Category: NYTimes

This week, the case of Madeleine McCann, a British girl who disappeared 16 years ago at the age of 3 from a vacation apartment in Portugal, returned to the headlines. Portuguese police have resumed searching for the girl in the Algarve region, where she vanished in 2007 while on vacation with her family. A German man has been named as a suspect in the case.

The disappearance of the girl triggered an outpouring of public interest and grief, with her face printed on “Missing” posters and T-shirts. The Portuguese police did not produce concrete results but drew widespread criticism after Madeleine’s parents were named as suspects. In 2020, German authorities said a German sex offender was under investigation on suspicion of murder.

This week, the police focused on a peninsula near a reservoir, and a police motorboat was sent into the water basin. Officers used pickaxes, chain saws and rakes to search the peninsula and the surrounding woods. The BBC said the police had deployed sniffer dogs along the bank of the reservoir and that they were expecting the operation to last a few more days.

The search has revived a case that has gripped Europe for years, prompted an international search effort, become the subject of books, front pages and a Netflix documentary series, while generating infinite speculation, empty hopes and tips. The family of Madeleine McCann still awaits a breakthrough.

Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of Britain, has been referred to the police for potential new Covid rule breaches. Last year, while still in office, he was fined for breaking Covid rules in 2020, one of a series of scandals that eventually led to his resignation. The latest allegations are linked to new claims about his behavior in Downing Street and visits to his country residence, Chequers.

The Metropolitan Police and the Thames Valley Police are assessing the information they received from the Cabinet Office last week. A spokesman for Mr. Johnson has denied any wrongdoing, but the allegations have already drawn swift condemnation from his political opponents and from the family members of those who died of the coronavirus.

Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, a group that represents those who died from the coronavirus, said the new revelations “make a grim mockery of Boris Johnson’s claims that he didn’t break his own lockdown rules.” It is now up to the police to investigate the matter and determine if Mr. Johnson has indeed broken the rules.

The British government announced new measures on Tuesday to limit the number of international students bringing family members into the country. Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the number of dependent visas had increased by 750 percent since 2019, rising to a total of 136,000 people. The new measures will only allow postgraduate research students to bring dependents, and will come into force in January.

The announcement comes as the government faces growing pressure to curb rapidly rising immigration numbers. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has put the focus on tackling illegal immigration and stopping the flow of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from France on small boats.

Critics doubt that the new restrictions will reduce net migration figures significantly, while others point to a risk to the huge revenue international students generate. Universities UK International, which represents the sector, said that the announcement “provides some clarity for students and universities after many months of rumor and speculation; but leaves some questions unanswered.”

Prince Harry has lost his bid to pay for police protection in the U.K. after stepping back from royal duties. This comes after an encounter with paparazzi in New York City heightened scrutiny of his security. The High Court in London rejected Harry’s request for a judicial review of the Home Office’s decision to reject his application to pay privately for protection from the Metropolitan Police.

Lawyers for the Home Office argued that it was improper for police officers to be hired out as private security guards. Harry and his wife, Meghan, are protected by bodyguards in the U.S., but traveling in Britain poses a particular challenge because their private security guards are not allowed to carry guns.

The prince is also challenging the process by which the Home Office declined to provide him with taxpayer-supported protection. The decision on paying for protection, which cannot be appealed, is a setback for Harry at a time when his security has come under heightened scrutiny.

Tanzania is facing a number of challenges in its efforts to protect girls from HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. The country is trying to inoculate girls against the virus, nearly 20 years after rich countries began offering the shot. Misinformation, cultural and religious discomfort, and supply and logistical obstacles have hampered the HPV vaccination efforts across Africa. Tanzania has managed to inoculate nearly three-quarters of its 14-year-old girls in 2021 with a first dose, but it has been harder to persuade people to return for a second dose.

The Covid pandemic further complicated the HPV campaign as it disrupted health systems, forced school closures and created new levels of vaccine hesitancy. To overcome these challenges, Tanzania is switching to a single-dose regimen and making the HPV shot one of the routine vaccines offered at health centers. With the expanded supply of the vaccine and the public education effort, Tanzania hopes to protect more girls before the onset of sexual activity.

Two veteran Sherpas, Pasang Dawa Sherpa and Kami Rita Sherpa, are competing to set a record for the most ascents of Mount Everest. The friendly but grueling competition mixes monetary rewards with abundant dangers for the two mountain guides. Pasang Dawa Sherpa has summited the mountain for a record-tying 26th time, while Kami Rita Sherpa has reached the summit 28 times. The two men have been trying to outdo each other for decades, and their competition reflects the climbing industry’s limited resources. An expedition company with a record-holding Sherpa can draw more clients, and expedition agencies offer Sherpas money for each record-breaking summit. Despite the risks, the Sherpas are the backbone of Nepal’s climbing industry, and their dreams of a better life depend on the money they earn when they help a foreigner summit Everest.

On Monday, Iran removed its top national security official, Ali Shamkhani, after he came under scrutiny over his close ties with a high-ranking British spy. Shamkhani had been secretary of the Supreme National Council, which shapes Iranian security and foreign policy, for a decade. He was replaced with a senior naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards with little experience in civilian politics.

The ouster of Shamkhani was seen as a result of a number of controversies, including corruption allegations and the failure of the talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. He was also blamed for the handling of domestic turmoil in the monthslong uprising demanding the ouster of the ruling clerics.

The new national security adviser, General Ali Akbar Ahmadian, does not have much experience in foreign policy or domestic national security issues. Analysts say this could lead to a reset or delays on key issues such as the future of the nuclear deal, the detainee negotiations with the U.S. and regional diplomacy.

Portuguese police have announced plans to resume the search for Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared in 2007 while on vacation with her family in the Algarve region. The search, which is being coordinated by the Portuguese police and will be carried out in the presence of British officials, is being requested by the German authorities. It is unclear why the German authorities requested the search, although they had previously said that they were investigating a German sex offender as a possible suspect. Madeleine was 3 when she vanished on the night of May 3, 2007, while vacationing with her family in the seaside village of Praia da Luz. After the girl’s disappearance, her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, helped to galvanize an international search effort that included appeals for help from British celebrities and promised millions in rewards for information leading to the arrest of her abductor. In 2020, the German authorities said that they did not expect to find the girl alive after more than a decade of false hopes and empty tips. The search is set to begin in the next few days.

At least 19 people, many of them schoolchildren, were killed in a devastating fire that engulfed a girls’ dormitory in Mahdia, Guyana on Sunday night. A fire service official said the blaze had been “maliciously set,” though it is still unclear who was responsible. The victims, aged between 12 and 18, were attending the Mahdia Secondary School, which provides air travel for students from remote areas. The government has dispatched five planes stocked with emergency medical supplies and health care workers to the site, and Prime Minister Mark Phillips is leading a team of officials to the school. The tragedy has sparked outrage among the local community, with Amerindian activist Michael Mc Garrell saying his 15-year-old twin great-nieces were among the victims. The government has promised a thorough investigation into the incident, and urged for psychologists and counselors to be made available for the emergency response effort.

Residents of Guam and the surrounding islands are bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Mawar. The storm is expected to bring destructive winds and heavy downpours, increasing the chances of flooding. The Weather Service has issued a high surf advisory and officials have asked residents to remain out of the water. All military installations on Guam are currently securing facilities and housing residents are urged to commence heavy-weather preparedness efforts. Mawar is the second named storm in the West Pacific this season and is expected to peak in the overnight hours into Wednesday. Residents should take all necessary precautions to ensure their safety.