Woman arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle meth, disguised as Christmas presents, in carry-on bag
CBSN
A Canadian woman was arrested after trying to smuggle over 20 pounds of methamphetamine through a New Zealand airport, authorities said. The illicit drugs were disguised as Christmas presents, New Zealand's customs agency said earlier this week on social media.
The Canadian woman, who has not been publicly identified, arrived in Auckland on a flight from Vancouver, Canada, on Sunday, Dec. 8. Customs officers questioned the woman after she disembarked, the customs agency said. Agents then searched her carry-on duffel bag and found the drugs, covered in festive wrapping paper.
The drugs would have been worth up to NZ$3.8 million, or $2.2 million USD, the customs agency said in a news release.
The United Kingdom indefinitely extended a ban on puberty blockers for people younger than 18, barring medication prescriptions used to treat gender dysphoria, the government announced this week. There will be exemptions for people who choose to participate in a clinical trial aiming to study the safety and effectiveness of puberty suppression, which is set to begin next year. Young people already prescribed puberty blockers are allowed to continue taking them, the government said.
Foreboding environmental milestones abounded again this year in the Arctic, where experts say dramatic climate shifts are fundamentally altering the ecosystem and how it operates. One recent turning point for the region involves its carbon footprint: Where conditions in the Arctic historically worked to reduce global emissions, they're now actively contributing to them.
Damascus – Syria's capital city was on auto-pilot Tuesday, with no new government in place in the wake of the dramatic rebel offensive that toppled longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. But as the former al-Qaeda offshoot that led that charge put some of its senior figures in charge of a self-declared transitional administration, many Syrians appeared determined to try to get on with business as usual.
Melbourne — Australian police said Monday they are hunting for three suspects over an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue, designating it a terrorist act. Mask-wearing attackers set the Adass Israel Synagogue ablaze before dawn on Friday, police said, gutting much of the building. Some congregants were inside the single-story building at the time but no serious injuries were reported.