Zagreb - In the midsts of the global economic meltdown, tourism-dependent Croatia is anxiously awaiting the first results of the Easter holiday break. With holiday-makers to the former Yugoslav republic providing nearly a quarter of the country's GDP, tourism figures aren't just of interest to the hotel and catering trade - they could well affect the prospects for the government in Zagreb.

Even though first signs show high visitor numbers and packed hotels, any relief is tempered by the knowledge that the year ahead will still be tricky.

Zagreb  - A pair of Croatian hens have laid two very special eggs in time for Easter, local media reported Thursday.

The first, a hen called Mara from the town of Oriol, near the border with Serbia, astonished her owners by laying an egg weighing a whopping 100 grammes.

Her owners say Mara, who herself weighs four kilogrammes, has a reputation for laying double-yoked eggs, but this time has surpassed herself.

Zagreb - A shadowy former Bosnian Croat leader was kidnapped at his home in Zagreb Wednesday and is being held for ransom, media in the region said Thursday.

Croatian Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko confirmed that the one-time member of the Bosnian presidency, Ante Jelavic, was kidnapped, the online edition of the Jutarnji List daily said.

According to media reports quoting family members, the kidnappers called from Bosnia, demanding 1 million euros (1.32 million dollars) to release Jelavic. Police only said they were investigating.

Berlin - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader said Wednesday that he would hold fresh talks with Slovenia later this month in a bid to resolve the border dispute between the two neighbours.

The meeting would be with Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor, Sanader told a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

The two leaders met recently but failed to achieve a breakthrough on the border issue, which dates back to 1991 when the two republics declared independence from Yugoslavia.

Zagreb - Thousands of German and Croat soldiers captured in the final days of the Second World War were coldly executed and buried in mass graves found in western Croatia, human rights activists said Wednesday in Zagreb, demanding that authorities investigate.

The site at Harmica, 50 kilometres north-west of Zagreb, holds the bodies of 4,500 soldiers, including 450 German army officers, executed by the communist partisans, Ivan Zvonimir Cicak of the Croatian Helsinki Committee told a press conference.

Zagreb - Croatia will temporary suspend visa requirements for some countries in an effort to boost tourism, Croatian Tourism Minister Damir Bajs said Wednesday.

The ministry proposed scrapping visa requirements for Russian and Ukrainian citizens during the summer season, and also for Chinese and Indian citizens, Bajs said.