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Germany

Radioactive Cigarettes: Germany Warns Of Deadly Contraband Shipment

German officials confirm that contraband cigarettes laced with Strontium 90, which is used in nuclear weapons, were intercepted at a Warsaw airport in June. Was it a personal attack?

Doubly lethal
Doubly lethal

MUNICHAfter contaminated cigarettes were intercepted in Poland last June, German customs offices were warned last month that the shipment could actually be radioactive.

A spokesman for the German Customs Investigation Bureau in Cologne said Sunday that customs agents have been notified to be on the lookout for such perilous merchandise.

Meanwhile, Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance said it had no indication that any of the poisoned tobacco had reached Germany, and that it was possible that the shipment constituted a targeted attack on specific people.

The Finance Ministry, which is responsible for customs affairs, confirmed a piece in the Bild am Sonntag, which reported that packets of cigarettes were found in a crate of frozen crab at the Warsaw Airport on June 9. The cigarettes were contaminated with Strontium 90, an isotope which is used in nuclear weapons. If inhaled, it can lead to fatal poisoning.

Authorities do not know if the cigarettes were meant for the German market, though they confirm that typical warning labels ("Smoking kills") and excise stamps on the packages were written in German and Polish.

The crate was with a Vietnamese passenger who had flown from Vietnam to Warsaw via Paris. Investigators said that the man had been asked in Vietnam if he could take the crate with him and give it to a contact person in Poland.

The German press agency DPA reported that the quantity of cigarettes found was too small to suggest a broad-based attack. In Poland, the investigation is being handled by the police department's section for terrorism and capital crimes. Interpol was informed of the shipment in August.

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Society

Shakira, Miley Cyrus And The Double Standards Of Infidelity

Society judges men and women very differently in situations of adultery and cheating, and in divorce settlements. It just takes some high-profile cases to make that clear.

Photo of Bizarrap and Shakira for their song “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”
Mariana Rolandi

-Analysis-

BUENOS AIRES — When Shakira, the Colombian pop diva, divorced her soccer star husband Gerard Piqué in 2022, she wrote a song to overcome the hurt and humiliation of the separation from Piqué, who had been cheating on her.

The song, which was made in collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap and broke streaming records, was a "healthy way of channeling my emotions," Shakira said. She has described it as a "hymn for many women."

A day after its launch, Miley Cyrus followed suit with her own song on her husband's suspected affairs. Celebrities and influencers must have taken note here in Argentina: Sofía Aldrey, a makeup artist, posted screenshots of messages her former boyfriend had sent other women while they were a couple.

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