Zagreb - Archaeologists in the Adriatic town of Rijeka have discovered mosaic floors dating from the 5th century, Croatian daily Novi list reported on Tuesday.

The floor mosaic, around 40 square metres large, is a part of an old basilica that was built on top of ancient Roman therms.

The mosaics have motifs including crosses, diamonds and other geometric forms and were found at the entrance of the basilica as well as in the nave, where they are richly decorated, head of the excavations, archaeologist Josip Visnjic said.

Zagreb - Croatia's best-known sculptor Dusan Dzamonja died of diabetes at the age of 81 on Wednesday morning in Zagreb, media reports said.

Dzamonja, one of the former Yugoslavia's greatest modern artists, was famous for his colossal monuments to the partisan struggle during the World War Two.

His works showed a tendency toward experiments, his style was modern and very expressionistic with intense shapes and symbolical meaning and the use of nails, steel and glass in sculptures.

Zagreb - Under pressure from the church, Croatia banned shops from working on Sundays and retailers immediately began firing workers, the Slobodna Dalmacija daily said Thursday.

Large retail chains started first, in the first week of the year, saying they conducted one-fifth of their business on Sundays.

The Getro chain has let go 200 employees and Magma toy stores did not renew annual contracts with 155, the report said. Small, single stores are also expected to follow suit.

Zagreb  - Jean-Baptiste Gra

Zagreb - Croatian painter Ivan Rabuzin, known worldwide for his Naive art floral

Zagreb  - Ever since it broke off from Yugoslavia, Croatia tried hard to persuade others and itself that it is not a part of the perceivedly "dodgy" Balkan ways - but a series brutal murders proved it was still closer to how it regards Belgrade and Sofia than to Vienna.

With four gangland-style killings in October, Croatia's powerful - and previously largely negated - underworld flexed its muscle and sent the authorities scurrying for emergency measures.

Ivana Hodak, 26, beautiful celebrity daughter of a socialite lawyer defending powerful clients with lots of enemies, was slain in broad daylight in central Zagreb on October
6.