the approval of a coalition agreement between his CDU/CSU bloc European countries are struggling to mobilize even 25,000 troops to Ukraine for a potential peacekeeping mission Google Street View Cars Return to Bulgaria for Major Mapping Update Housing Prices Soar in Bulgaria’s Major Cities as Demand and Supply Strain Increase