Zagreb - Protests by students in the Croatian capital Zagreb demanding free education spread Thursday to the entire country, local media reported.

Around 1,000 students in Zagreb began demonstrating on Monday demanding free education. On Thursday, hundreds of students in Osijek, Zadar, Rijeka and Split joined the strike.

Zagreb/Ljubljana - Croatia on Thursday welcomed the latest European Union proposal for resolving its ongoing border dispute with Slovenia, while Slovenia said it was still studying the proposal. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has proposed that borders on the sea and land be determined by an international court made up of five judges chosen by Zagreb and Ljubljana, Croatian media reported Thursday.

Zagreb  - Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday send a note to the British embassy in Zagreb demanding an explanation of the Foreign Office's warning to British citizens to wary of a threat from organized crime in Croatia.

"Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the British embassy in Zagreb to explain such warnings and publish an objective image of Croatia," Croatian foreign affairs ministry spokesman Mario Dragun told the German Press Agency dpa.

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.