Zagreb, Jan 11 - Croatia's opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Ivo Josipovic has swept the country's presidential election run-off Sunday to become the next head of state, exit surveys said.

Television channels Nova and RTL said Josipovic with 64.6 percent of the vote defeated his rival, the populist Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic, who garnered 35.3 percent.

"We knew the difference would be vast," Igor Dragovan from Josipovic's campaign headquarters said. The margin projected by exit polls is in line with the last-minute popularity surveys.

Josipovic, 52, also clearly dominated the first round of the vote, Dec 27, but did not win the 50 per cent required for an immediate victory and was forced into the run-off.

Zagreb - Croatia's parliament Friday ratified an agreement that could lead to settling a border dispute with Slovenia.

A majority of 129 legislators voted for the document while six were against a move to send the border dispute to international arbitration - a condition set by Slovenia for unblocking Croatia's membership talks with the European Union.

Slovenia will hold a national referendum on the border deal in early 2010.

Zagreb  - The mayor of Croatia's capital Zagreb, Milan Bandic, announced Thursday he will run for the president in the country's December 27 elections.

Bandic, 54, is one of the most popular politicians in the country. The announcement of his candidacy, is a clear sign that the Social Democrat (SDP) - who had a long dispute with his party's leadership - has finally separated from it and will run solo.

After his announcement, the SDP said Bandic is no longer a member. The SDP's candidate for president, Ivo Josipovic, has a slight advantage in polls, but media speculate that he stands little chance against Bandic.

Zagreb - Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor on Wednesday failed to get support from the opposition for an agreement that could lead to settling a border dispute with Slovenia, local media said.

Kosor canceled a cabinet meeting Wednesday night after failing to secure backing for an agreement to send the border dispute to international arbitration. Arbitration was a condition Slovenia had set for unblocking Croatia's membership talks with the EU.

Zagreb  - Slaven Bilic is to stay on as Croatia coach despite his side's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Croatia could manage no better than third in Group 6 behind England and Ukraine, meaning the Balkan nation misses out on a major footballing tournament for the first time since Euro 2000.

However, despite the disappointment Bilic, who has been in his post since July 2006, will now lead Croatia through the qualification campaign for Euro 2012.(dpa)

Zagreb  - The Croatian parliament on Friday lifted the immunity from prosecution of a former government minister, now a legislator on the ruling party's ticket, paving the way to a high-profile corruption trial, national television HTV said.

A former minister of defence and interior, Berislav Roncevic can now face charges of corruption in connection with a purchase of vehicles for the military that allegedly cost the country 10.2 million kuna (2 million dollars) in 2004.

Zagreb  - The Croatian sports media on Monday unanimously pressed the nation's coach Slaven Bilic to resign after his team is left with only a vague chance to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

"Go, good man, your time has expired, the arena which until recently cheered for you and glorified your name, now turned the thumb down," the Jutarnji List daily said.

Mass-circulation paper Vecernji List accused Bilic of committing "mortal sins" which have cost the nation a trip to the final in South Africa.

Zagreb  - Croatia on Friday watered down its ban on smoking in cafes and restaurants just five months after it was introduced - in what one newspaper criticized as a "defeat of common sense."

Changes to the anti-smoking law now allow cafes smaller than 50 square metres to decide whether they will remain smoke free, while larger cafes and restaurants may introduce smoking areas.

The smoking area must be at least 10 square metres, but not larger than one-fifth of the total area. No drinks and foods may be served there.

Zagreb - Croatia received two valid bids in an international tender for its six shipyards, the country's privatization fund said Wednesday.

Offers were made for Brodotrogir in Trogir and for Brodosplit, the smaller of the two shipyards, in Split. It was not immediately clear whether the offers would be accepted.

"The problems of the Croatian shipbuilding industry are much larger" than what had been indicated at the end of 2008," Deputy Premier Damir Polancec said after the offers were opened.

Zagreb  - The Croatian government decided Thursday to loosen the country's smoking ban after bar owners complained it was harming business, Zagreb media reported.

Smoking will be allowed in bars and restaurants under strict conditions, including proper ventilation, designated smoking areas and informing customers of the dangers of smoking, media reported.

Parliament will have to approve the new measures before they come into force.

Zagreb  - Croatia's 5-1 defeat against England in a World Cup qualifier has left the team "humiliated" and "on its knees," the Jutarnji List daily said Thursday.

"They stomped us out like a cigarette butt," it noted. "Croatia was broken, humiliated at Wembley, it's football face slapped harder than ever before ... we will never wash the shame off."

The outcome was a "hard landing" and "shameful" for Croatia, who now have to fight with Ukraine for the second group place and a play-off for passage to the tournament in South Africa next year.

Zagreb  - A Croatian labour union launched nationwide protests Wednesday, demanding government measures to shield workers from the effects of the crisis, but amid criticism and without support from the main workers organizations.

The HUS union opened its week of protests in Vinkovci, a town on Croatia's eastern border, with plans to spread them over the next seven days before closing with a demonstration in Zagreb, the internet news portal Index reported.

Zagreb - The decision of Australia not to extradite former Serb warlord Dragan Vasiljkovic for a war crimes trial in Croatia was a "slap in the face," a human rights activist wrote in a column in a Croatian newspaper Thursday.

"This decision is unjust, unfounded, dishonorable, outrageous and a dangerous precedent," wrote Ivan Zvonimir Cicak of the Croatian Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog.

Zagreb  - Croatian Football Federation president Vlatko Markovic said he believed there could be an English conspiracy to injure his country's leading internationals.

His comments, reported in the Croatian media on Tuesday, have followed a leg fracture suffered by Tottenham Hotspur's Luka Modric in a Premier League match with Birmingham on Saturday.

Modric, regarded as Croatia's most influential player, will now be out of Croatia's World Cup qualifying match against England next week.

A year and a half ago Croatia's Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva suffered a broken leg in a duel with Birmingham's Martin Taylor.

Zagreb - Croatia has been warned by the World Bank to improve the use of its arable land, the Zagreb-based daily Jutarnji List said Monday.

Some 41 per cent of the total 2.7 million hectares of arable land in Croatia remains unfarmed, so agriculture generates just 7.4 per cent of the nations economy.

According to Jutarnji, contributing to inefficiency is the fact that just 1 per cent of family farms own more than 20 hectares of land.

Zagreb - Croatian police on Thursday prevented some 500 farmers unhappy with the price of wheat from blocking the border crossings with Serbia and Bosnia, local media reported.

The farmers tried to block the international border crossings with tractors because they were unhappy with the deal the Croatian Agriculture Ministry reached with farmers' associations on Wednesday evening. They were stopped by the police before reaching the crossings.

Zagreb  - The Croatian government is considering loosening a recent ban on smoking after complaints from restaurant and bar owners who have reported
80-per-cent business losses due to the ban, Croatian Health Minister Darko Milinovic said Thursday.

In early May, Croatia began enforcing a ban on smoking in most indoor areas and public places, with psychiatric hospitals an exemption. Doctors explained that mentally ill smokers could become agitated without their nicotine fix.

Zagreb - Four Kosovan Albanians, including a child, were killed and four others injured Saturday when a van overturned on a highway in Croatia.

The van, with German licence plates, swerved off the road and overturned several times at Pirovac, ejecting all but one of the people inside.

The accident occurred at Pirovac, 280 kilometres south of Zagreb, and the injured, also Kosovo Albanians, were transported to a hospital in Sibenik, police said.

Police was still invextigating the cause of the crash.  (dpa)

Zagreb - Croatia's powerful Catholic Church is launching a war of words against President Stjepan Mesic since he announced plans for an initiative to remove the crucifix from army barracks and police stations, the Vecernji List daily said Thursday.

Mesic made his remarks about the crucifix in a radio interview on Monday.

"It reminds me of Stalin and his moves. The cross is not only a religious symbol but a symbol of Western culture," a leading theologist, Adalbert Rebic told the mass-circulation daily.

Zagreb  - Croatians breathed a collective sigh of relief Thursday following their country's away win over Belarus - which has kept their dream of going to the South Africa World Cup alive.

Wednesday night's game also marked the return of striker Eduardo da Silva from a long injury.

"We passed the minefield: the dream of South Africa lives," "a football lesson," "glory in Minsk" and "return to the old path" were some of the headlines in Thursday's newspapers in Croatia.