Maddie sighting in Spanish resort

 Detectives are searching for the missing British girl on the Costa Del Sol following a tip-off from colleagues in Portugal. Portuguese police are understood to have received information from an informant about a Madeleine McCann lookalike in Nerja, near Malaga. The development is thought to be connected to a review of the investigation into Maddie’s disappearance. A team of Portuguese detectives have been instructed to re-examine the case and go through thousands of pages of case files and search for new clues. They are working with a...

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Thousands of British expats are on the brink of losing everything after being duped by unscrupulous financial advisers.

 The cowboys have persuaded thousands of  our vulnerable pensioners — many in their 80s and 90s — to give up huge stakes of their property in exchange for investments that will never make a penny. The schemes are often sold by rogue financial advisers who exploit weak consumer laws on  the Continent by falsely claiming to be bona  fide accountants.Most of the victims are Britons who retired to Spain or France and wanted to...

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THE Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort is amongst the favourite family hotels in Spain, according to TripAdvisor’s Traveller’s Choice 2012 list.

The hotel comes in at 13th place on a list of the 25 favourite hotels for family vacations. Nine of the first 10 positions are held by hotels in Mallorca, and the tenth, in fourth place, is the Aparthotel Golden Avenida Suites in Salou (Cataluña). The list is created based on the opinion of millions of tourists who have travelled with their families. Spain has five hotels amongst the top rated in the world, with the favourite being the Protur Bonaire Aparthotel in Mallorca, and eight amongst the Top 25 in Europe. According to the results of a TripAdvisor...

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Marbella’s “Familiar” House by A-Cero Architects

If you like keeping an eye on the cutting edge of modern architecture, you will decisively enjoy the latest work from renowned group A-Cero architects. This private residence is located in the Spanish town of Marbella, a cozy seaside village that you may recognize as fashionable and popular holiday destination for the rich and affluent. As you can see from the pictures below, this lovely display of Spanish architecture – known as the “Familiar” house – is nothing short of impressive, with its elegant use of natural stone and water mirrors. The...

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Loneliness is the main issue surrounding a move to Spain

According to the participants’ responses, Loneliness is the main issue surrounding a move to Spain, with the 35.29% of the vote. The fact that loneliness, as is becoming a trend amongst the vast majority of countries, was one of the main issues facing expats moving to Spain may well surprise many. Spain is a country which, especially for the UK expat community, can in many ways seem like “home from home” due to the vast number of people having moved there over the years. However, it is easy to forget Spain is also a major attraction for other...

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Easter airport 'gridlock' warning

 Airlines have warned the Home Secretary that Britain "risks gridlock" at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick over the Easter break due to staff shortages. More than 370,000 passengers will leave Heathrow airport between Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 200,000 will pass through Gatwick. A spokesman for Heathrow owner BAA told the Daily Telegraph: "Immigration waiting times during peak periods at Heathrow are currently unacceptable and we have called on the UK Border Force to address the problem as a matter of urgency. "There isn't a...

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Legal High Mexxy, Alternative To Ketamine, To Be Outlawed

 legal high known as "mexxy" is to be outlawed, the Government has announced. It follows concerns that two people whose bodies were found in Leicestershire in February may have taken some form of the drug after buying it over the internet. Methoxetamine, or mexxy, will initially be made illegal for 12 months while Government advisers decide whether to ban it completely. Crime Prevention Minister Lord Henley said: "Making this drug illegal sends a clear message to users and those making and supplying it that we are stepping up our fight against...

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Russian shot in UK was due to give evidence

 Russian banker shot five times close to London's financial district had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer has said. German Gorbuntsov, who at the height of his business empire owned four Russian banks, was walking towards his apartment block near the Canary Wharf banking district when a gunman opened fire on Tuesday evening, leaving him badly injured. London police said on Saturday they were keeping an open mind about the motive of the attack. Gorbuntsov's...

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More and more footballers are going bankrupt despite Premier League wages now averaging £1.47 million a year,

 More and more footballers are going bankrupt despite Premier League wages now averaging £1.47 million a year, experts have claimed.  Mark Sands, head of bankruptcy at accountancy firm RSM Tenon, said the lavish lifestyles of the players coupled with poor investment choices has led to increased vulnerability. "In 2010 the average salary of a player in the Premier League was £1.47 million, 56 times the average UK wage," Sands told the Birmingham Mail. "But as their wages have increased so have the number who become insolvent. "We have...

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TOWIE to shoot summer special in Marbella

 Sam Faiers and the rest of her TOWIE castmates are apparently jetting off to Spain to film a special this summer. The reality TV stars will be shooting in sunny Marbella - where they holidayed last May - later on this year, reports the Daily Star. Speaking at the Tric Awards, Sam said the special will need "lots of dramas, a fight and maybe a wedding." Co-star Gemma Collins, who was snapped soaking up the rays in a black bikini during last year's trip, said the group are "all up for it". "We've been begging for a summer special in Marbella...

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Could abolishing tax havens solve Africa's financing needs?

 The past month, the spotlight has been on James Ibori, the governor of Nigeria's Delta state from 1999 to 2007, who pleaded guilty at in a London court to 10 counts relating to conspiracy to launder funds from the state he governed. Ibori was accused of siphoning off an estimated $250m and laundering it in London through a number of offshore companies and financial intermediaries to fund his extravagant lifestyle of lavish mansions, expensive cars and private jets. This mode of illicit capital flight is by no means restricted to one rogue...

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20-STRONG ‘dog squad’ is taking on disobedient dog owners in Marbella.

 The pet owners are being targeted in a crack down on those breaking strict bylaws with 440 summonses being issued in just 30 days. The most common offence involved dogs not being kept on leads, while others included owners not clearing up after their animal and dogs not being muzzled. Fines ranged from 75 to 3,000 euros depending on the offence. The most serious breach of the law involved 24 summonses for owning potentially dangerous breeds that weren’t registered or did not have the necessary paperwo...

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Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers.

 Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers. Sony Music paid the late singer's estate over $250 million (£158 million) for the back catalogue in 2010 and released the first swathe of tracks from it at the end of that year with the posthumous album 'Michael'. According to The Sunday Times, the tracks stolen include duets with Black Eyed Peas mainman will.i.am and Queen's late frontman Freddie...

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Australian facing drug death penalty in Malaysia

 AN AUSTRALIAN man is facing the death penalty after being arrested in Malaysia for allegedly trying to sell methamphetamine. Malaysian police have confirmed a West Australian man ''tentatively charged'' with trying to sell 225g of methamphetamine could be executed. Malaysian Police Narcotics Supt Nafisah Adam said today that a former Perth man, 32, was being held in custody, along with three local men. They were all arrested on Thursday over a string of alleged drug offences. Supt Nafisah said the Australian man had been caught with a...

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Paul Conroy claimed to be 'safe' in Lebanon after being smuggled out of Homs

 Conroy, a British photographer working for the Sunday Times, and Bouvier, a French correspondent for Le Figaro, were reported to have travelled safely out of Syria overnight and were in Lebanon on Tuesday morning. "We've just had word from Beirut," said Mr Conroy's father, Les, on Tuesday morning. They are understood to have been smuggled out of a besieged enclave of Homs by the Syrian opposition. However, there were conflicting reports over whether they had been successfully evacuated. Miles Amoore, Sunday Times correspondent in Afghanistan,...

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Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin killed in Homs

 Marie Colvin, the respected Sunday Times journalist, was killed today alongside French photojournalist Remi Ochlik in Syria. The veteran correspondents were killed by a rocket as they fled the house they were staying in, which was hit during shelling in Homs, a witness told Reuters. Colvin, the only journalist from a British newspaper in the besieged city, had covered conflict for The Sunday Times for the past two decades.  French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse confirmed the deaths. At least two other Western journalists,...

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Pattaya's foreign criminals feel the heat

  This is why the Provincial Region 2 has established the Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (TNCC) to deal directly with foreigners who come to Thailand to commit crimes. The existence of the centre has shed some light on how diverse the transnational gangs in Pattaya are and how their illegal businesses in this tourist centre have flourished. French nationals Nagim Hassainia, 33, and Samir Raihane, 41, who are suspects in a credit card fraud case, were arrested on Feb 2. The suspects were nabbed at a hotel in Pattaya after police...

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Canadian woman charged in Gadhafi smuggling plot

 The Mount Forest, Ont., woman held in a Mexican jail since November in a suspected plot to smuggle Moammar Ghadafi's son and his family out of Libya has been charged with falsifying documents, organized crime and attempted human smuggling. The charges were laid the same day Cyndy Vanier's family released a letter outlining what she calls deplorable conditions endured in the Mexican jail where she is being detained. Vanier, 52, was picked up in Mexico, where she and her husband have a winter home, last Nov. 10 and held without charges until...

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third-british-pensioner-dies-from-legionnaires-disease-on-holiday-in-spain

The Valencia government said authorities have taken measures to control the outbreak, including closing the hotel.Saga said it learned on January 14 that one of its customers was being treated for pneumonia caused by the Legionnaires' bacteria and it then began moving customers to other hotels.Paul Green, head of communications, said customers who had stayed at the hotel previously were contacted, and five people who recently stayed there were treated in British hospitals with all but one later discharged.Legionnaires' disease is named after an...

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U.S. court backs Spain over $500M sea treasure

 "With the ruling by the appeals court, the process begins to recover all of the coins taken illegally" from the sunken ship, Spain's Culture Ministry said in a statement. Odyssey, which can still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, said in a statement, "Currently, no final order has been issued in the case and it would be premature to comment at this time." The battle royal began after Odyssey announced in 2007 it had found the sunken treasure. It quickly laid claim to the coins, put them in crates and said it flew them to a discreet, well-guarded...

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