News today: Mass amnesty in Myanmar: Thousands released from prison

Today’s news in star-Ticker.

Today’s news in star-Ticker:

8:05 a.m.: Drugs found at Munich Airport: more than a ton of khat confiscated

Customs officers confiscated around 1.2 tons of the drug khat at Munich Airport. The leaves and twig tips with intoxicating effects are forbidden in Germany. The goods were packed in a freight shipment on Thursday, registered as “table decorations”, as the main customs office in Munich announced. “This is the largest amount of khat seized since Munich Airport was founded,” said spokesman Thomas Meister. The broadcast came from Dubai and was destined for the United States. The sender and receiver are now being determined.

8 a.m.: Despite delivery bottlenecks: Hermes is expecting a package boom for Christmas

The parcel service provider Hermes is also expecting record volumes this year for the Christmas season. It is assumed that 137 million shipments will be transported in Germany in the fourth quarter, around nine percent more than in the same period of the previous year, said the company in Hamburg. A year ago, the forecast volume increase for the Christmas business at that time was around 20 percent, so growth is now weakening. Since the parcel industry posted huge increases in 2020 due to the corona pandemic and the comparative level is therefore high, a plus of nine percent is also a very good value. Competitor DHL recently announced rather cautiously that it was preparing “for possible record volumes”.

7:04 a.m.: According to information from Seoul, North Korea is again testing ballistic missiles

North Korea has tested a ballistic missile again, according to South Korean information. Pyongyang fired an “unidentified” bullet into the sea from Sinpo, the South Korean military said. According to experts, it could have been a submarine-based ballistic missile (SLBM). North Korea had tested missiles several times in the past few weeks, causing international concern.


6.45 a.m.: Mass amnesty in Myanmar – military junta releases 5,600 prisoners

The military junta in Myanmar has ordered a mass amnesty for more than 5,600 prisoners nationwide. On Monday evening (local time), the first inmates left the Insein Detention Center in the largest city of Yangon, which is known for its brutal torture methods. All of them were arrested when the generals came to power in early February. “The releases are clearly not because the junta changed,” said UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews.

Rather, observers see the move as a direct reaction to the announcement by the Southeast Asian community of states Asean that it will exclude junta leader Min Aung Hlaing from their next summit meeting at the end of October. As an explanation, the Asean cited a lack of progress in the implementation of a five-point plan agreed at the end of April. Among other things, it was about an end to violence and the beginning of a dialogue with social forces in the crisis country.

6 a.m.: IS supporter Jennifer W. threatens life imprisonment in Munich

After two and a half years, Germany’s first trial against an IS returnees is due to end on Monday in Munich. The now 30-year-old defendant Jennifer W. faces life imprisonment for the death of a five-year-old Yezidi girl before the Higher Regional Court, if the Federal Prosecutor’s Office has its way. W. and her defense lawyers consider the allegations to be largely false – if it is up to them, the woman from Lohne in Lower Saxony should be released soon.

5.45 a.m.: New Zealand reports corona record – “stay at home and save lives”

The Corona model country New Zealand reported 94 new infections on Tuesday – more than ever since the beginning of the pandemic. The previous record was 89 new cases within one day and was recorded in April 2020. “It is important that we remember that we are not powerless. We have the ability to keep the number of cases as low as possible,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. She urged people to stay at home if possible so that others could save their lives and get vaccinated.

By Tuesday, about 67 percent of the adult population was fully vaccinated. In total, the country with five million inhabitants has so far recorded 4,700 infections. 28 people have died in connection with Covid-19. New Zealand had long pursued a so-called zero covid strategy.

4.50 a.m.: Court: Colombia responsible for violence against a journalist

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found Colombia responsible for kidnapping, torture and sexual violence in the case of the Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya. This emerges from a communication from the court based in Costa Rica’s capital San José. Accordingly, the court also ordered various reparation measures. Bedoya, who now works for the newspaper “El Tiempo”, was kidnapped in 2000 as a young reporter waiting for an interview with imprisoned paramilitaries in the notorious “La Modelo” prison in Bogotá. She was brutally raped and tortured. Since then, she has fought for justice – and has now set a precedent in the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia.

4.40 a.m.: Aid organization warns of a water emergency in northern Syria and Iraq

The children’s rights organization Save the Children has warned of a water emergency in northern Syria and Iraq. Families in the region are already suffering increasingly from the effects of climate change, the organization announced with a view to the upcoming UN climate conference COP 26. Record temperatures, a prolonged drought, low water levels and destroyed water infrastructure in Iraq and northeastern Syria put children’s lives at risk. Harvest and income shortages as well as a lack of drinking water lead to diseases, malnutrition and hunger, warned Save the Children. Millions of people in the region are already affected by the serious consequences of the water emergency.

4.30 a.m.: Study: Politicians talked past youth in the election campaign

According to a study, politicians and parties largely bypassed teenagers and young adults in the federal election campaign. 72 percent of 14- to 24-year-olds felt that their communication during the election campaign was “not at all” or “not really addressed”, as a representative survey by Infratest dimap on behalf of the Vodafone Foundation, which is available to the German Press Agency, showed.

Only one in five agreed with the statement that the concerns and interests of young people were sufficiently taken into account in the election campaign, the majority (75 percent) did not see it that way. 92 percent of those surveyed who were eligible to vote expressed their intention to vote, but only 42 percent felt motivated by the communication during the election campaign. More than 2000 14- to 24-year-olds were interviewed in the three weeks before the election.

2.45 a.m.: Demonstrations on the anniversary of the anti-government protests in Chile

Two years after the violent protests against the conservative government began, thousands of people took to the streets in Chile again. In the capital, Santiago de Chile, protesters set up barricades and hurled stones and fireworks at the security forces, as shown on videos released by the police. The officers used water cannons. According to the authorities, up to 10,000 people took part in the demonstration. The police had around 5,000 officers on duty.

Two years ago, thousands of people took to the streets every day for weeks against the government of President Sebastián Piñera. The wave of protests was sparked by an increase in metropolitan prices. But soon the demonstrators also called for better access to health care and education as well as a move away from the neoliberal economic system. They also pushed through a referendum on a new constitution. Over 30 people were killed and hundreds injured in the protests. The police sometimes used extreme violence against the demonstrators.

0.35 a.m.: 90-year-old with a walker is hit by the train and dies

A 90-year-old pedestrian was killed in an accident at a level crossing in Neu-Ulm, Bavaria. The woman wanted to cross the unrestricted passage in the Gerlenhofen district with her rollator and overlooked the approaching train and the signals, as the police announced. The 22-year-old train driver was unable to avoid a collision, despite the braking being initiated. The 90-year-old died at the accident site. According to the police, the train driver suffered a shock and passengers were not injured in the incident.

0.05 a.m.: Medical representatives for the abolition of corona mass tests in schools

The president of the professional association of paediatricians, Thomas Fischbach, has spoken out in favor of abolishing the regular corona tests in schools. “We no longer need the cause-free corona mass tests in schools,” Fischbach told the “Bild”. Because children rarely got seriously ill with Covid-19. “What is really worrying us at the moment: The children’s wards are full of very young patients who suffer from respiratory diseases caused by the RSV,” said Fischbach.

Corona cases are the exception. The huge logistical effort of the quick tests is not worthwhile and often leads to incorrect results. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recently reported a sharp increase in hospital admissions for infections with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in one to four year olds. This infection of the upper respiratory tract can be particularly dangerous for premature babies and previously ill children in the first year of life.

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DPA
AFP

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