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Former UK Marine Charged with Spying Found Dead in London

A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
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Former UK Marine Charged with Spying Found Dead in London

A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)
A view of the British capital, London. (Reuters)

A former member of the UK's Royal Marines, bailed by a court last week over allegations of assisting Hong Kong's intelligence services in a Chinese-linked espionage case, has been found dead, British police said Tuesday.

Matthew Trickett, 37, was found dead in a park in Maidenhead, west of London, on Sunday following a report by a member of the public, Thames Valley Police said, according to AFP.

Trickett had more recently been employed as an immigration enforcement officer and private investigator, the UK's PA news agency reported.

He was formerly employed by the UK Border Force at Heathrow Airport, before joining Home Office Immigration Enforcement on February 21, 2024, PA said.

“An investigation is ongoing into the death, which is currently being treated as unexplained,” the police force said in a statement.

Trickett, from southeast England, was one of three men accused in the Hong Kong spy case.

The three suspects were arrested early this month. Trickett was then released on bail along with Chi Leung Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, pending their next court appearance, scheduled to take place on Friday.

Between December 20, 2023, and May 2, 2024, they are accused of agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service.

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Aid Group: More than 10,000 Migrants Died this Year Trying to Reach Spain by Sea

FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
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Aid Group: More than 10,000 Migrants Died this Year Trying to Reach Spain by Sea

FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)
FILE - Migrants crowd a wooden boat as they sail to the port in La Restinga on the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Ximena, File)

More than 10,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea this year, a report released by a Spanish migration rights group said on Thursday.
On average, that means 30 migrants died every day this year attempting to reach the country by boat, Caminando Fronteras (Walking Borders) said. Overall deaths rose 58% compared to last year, the report added, according to The Associated Press.
Tens of thousands of migrants left West Africa in 2024 for the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago close to the African coast that has increasingly been used as a stepping stone to continental Europe.
Caminando Fronteras said most of the 10,457 deaths recorded up until Dec. 15. took place along that crossing, the so-called Atlantic route — considered one of the world's most dangerous.
The organization compiles its figures from families of migrants and official statistics of those rescued. It included 1,538 children and 421 women among the dead. April and May were the deadliest months, the report said.
Caminando Fronteras also noted a “sharp increase” in 2024 in boats leaving from Mauritania, which it said became the main departure point on the route to the Canary Islands.
In February, Spain pledged 210 million euros (around $218 million) in aid to Mauritania to help it crack down on human smugglers and prevent boats from taking off.
Spain’s interior ministry says more than 57, 700 migrants reached Spain by boat until Dec. 15 this year, a roughly 12% increase from the same period last year. The vast majority of them came through the Atlantic route.