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Madeleine McCann: police search wells
Portuguese police have reportedly searched three disused wells close to the resort where Madeleine McCann went missing as part of their investigations into her disappearance. Police and divers are thought to have spent eight hours at the locations in Vila do Bispo on Thursday, according to The Mirror. The search sites are located roughly 10 miles from the resort in Praia da Luz where the three-year-old had been staying with her family in 2007. The paper also reported that the wells are close to where suspect Christian Brueckner’s camper van was pictured in 2007. German authorities announced in June that they were investigating Brueckner, a 43-year-old convicted German paedophile, in connection with the case. He is serving time in a German prison for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 and for drug dealing.
Police enforcement at lowest level since lockdown started
Police enforcement of coronavirus laws in England and Wales is at the lowest level since the lockdown started, figures show. Only a handful of fines have been handed out since the start of July, compared to almost 2,500 a week before restrictions were relaxed. More than 15,500 fines were issued in England before the law changed to allow groups of six to meet on 1 June, and fewer than 500 since. No penalties have yet been issued for breaches of the two-week quarantine for new arrivals in England and only 10 fines have been given out for breaking the law making face masks mandatory on public transport. Figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) showed that fines for breaking lockdown conditions have dropped sharply as restrictions have eased. Only two were given out under the Health Protection Regulations between 2 and 6 July. The Health Protection Regulations initially banned any gathering and leaving home “without reasonable excuse”, but have been updated several times to allow exercise with a friend, then gatherings of up to six and now 30 in England. More than 4,400 fines were issued for gatherings of more than two people in the early part of the lockdown, but only 35 for groups of more than six.
Ishak Mostefaoui: London student who joined Isis ‘dies in Syrian jail’
A former London student who joined Isis in Syria has reportedly died while being held in prison. Ishak Mostefaoui, 27, was captured in March 2019 as the terrorist group lost the last scraps of territory in its selfdeclared “caliphate”. He was held alongside international jihadis in a jail run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hassakeh. In an interview with The Independent in December, Mostefaoui said he had not been visited by any British government representatives but was willing to stand trial in the UK. “We’ve been here for nine months and we don’t even know what is going on,” he said. “Because of the position I’m in now, I regret everything I’ve done. I want to start a new page.” The BBC reported that he had died in contested circumstances at the prison, which is inside an abandoned school.
Trump scheme to expand empire in Scotland for wealthy golf fans and pensioners angers residents
Donald Trump’s sons are planning a huge expansion of his empire in Scotland, building hundreds of private homes, retirement villas and shops beside the golf courses they already own. The US president’s family business has drawn up a masterplan for a new “world-class coastal retreat”, which has already prompted anger from local people who oppose more development. One critic warned against “allowing Scotland’s reputation to be further associated with the toxic Trump brand”. The scheme, revealed by Scotland on Sunday, involves up to 225 holiday and retirement homes, as well as leisure facilities and shops, on rolling farmland next to the Trump Turnberry golf resort. It would be one of the most ambitious and expensive foreign projects undertaken by the Trump family business since he became president, the paper said. The Trump Organisation has not yet submitted a planning application, but the plan handed to South Ayrshire council argues that the scheme would “generate further opportunities and growth for the local economy”.