Croatia’s top court on Monday blocked the extradition of a Bosnian man, Alen Camdzic, to Tunisia over the alleged murder of an aerospace engineer, who the Palestinian group Hamas said was one of its members.
Mohammed al-Zawari, 49, was killed in a hail of bullets at the wheel of his car outside his house in the city of Sfax, 270km southeast of Tunis, in December 2016.
“The Supreme court accepted the appeal of the suspect… and rejected the request for extradition from the Republic of Tunisia,” the court said in a statement.
According to reports at a hearing on May 8, the lower court said it had established that “legal preconditions” had been met for the extradition of Camdzic, 46, who was named by local media.
The final decision will be made by the justice minister.
The suspect was arrested at the airport in Zagreb, Croatia on March 13, 2018, on an international warrant and has been held in custody since, the court in Velika Gorica, near Zagreb, according to reports.
The second suspect, Elvir Sarac, was briefly detained in Sarajevo, Bosnia earlier this week but released when a court refused to hand him over to Tunisia, saying there was no extradition deal between the countries.4
European Commission unveils proposal for single-use plastics ban
The European Commission has called for a ban on single-use plastic products, including cutlery and straws, in an effort to combat ocean and beach pollution.
The proposal, which was announced by the EU’s executive on Monday, wants to ban any single-use plastic item for which a non-plastic alternative is readily available.
This covers plastic cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers and balloon sticks.
The commission also wants member states to have collected 90 per cent of single-use plastic drinks bottles by 2025 and reduce the use of plastic food containers and drink cups through setting national targets.
“Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem because plastic waste ends up in our air, our soil, our oceans, and in our food,” European Commission Vice President Frans Timmerman said.
The new measures also include obligations for producers to help cover the costs of clean-up and waste management for items such as cigarette butts, wet wipes and lightweight plastic bags.
Producers of fishing gear, which make up more than a quarter of beach litter, will need to pay for waste collection and awareness-raising measures.
The plan did not set a deadline, and will need to be assessed and approved by the EU parliament and member states.
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Recent research published in Scientific Reports estimates that a waste patch three times the size of France containing at least 79,000 tonnes of plastic debris is afloat between California, on the US west coast, and Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean.4
UK weapons exports to Israel soar to record high in 2017
The UK approved record weapons export licenses to Israel last year, according to new figures by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).
In 2017, Britain issued £221m ($294m) worth of arms licenses to defence contractors exporting to Israel, up 256 per cent when compared with the £86m ($114m) licensed in 2016.
The year before that, in 2015, licenses worth of £20m ($27m) were issued.
In total, the UK has sold arms and military hardware worth more than £350m ($466m) to Israel over the past five years.
Among the weapons that the UK sold to Israel were assault rifles, small arms ammunition, sniper rifles and components for targeting equipment.
The new figures were published amid the Israeli army’s deadly response to the weekly demonstrations held by Palestinians in the east of the Gaza Strip near the Israel’s fence since the end of March.
At least 120 Palestinians have been killed by sniper fire, and more than 13,000 wounded.
Andrew Smith, CAAT spokesperson, was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying that UK weaponry previously sold to Israel was used in at least two Israeli offensives on the besieged coastal enclave.
The exponential increase of arms sale is testament to the “increasingly close political and military relationship between the UK and Israe,” Smith added.
Italy PM-designate promises new election in 2019
Italian President Sergio Mattarella has appointed a former IMF official to lead the government pending a vote of confidence by legislators.
Carlo Cottarelli, a pro-austerity economist, promised on Monday to put together a government “very quickly” and said new elections would be held either in August or next year.
The appointment comes shortly after Giuseppe Conte, who had been put forward by the leaders of would-be populist coalition partners Five Star Movement and the League, abandoned his mandate.
His attempts to form a government broke down when Mattarella refused to allow Paolo Savona, an outspoken critic of the EU, to take up the post of minister of economy.
“I’m not considering the individual, I don’t want someone who supports an opinion, which was expressed more than once, that would inevitably lead to Italy’s exit from the euro,” Mattarella said.
