Croatia's parliament on Friday passed a new fertility law, easing what had been some of Europe's most restrictive measures, despite opposition from the Catholic Church and conservatives.

The new law notably authorizes the freezing of embryos and recognizes the right of single women to assisted fertilization.

A Croatian couple arrived home from vacation to find their private library of several thousand books had disappeared from their house in downtown Zagreb, police said Sunday.

The 74-year-old man and his wife, 64, said the collection was worth "several dozen thousands of kunas" (several thousand euros, dollars), including some antique books, and had been collected over the course of years, police said in a statement.

A Czech bus carrying more than 50 passengers crashed near a tunnel in Croatia early Saturday, killing eight people and injuring at least 44, the national rescue services said.

"A bus with Czech license plates drove through a safety barrier and turned over" near a tunnel in Sveti Rok, some 230 kilometers (138 miles) south of Zagreb, the National Protection and Rescue Directorate said.

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque admitted the defending champions were not at their best despite beating Croatia 1-0 in Gdansk to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 on Monday as Group C winners.

"The team played well, even though things didn't go according to plan," said Del Bosque, who started but then took off Fernando Torres for Jesus Navas of Seville, who promptly bundled in the only goal of a somewhat shapeless match which could have gone either way.

Croatian police have arrested two Italians suspected of being key figures in an international cocaine smuggling ring, their lawyers said on Saturday.

Antonio Melato and his son Alessandro were arrested on an Interpol warrant in the Adriatic resort of Dubrovnik, where they lived, on suspicion of taking part in drugs smuggling and money laundering, the lawyers said quoted by HINA news agency.

Four Bosnian Croats, including a woman, were arrested on Wednesday accused of committing war crimes against Serb civilians at the start of the 1992-1995 war, justice officials said.

The former members of paramilitary forces are suspected of committing war crimes against Serb civilians in a detention camp in May 1992, shortly after the start of the war, the Bosnian war crimes prosecutor's office said.

Croatians went to the polls Sunday in a nationwide referendum on EU membership, a vote that political leaders see as key for the future of the Balkan country 20 years after independence.

Surveys show that some 60 percent of Croatians back entry into the European Union, paving the way for the former Yugoslav republic to formally join the bloc in 2013.

Croatians cast ballots on Sunday for a new government that will lead them into the European Union in 2013, in elections set to see a centre-left coalition oust the corruption-plagued conservatives.

Only five days after the vote Croatia will sign a European Union accession treaty, enabling it to join the 27-nation bloc on July 1, 2013.

Croatia on Tuesday charged five former members of the military with torturing Serb prisoners of war at the start of the conflict that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The five men -- a commander and his four subordinates -- were charged with "abusing 34 persons by inflicting major suffering and injuries", a statement by Zagreb county prosecutors said.

Former Croatian president Stipe Mesic who has close ties Moammar Gadhafi said Tuesday that the Libyan leader told him he was ready to step down from political life if NATO ended airstrikes.

"I can confirm that colonel Gadhafi is ready to retreat completely from political and public life with a firm engagement that we would impede the setting up of a multi-party system but on the condition that the NATO airstrikes cease," Mesic said in a statement quoted by Hina news agency.