Phil Mackie

3 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Phil Mackie |Hafsa Khalil

Searches for Madeleine McCann are to resume in Portugal, 18 years after she disappeared from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve. Portuguese and German authorities are expected to continue to focus the search on disused buildings and wells. Madeleine was three when she vanished while on holiday with her parents on 3 May 2007, sparking a Europe-wide police investigation that has become one of the highest-profile missing persons cases.

4 weeks ago | bbc.co.uk | Gavin Kermack |Phil Mackie

Image source, Steve Rapport/Getty ImagesImage caption, Rik Mayall died in 2014 at the age of 56For an entire generation growing up the 1980s and 1990s, Rik Mayall was one of the most familiar - and fascinating - faces on television. And now, 11 years after his death at the age of 56, his legacy is being celebrated with the first comedy festival in his memory, in his hometown of Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.

Mar 11, 2025 | yahoo.com | Katie Thompson |Phil Mackie

Overflowing wheelie bins and black bags piled high have become commonplace in Birmingham in recent weeks. It's because refuse collectors have been striking on and off since January - and it shows. Many streets are littered with the contents of the bins, with rubbish strewn everywhere as animals have clawed their way into them.

Mar 7, 2025 | bbc.com | Phil Mackie |Tanya Gupta

No prosecution against boy charged with murderPhil MackieBBC News Midlands CorrespondentTanya GuptaBBCTwo boys had faced charges and one is standing trialJurors in the trial of two boys accused of murdering 13-year-old Jahziah Coke have been told the prosecution has offered no evidence against one of the pair. The boys, who cannot be named because of their age, previously entered not guilty pleas and the development came as a trial opened at Birmingham Crown Court.

Feb 12, 2025 | yahoo.com | Phil Mackie |Katie Thompson |Chloe Hughes

Efforts to construct HS2 have reached a peak with the completion of the first of 13 viaducts at a key rail junction, projects bosses said. The 472m (516yd) single-track River Tame West viaduct has been built at the Delta Junction site near Water Orton, Warwickshire. When all are completed, the 13 structures will take the railway over motorways, rivers, floodplains and local roads from London to Birmingham and on to Staffordshire.