A forest fire broke out on the island of Sipan today. The fire, on the largest of the Elaphite islands near Dubrovnik, was on the north-west side of the island and started at around 3.00pm.

Due to the difficult terrain firefighters and equipment were transported to the scene by boats. The fire was contained at around 4.00pm and finally completely extinguished at 6.30pm. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Coca Cola HBC Croatia in cooperation with the Croatian Red Cross has organized a humanitarian Christmas truck which will tour the country till the end of December in order to help those in need.

The famous Coca Cola's Christmas truck departed on the 12th of December from Zagreb towards seven more Croatian cities - Varazdin, Zadar, Split, Pula, Rijeka, Slavonski Brod and Osijek and will return to Zagreb on the 22nd of this month.

''With this project Coca Cola as a company which is actively involved in helping local communities wish to encourage others to participate in humanitarian work. We are very pleased that with this worthy project we will make happy many people thus bring the magic of Christmas to our citizens who need it most. It is important to recognize the needs of others and we believe that in this way we will be united even more and show the true value of Christmas'', said Maria Anargyrou-Nikolic, the general director of the Coca Cola HBC company for Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Every day from 5 p.m. till 20 p.m. Coca Cola's Christmas truck will be parked at a special place in each city. On this occasion, Santa Claus will listen to wishes of children who will have an opportunity to take a photo with him and donate their toys. The collected toys Coca Cola will donate to the Croatian Red Cross thus spread the wave of kindness and love.

''There are lots of people in our society who need help and Red Cross is aware of that throughout the year. However, the holiday season is an ideal opportunity to remember all of those living in more difficult conditions than most of us. Only a little bit of good will is needed for one good deed and we believe there will be no lack of good will in these days. We appreciate and thank our long time partner Coca Cola for this action and we invite all people of good will to join us. Together we can make this Christmas happier to many people'', said Robert Markt, the executive president of the Croatian Red Cross.

Ticket Leisure Travel, the largest private travel agency in Sweden, recently published a list of the Top 10 favourite destinations among Swedish travellers for 2017 and Croatia has once again found its place among the biggest names on the global scale in terms of tourism.

According to a study from the Ticket travel agency on bookings made before the 27th of November for a trip abroad in 2017, Croatia made a big jump from the last year's 15th place into the Top 10 list. It placed as the 9th with a 47 percent increase in bookings.

The study also showed that due to terror attacks and armed conflicts, Croatia, Greece and Spain became very popular among Swedish tourists who are now opting for safe and popular destinations they or their friends have previously visited.

Here is the list of most popular countries in 2017:

1. Spain
2. Thailand
3. United States
4. Greece
5. United Kingdom
6. Italy
7. Germany
8. France
9. Croatia
10. Portugal

In cooperation with the airport of Toulouse, the Croatian Tourist Board in France organized presentation of Croatian tourism, with an emphasis on new flights. Around 40 representatives of the largest French tour operators and agencies, among which were some of the largest like Visit Europe, Marmara TUI France, Top of Travel, Thomas Cook and others came to presentation. During the presentation, the crowd was addressed by representatives of airline companies introducing air lines to Croatia. One of new routes was announced- from Toulouse which will operate once a week to Dubrovnik organized by the airline Germania, and low-cost company Easy Jet will keep the same line between Toulouse and Dubrovnik during the next year.

The airline Volotea, which opened the lines to Dubrovnik and Split from Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseilles this year, added Strasbourg to the list of French cities which will next year connect France and Dubrovnik. Didier Legault, Sales Manager of the airline Volotea said he was very satisfied with the current occupancy of the flights for Croatia and announced the increase of seats on fligts to Croatia for more than 50 percent compared to 2016.

In Croatia there are 3500 millionaires, people who own property worth over a million dollars – it's written in the article of Slobodna Dalmacija, based on the data of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. This property launches them in the society of ''chosen ones'', which consists of 33 million people worldwide. A little less than half of humanity, 3.5 billion people has less than 10 thousand dollars of assets, and about one billion people have less than 248 dollars of assets.

Credit Suisse accounts value and wealth in the world since 2000 and now has released a yearbook for 2016, in which it adds marketable financial and non-financial assests: money in the accounts, savings, stocks, life and annuity policies, apartments, houses and land.

When you add everything together and deduct debts, it turns out that the total wealth of the world is 256 billion and has increased this year to 3.5 billion or 1.4 percent. Credit Suisse says that there are 155 percent more millionaires in the world this year, while the number of ultra-rich individuals, those with assets of more than 50 million dollars, jumped by 216 percent to a total of 140,900 people worldwide.

Dubrovnik at Christmas time is truly a winter wonderland, the historic Old City of Dubrovnik is alive with festive fun and you never know what you will bump into.

And tonight along the main street through the city, the Stradun, this group of festively dressed party goers certainly added to the Christmas spirit. Quite why they were dressed as characters from a Christmas card will remain a mystery, but quite simply its Christmas so do you really need a reason.

For over 70 years, UNICEF has protected and defended the rights of children around the world, regardless of gender, religion, race or economic background.

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the UN program for children and mothers in developing countries, the UNICEF office in Croatia held a reception in Zagreb on the 11th of December.

Valentina Otmacic, the head of the UNICEF office in Croatia said that every day ''they help many children in order to find their own path in life, to be healthier, happier and more educated’’.

She also emphasized that their dream was that one day UNICEF cease to exist which would mean that there would be no longer need for helping children in this way. But she added that they were far from it because ‘’there is still much work that has to be done’’.
‘’There are many children in Croatia who are excluded from the society, i.e. they do not have the same opportunities as other children. For many children who live in rural areas or poor communities, kindergarten care is just a dream, and parents of a large number of children with developmental disabilities lack proper institutional help," Otmacic explained.

In 2017 a new five-year cycle begins and UNICEF Croatia in cooperation with the government will try to define priorities regarding children for the next five years.

At the celebration of the 70th birthday of UNICEF there were ‘’forces that are working for a better life for children in Croatia’’ such as representatives of the Croatian government and the Croatian Parliament, professionals, business people, parents, volunteers, celebrities and children.

Dubrovnik Tourist Board organized traditional holiday gathering of local journalists. Brunch at the Restaurant Lungo in the Hotel Valamar Lacroma was a perfect start of the day for the people that are often really stressed during their working hours.

This is the way that Dubrovnik Tourist Board says thanks for the good cooperation during the year. Food, coffee and a great atmosphere – that's a short description of this morning. The most exciting part of the gathering was bingo with great prizes.