▪ Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat has denied further claims he was seen near the young girl's apartment on the night she vanished, a friend has said. Two British sisters have told police they saw him outside the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz shortly after the alarm was raised, according to reports. If true, this would not directly implicate Mr Murat in Madeleine's disappearance but it would call into question his alibi. Mr Murat, 34, an Anglo-Portuguese expat, has always strongly protested his innocence and insists he was with at home with his mother all evening. Family friend Tuck Price suggested the women must have mistaken him for somebody else, adding: "He wasn't there." Annie Wiltshire, 58, of Aylesford, Kent, and Jayne Jensen, 54, of Maidstone, Kent, were on holiday in Praia da Luz at the same time as the McCanns, it was reported. They believe they saw Mr Murat smoking cigarettes near the Ocean Club at about 10.30pm on May 3 - about half an hour after Madeleine was found to be missing. The sisters were interviewed by British police after they returned home and have recently contacted Metodo 3, the firm of Spanish private detectives hired by Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, the reports said. An unnamed source close to Metodo 3 told the Daily Mail: "On reflection they all thought his behaviour was a bit odd. Jayne remembers seeing him outside the Ocean Club, smoking cigarettes, between 10.30 and 11pm. Every time they see him claiming he was not there on the night, they find it ridiculous." - 29th December 2007

▪ Private detectives searching for Madeleine McCann have reportedly received hundreds of calls after her parents' Christmas plea was shown around the world. Kate and Gerry McCann filmed it at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. It included previously unseen footage of an excited Madeleine opening her gifts last Christmas. The broadcast prompted 347 calls from the public offering new information to their special hotline. The new leads will now be investigated by the family's private detective agency Metodo 3, based in Barcelona, Spain. The message came as the couple, both 39, endured their first Christmas without their daughter, who was three when she vanished in Portugal. Writing in his blog, Gerry said Madeleine "should not be spending Christmas away from her loving family". He wrote: "The person who took Madeleine has it in their power to end our suffering and will be able to appease their conscience that they have done the right thing - especially at this time of year. "Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time at this busy time of year to write to us and let us know Madeleine and our family are still in their thoughts and prayers. "We still have at least one hundred cards to open! As always, every single one will be opened and read and the support expressed helps renew our determination to find Madeleine.":: The number to contact for anyone who sees or has any information on Madeleine is 0034 902 300 213. - 26th December 2007

▪ Investigators are ploughing through leads with a "fine-tooth comb" from nearly 350 calls with information following a television appeal by Kate and Gerry McCann, their spokesman has said. Throughout Saturday and Sunday, 347 people phoned in with information relating to the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine. The leads are being followed up by the family's private detective agency Metodo 3 as Kate and Gerry, both 39, from Rothley, Leicestershire, stay with friends in Yorkshire. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' family spokesman, said: "We are pleased with the calls and they are continuing to come in. Every single call is much appreciated and we are going through them with a fine-tooth comb. Any that need to be acted upon swiftly, are being acted upon swiftly." He added: "We don't go into detail because if there is any significant information, we need to act on it before we talk about it." It is nearly eight months since Madeleine disappeared from her parents' apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. Kate and Gerry McCann broadcast the plea for information on Saturday, which was filmed at their home. The broadcast, which was screened around the world, included previously unseen footage of an excited Madeleine opening her gifts last Christmas. Writing in his internet diary, Mr McCann said Madeleine "should not be spending Christmas away from her loving family". He wrote: "The person who took Madeleine has it in their power to end our suffering and will be able to appease their conscience that they have done the right thing - especially at this time of year. "Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time at this busy time of year to write to us and let us know Madeleine and our family are still in their thoughts and prayers. We still have at least one hundred cards to open! As always, every single one will be opened and read and the support expressed helps renew our determination to find Madeleine." The number to contact for anyone who sees or has any information on Madeleine is 0034 902 300 213. - 26th December 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann will never give up hope in the search for missing Madeleine, a relative said. Kate's aunt Janet Kennedy said their family motto of leaving no stone unturned had changed to one of never giving up hope. She was speaking as Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39, from Rothley, Leics, endured their first Christmas without their four-year-old daughter, who went missing from the family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3. Mrs Kennedy, who lives in Rothley with her husband Brian, said: "The motto has changed. Rather than not leaving any stone unturned, it is that we never, never give up hope. "Eight months on, we have become even more determined and resolute and it (the message) becomes that we never, never give up."We are still very much thinking of Madeleine and a lot of people are staying the course with us. People are showing that they are right in there with the family and that is very important."Kate and Gerry say that every day is a difficult day and we are just the same." Mrs Kennedy helped collect about 1,000 toys left for Madeleine at the village war memorial in the centre of Rothley in the months after she disappeared. Around two-thirds of those toys have now been distributed by the charity Samaritan's Purse to orphanages in Belarus. The presents, which include teddy bears and dolls, have been sent to orphans in the capital Minsk and to the town of Zhodino, 30 miles away, where 86 children aged three to seven live in cramped conditions. Many of their parents have died, become drug addicts or been sent to prison. - 25th December 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann are enduring their first Christmas without their daughter Madeleine, who vanished in May. Their four-year-old daughter went missing from the family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, with the bid to locate her attracting worldwide media attention. Her parents remain official suspects in the case, but deny any involvement in her disappearance. Kate's aunt Janet Kennedy said they will never give up hope in the search for Madeleine. She said: "Eight months on, we have become even more determined and resolute and it (the message) becomes that we never, never give up. "We are still very much thinking of Madeleine and a lot of people are staying the course with us. People are showing that they are right in there with the family and that is very important." "Kate and Gerry say that every day is a difficult day and we are just the same," Mrs Kennedy added. Before Christmas the McCanns made a new video appeal for their missing daughter, saying their only Christmas wish is to have her back. Mrs McCann said: "At this time of the year, when so many families are coming together, we beg you to help us be reunited with Madeleine. Please do the right thing and come forward." She added: "We're doing everything we can, Madeleine, to find you and there are so many good and very kind people helping us." "Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again and we're hoping and praying that that will happen." Gerry McCann said that Christmas was going to be a very difficult time for the family. He said: "This is usually a time of great joy, especially for children. Clearly for us and the rest of our family it's going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without our Madeleine here." - 25th December 2007

▪ A tennis bag that could have been used to move Madeleine McCann’s body has gone missing, it was claimed last night. Dad Gerry was reportedly seen with the holdall as he took up to three tennis lessons a day on the ill-fated holiday that ended with Maddie, four, vanishing. But the blue sports bag has been lost, according to a shock new TV special on the mystery that is gripping the world. Police are desperate to trace it to discover if it was used to carry the little girl’s body. Sources say police believe Maddie died in an accident inside the McCanns’ apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3. It is also reported that officers accused her parents of disposing of her body to mask negligence and dodge a manslaughter rap. The McCanns, both 39, deny any involvement in the disappearance. According to The Madeleine McCann Mystery – a Sky News special on tonight at 7.30 – the bag is vital to the investigation.But the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Gerry’s baffled. He’s never owned such a bag. There simply is no missing bag. They are entirely innocent.” - 24th December 2007

▪ A list of 52 British paedophiles suspected of possible involvement in Madeleine McCann's disappearance has been whittled down to just one, Sky News can exclusively reveal. British police gave Portuguese detectives the details of 52 UK sex offenders with links to the Algarve, and all but one has now been eliminated. The private detective employed by Kate and Gerry McCann is also focusing on the possibility that British paedophiles were involved in her abduction, Sky News has learned. Ever since Madeleine disappeared on May 3, police have been looking for a blue tennis bag that went missing around that time. The bag - big enough to carry a small child - belonged to her father, Gerry McCann, who had been playing tennis at the complex that afternoon.Gerry and Kate McCann have always denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, though they remain arguidos, official suspects. Another twist is the discovery that the McCanns' holiday apartment is owned by another McCann - Ruth McCann, a teacher from Liverpool.Family were on holiday in apartment Family were on holiday in apartment Apparently, she is no relation, but the coincidence is enough to add one more conspiracy theory to the thousands that continue to circulate. Even now, when I talk to people about Madeleine many cannot understand why Kate and Gerry McCann left her and their two-year-old twins alone while they dined with friends at the nearby tapas bar. Mr McCann said it was much the same as them dining in their back garden at home, so as part of our new half-hour programme I was filmed walking from the restaurant table to the apartment. I strolled through the restaurant garden, out onto the road and up the hill. - 24th December 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have sent an anguished public message to their daughter Madeleine telling her: "Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again." In a worldwide Christmas appeal recorded at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, the couple told the four-year-old: "Be brave sweetheart." Madeleine, four, vanished from the McCanns' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3. Despite being declared "arguidos" - or suspects - by Portuguese police, her parents have spearheaded an unprecedented international campaign appealing for information which could lead to her return. They strenuously deny any involvement and believe that Madeleine may still be alive. The video, which is being made available to all broadcasters worldwide, also includes three clips of Madeleine filmed last Christmas which have not been seen publicly before. In one she is shown excitedly opening a parcel containing the same pink bag she took on holiday in May. In another she is carrying a gift from her to her brother Sean, while in a third she is standing on the kitchen table. Sitting in front of the family Christmas tree with his wife by his side, Gerry McCann speaks of how this will be the "hardest Christmas imaginable". The couple each discuss the possibility that someone knows what happened to their daughter, who vanished while they were eating in a tapas restaurant yards away from where Madeleine was sleeping. And they make a direct appeal to such a person to end their "despair and anguish" at Christmas. Kate then speaks directly to Madeleine in the hope that she is watching, passing on her parents' love and that of her two-year-old twin siblings Sean and Amelie. "This special time of year is all about families coming together with love and peace," Mr McCann says in the three-minute-18-second video. "Clearly for us and the rest of our family it's going to be the hardest Christmas imaginable without Madeleine here." - 22nd December 2007

▪ Well-wishers have sent hundreds of Christmas cards and presents for missing Madeleine McCann to her parents. Kate and Gerry McCann have received "a post bag full of cards and presents for the children, including Madeleine", according to the family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell. The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, who are expected to be given the gifts sent directly to them. Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry are strengthened by the sympathy and support that has been shown for them at this time of year. "They are extremely grateful to everyone who is supporting them and remembering Madeleine at Christmas time." arlier this week, the couple said Christmas would be an incredibly difficult time if Madeleine was not found before then. They said they planned to have a very quiet, private Christmas with family in the UK. The couple, both Catholics, are thought to be staying in Rothley for Christmas and are expected to attend midnight mass on Christmas Eve, where prayers will be said for their missing daughter. Mrs McCann's mother, Susan Healy, 61, said they are trying to make Christmas as normal as possible for the twins. Madeleine's grandmother, Eileen McCann, 67, said she will not celebrate Christmas this year but will leave a present on her granddaughter's bed as usual. - 21st December 2007

▪ Private detectives hired to search for Madeleine McCann have moved to plush new offices as questions emerge about whether they are giving good value for money. People who donated to the Find Madeleine Fund are seeing Metodo 3 pocket £50,000-a-month of their cash - without any apparent breakthrough. The group has not yet produced any evidence to back their claims that they know who took the girl. Boss Francisco Marco claims he knows the girl, who would be four years old now, is alive and could be reunited with her heartbroken parents Kate and Gerry for Christmas. But he was not available to speak to Sky News Online by phone and on arriving at his office in Barcelona, it was claimed he was out of the country - working on a different case. At a supposedly crucial stage in the inquiry, his luxurious new office - perched above a gay sauna in a grand, pillar-filled building - was in a make-shift state .There was just one staff member in sight, and when asked if Sky News Online could see Mr Marco, she replied: "He's not here, he's out of the country on business. Not with the Madeleine case, on another case." Her advice was to return in two hours, when the office would re-open. But on calling back at 4pm there were three staff and a small dog in the reception area, as well as a steady flow of people unloading boxes of files and other office equipment. They refused to say anything, and grew steely when Madeleine was mentioned. A few minutes later, a smartly-dressed detective arrived and refused to discuss anything to do with the case. He kept stressing: "I can't say anything. Only Clarence Mitchell (the McCanns' official spokesman) can talk about the case. I'm sorry." This was a far cry from Mr Marco's astonishing claims just a few days before that he knew who had kidnapped the little girl. His comments sparked reports of a stand-up row with the McCanns, who accused him of harming the chances of finding their daughter alive. - 20th December 2007

▪ Portuguese police allowed Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat to sit in on interviews with members of the so-called Tapas Seven, it has been reported. Detectives let Mr Murat act as a translator during interviews with friends of Kate and Gerry McCann who were dining with the couple on the night their daughter disappeared, according to newspaper reports. Days later the 33-year-old was named as an arguido, or official suspect. The Daily Mirror said Mr Murat was allegedly present during the interviews of Rachael Oldfield and Dianne Webster. However, a source close to the McCanns said it was understood that although Mr Murat did attend Ms Webster's questioning, he was not present when Mrs Oldfield was with police. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We can't comment on anything that's contained within the police file and clearly records of interviews and who attended them make up part of that file. "Any serious questions to be answered about the way the original interviews were conducted or who attended them will be central to our own private investigation, and the detectives who have been employed on our behalf will be looking into that." Portuguese police have questioned a crucial witness for the third time, according to the Daily Express. A waiter at the tapas restaurant is said to have been the first person to see Kate McCann when she raised the alarm after discovering her daughter had gone missing from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3. Mr Mitchell said: "Whatever any witness may claim Kate to have done in the immediate aftermath of discovering Madeleine was gone, she did not come out saying 'They've taken her, they've taken her.' Any other recollection from any other person about the immediate aftermath is a mistake." - 17th December 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's younger siblings hope Santa Claus will bring their missing sister home for Christmas, their parents said in an interview on Sunday.Gerry and Kate McCann said they had bought presents for their daughter and would try to make Christmas as normal as possible for their toddler twins, Sean and Amelie. "They both seem to understand they will be getting presents from Santa, but have also asked if Santa will be bringing Madeleine home, which just about broke our hearts," the McCanns were quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror. In a statement, the McCann's said their first Christmas without their missing daughter would be "incredibly difficult". Gerry and Kate McCann, named by police as formal suspects in the case, also renewed appeals for information to help find their daughter, who disappeared on holiday in Portugal. "Christmas 2007 will be an incredibly difficult time for us if Madeleine is not found before then," they said in the statement. "We plan to have a very quiet, private Christmas with family in the UK. "We would like to thank everyone who has supported us over the last seven months and ask you to stay with us as the search for our daughter continues." Their daughter disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday during a family holiday in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. The McCanns believe she was abducted from their holiday apartment as they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. They hired private investigators to help find their daughter after police named them as suspects in September. The only other suspect is a Briton living in Praia da Luz. Despite a string of possible sightings and a huge police investigation, the girl's whereabouts remains a mystery. British and Portuguese forensic scientists met last month to discuss DNA evidence in the case. - 16th December 2007

▪ The private detective being paid by Kate and Gerry McCann to find their daughter has claimed he knows who took Madeleine and that he could have her back with her family before Christmas. Francisco Marco, the director general of Metodo 3, indicated that they were closing in on the four-year-old's abductor and preparing to hand over their "evidence" to police. Mr Marco also told the Spanish newspaper Metro that the girl, who was snatched from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve in May, might never have left Portugal. He said: "We have proof of her movements after her kidnap and we know she was alive the day after her disappearance. We are not certain she left Portugal. "I talk of certainties because we know which group may have her or could have kidnapped her to then sell her on to others." The detective added: "We know who kidnapped her. "We believe she is in an area not very far from the Iberian peninsula and north Africa. And we have a fairly certain idea who she is with. "I cannot say who she is with because we are putting together conclusive proof we can present to the authorities so they can proceed with their arrests." He added: "God willing, I hope that she will be back with her parents before Christmas." Mr Marco admitted he had no proof Madeleine was not dead but said he had to believe "100%" that she was because he only knew how to look for people who were still alive. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that the family was "pleased" the agency was so confident about ultimately finding Madeleine. He said: "Metodo Three, the private detective agency we are employing to help find Madeleine, retains our full confidence." - 14th December 2007

▪ Minutes before his daughter Madeleine disappeared, Gerry McCann told a fellow holidaymaker that he and his wife would have stayed in with their children if they had not been holidaying with friends.The revelation has been made by Bridget O'Donnell, a former BBC Crimewatch producer who got to know the McCanns at the Mark Warner resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal. She has now told her story for the first time. "I have always believed that Kate and Gerry McCann are innocent," Miss O'Donnell wrote in an article published by The Guardian. On the night of May 3, while walking their baby son to sleep, her partner Jes Wilkins bumped into a "relaxed and friendly" Mr McCann who had just checked on his children. "They talked about daughters, fathers, families," Miss O'Donnell wrote. "They discussed the babysitting dilemmas at the resort and Gerry said that he and Kate would have stayed in too, if they had not been on holiday with a group." Every night, the McCanns and their friends - whom Miss O'Donnell dubbed "The Doctors" - booked a large table at the Tapas restaurant at the Mark Warner resort. "One man was the joker," she recalled. "He had a loud Glaswegian accent. He was Gerry McCann." The night before Madeleine went missing, Miss O'Donnell and her partner - also a television producer - were placed at a table next to "The Doctors". Mr McCann invited them to join the group. "We discussed the children," Miss O'Donnell wrote. "He told us they were leaving theirs sleeping in the apartments. While they chatted on, I ruminated on the pros and cons of this." Sit-in babysitters at the resort were expensive and booked long in advance, while a group baby sitting service at the kiddie club meant that the children had to be put to sleep twice - both there and then back at their parents' apartments. "I admired (the McCanns), in a way, for not being paranoid parents, but I decided that out apartment was too far off even to contemplate (leaving their children)," Miss McDonnell wrote. "Our baby was too young and I would worry about them waking up." - 14th December 2007

▪ Posters of missing Madeleine McCann have been taken down in the Portuguese town from where she disappeared. Many shopkeepers, restaurateurs and hoteliers in Praia da Luz have pulled down pictures appealing for help in tracing the four-year-old. The church where parents Kate and Gerry McCann prayed for their daughter's safe return is reported to no longer be displaying an appeal poster. "It's not that the locals don't care about what happened but they just want to get the village back to how it was," one shopkeeper told the Daily Mail. "It's so many months on now and when it happened it just ruled everything here. For the locals it just got a little too much." Other residents said there was no point displaying the posters. "It no longer makes sense to display symbols of a child's disappearance when the parents are suspects." Clarence Mitchell, the spokesman for the McCanns, said the people of the holiday resort were still hoping for Madeleine's return. "The people of Praia da Luz were incredibly supportive when Kate and Gerry were there and we believe that affection and support is still there," he said. "They have nothing but fond memories and remain very grateful to the people of Praia da Luz for their help. "They believe they would still do everything they can to help them in the hunt for Madeleine." - 12th December 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have met the seven friends they dined with on the day their daughter disappeared, their spokesman said. Held at a Leicestershire hotel at the end of last month, it was the first face-to-face meeting of the group, dubbed the Tapas nine, since the McCanns' return to Britain. Advisers for the Rothley couple were present, said Clarence Mitchell, but the former Foreign Office spokesman denied the private meeting was held for the friends to compare their accounts of May 3, the day the four-year-old disappeared. He said: "It was uneventful as far as we are concerned and it's not significant. "It is the first time the nine have sat down face to face. It was really just a get-together to discuss where they are at. "Clearly, some might face further questioning at some stage. It was not to change stories or compare notes. It was a get-together of friends who find themselves at the centre of a story." The McCanns were dining with the seven friends at a tapas restaurant in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing from their holiday apartment. The party included the McCanns, Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, Rachael and Matthew Oldfi eld, Fiona and David Payne, and Mrs Payne's mother Dianne Webster. Mr Mitchell added: "The meeting was as much a show of support for Gerry and Kate. This was in no way to get their stories straight. "This is the age of email and phone. They could have done that a long time ago." - 10th December 2007

▪ Portuguese police have “little faith” that their British counterparts will be able to solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in new interviews with her parents and their friends, it was claimed today.Over the next few days Leicestershire police will be asked to interview Kate and Gerry McCann and the seven friends who dined with them on the night their daughter went missing, on behalf of the Portuguese authorities. Missing Madeleine McCann The Portuguese detectives believe that – in the absence of conclusive forensic evidence – the key to unravelling the mystery of Madeleine’s disappearance shortly before her fourth birthday could lie with alleged inconsistencies in the statements given by the McCanns and their friends. “Only the confrontation of all those involved in the case can shed any light upon the events of the May 3,” a high-ranking police source close to the investigation told the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas. But he expressed doubts that Leicestershire police could get the desired results, stating: “It will not be easy.” The Portuguese investigators will only be allowed to sit in on the questioning and make some suggestions. “It would be different if those involved were directly interrogated by our investigators and were targets of pressure,” said the source. “But it is very unlikely that the Leicester police will question the statements of the people who will be interrogated.” If the Portuguese team does not believe British police have answered all the questions, they may request members of the so-called Tapas Nine – the name given to Kate and Gerry McCann and the seven friends who dined with them on May 3 when Madeleine disappeared – return to the Algarve for further questioning. Clarence Mitchell, the official spokesman for the McCanns, said: “It is a matter for Leicestershire police on their standards, but we have seen nothing has ever given us any cause for concern. - 9th December 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance could conclude their inquiry as soon as January 3, the lawyer for the first suspect in the case has said. Francisco Pagarete said a public prosecutor would decide early in the New Year whether to charge his client, Robert Murat, or the young girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann. Under Portuguese law, at that point the evidence-gathering process will end and the prosecutor will either formally accuse one or more of the three - all "arguidos" or official suspects - or shelve the case, he said. Mr Pagarete predicted this was most likely to happen on January 3, exactly eight months after Madeleine vanished from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. The other possible date is January 14, eight months to the day after Mr Murat was named the first arguido in the child's disappearance, he said. Mr Pagarete said: "On that day we will know what is going to be the public prosecutor's choice. He either accuses according to the evidence they have already gathered, or according to the same evidence he files the case against my client." He went on: "It is the end of the inquiry for all of the defendants - the inquiry has to finish at the same time for everyone. At that time we will see all the decisions for all the defendants. I'm certain it will be either the 3rd or the 14th." The lawyer said he believed it was "not possible" for Algarve-based prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses to request additional time to gather evidence. "I think there is no legal way to go around the situation and say we need more time," he said. Mr Pagarete said Mr Murat was "not afraid of the result of the inquiry" because there was "nothing against" him. Mr Murat and the McCanns strenuously deny having any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance on May 3. - 7th December 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann’s parents might have been spared the anguish of being named suspects over her disappearance if Portuguese police had not rushed their case through before a change in the law, it has been claimed. DNA samples in Madeleine case 'amateurish' A new penal code was introduced on Sep 15 Kate and Gerry McCann were made arguidos - formal suspects - just eight days before new legal measures were introduced which would have required firmer evidence against them. The couple’s Portuguese lawyer has claimed that detectives may have deliberately fast-tracked the investigation to ensure they were put in the frame. Investigators named the McCanns, both 39, as arguidos on September 7 after allegedly finding microscopic traces of blood in their holiday apartment and "bodily fluids" they thought could have belonged to Madeleine in the boot of their hire car. Carlos Pinto de Abreu, a Portuguese lawyer on the McCanns’ defence team, said that under Portugal’s new penal code, police must have more than just suspicions to make somebody an arguido. "On September 15 a new procedural penal code was introduced making it necessary for there to be evidence against the citizen before they could be made an arguido. "Before this date it wasn’t necessary. You could be made an arguido without actual evidence against you," he said. "Maybe that is why the investigation took the turn it did - why they were named arguidos eight days before the new laws came in," said Mr Pinto de Abreu. His comments followed those of Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro, Portugal’s Attorney General, who recently admitted the McCanns may not have been made suspects under the new laws. - 6th December 2007

▪ A nanny at the complex where Madeleine McCann went missing says she saw one of the Portuguese police's main suspects outside the flat from where she disappeared. Charlotte Pennington, from Leatherhead, is one of several witnesses who have told private detectives hired by Madeleine's parents she saw a man matching Robert Murat's description outside the apartment Madeleine was asleep in at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Murat has always maintained he was at home with his 71-year-old mother when Madeleine disappeared on May 3. But according to national newspapers Miss Pennington, 20, says she saw Murat outside the flat at about midnight. She says she challenged him the next day but he denied being there. Miss Pennington saw Murat several days later in a supermarket talking to a mystery man who looked like a sketch of a person the police wanted to talk to. It is thought Miss Pennington, who lives with her mother in Reigate Road, Leatherhead, told police the man was "between 27 and 35 with medium build, very dark eyes and a Portugese or Spanish look" .The other two witnesses, both tourists, have given similar independent statements. Miss Pennington is believed to later have phoned British police to report seeing the man matching the description of the man wanted in connection with the disappearance at Faro airport on May 13. Miss Pennington has already spoken to Portugese police about the night four-year-old Madeleine went missing. She was one of the first people to go into the apartment after the little girl disappeared and is reported to have heard Kate McCann say "They've taken her,they've taken her". - 6th December 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann discussed three key areas when they visited police and forensic experts in Britain. First on the agenda was the DNA they submitted to the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in Birmingham. Mobile phone data recovered from the resort of Praia da Luz and establishing the process for interviewing or re-interviewing witnesses were also talked about. We have heard the significance that has been given to DNA - with traces found in the Renault Scenic hire car, apartments on the Portugal resort and also from items of property and clothing. In today's policing, DNA is a powerful tool, with Home Office figures suggesting officers get approximately 3,000 matches a month. I am certain that much of the work being undertaken by the FSS is low copy number (LCN) - a relatively new technique used to produce a DNA profile from very few cells. This technique would be used to target areas on items where Madeleine might have had contact. But with no significant development, it would suggest DNA evidence alone will not solve this case. Especially if parents Gerry and Kate McCann are being considered as key suspects, as Madeleine's DNA will be all over them and items they have had contact with. The team were also here to discuss mobile phone data, which was secured by British experts in the 10 days after Madeleine disappeared. Although initially not analysed, it has now been and will provide vital information about mobile phone usage in and around Praia on the days leading up to Madeleine's disappearance. This data will not be as precise as it is in the UK in locating exact position of the telephone user. This is because the triangulation depends on masts which are close together - and the masts are quite some distance apart in Praia de Luz. The third reason for last week's meeting was to discuss the interviewing of witnesses - including the Tapas seven - the people who were dining with the McCanns on May 3. - 5th December 2007

▪ Portuguese police are reportedly set to make a formal request to re-interview the friends of Kate and Gerry McCann over daughter Madeleine's disappearance. Sources told the SIC Portuguese news channel that a team of detectives and the prosecutor would fly to Britain next week for interviews. According to reports, they will deliver letters of appeal to British police, asking them to interrogate the friends, known as the Tapas Seven, again with Portuguese officers present. The McCanns were dining with friends when Madeleine went missing shortly before her fourth birthday in the resort of Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3. It was also reported police wanted to re-interview the McCanns but were refused permission without offering more evidence against the couple. The Daily Mail reported that public prosecutor Jose Magalhaes e Meneses refused to grant permission for the McCanns to be reinterviewed without seeing stronger evidence against them first. It said police and the prosecutor met for more than three hours to discuss the results of DNA tests carried out by the UK's Forensic Science Service. Saturday's reports come a day after four members of the Portuguese investigation team flew home from the UK following a meeting with British forensic experts to discuss DNA samples collected for the inquiry. The tests are said to have been carried out on blood samples, bodily fluids and hair found in the McCanns' holiday apartment and the vehicle they hired 25 days after the child disappeared. Both Leicestershire Police, who are helping their Portuguese counterparts, and the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service have described the meeting as "routine". - 1st December 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann are confident they will now be cleared of all suspicion over their daughter's disappearance following a crucial meeting between UK and Portuguese forensic specialists. The squad of detectives have now flown back to Portugal after reviewing the results of DNA tests carried out in the hunt for missing Madeleine. The tests, by the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service, were on blood samples, bodily fluids, and hair found in the McCanns' flat and Renault car they hired 25 days after she disappeared. It is understood these results were inconclusive - scotching Portuguese detective theories that the couple killed their daughter and disposed of her body using the vehicle. Gerry said: "We have be n told that all the forensic test results are now available. "Kate and I are very hopeful now that any doubt what these important tests show will be removed. "As we have stated all along, we are confident that the results will no way incriminate us, and hopefully everyone can concentrate on finding Madeleine and her abductor." Writing in his blog, he also told how they have kick-started their campaign targeting southern Spain, North Africa and Portugal. The adverts, in railway stations and public transport areas, are the first wave of an £80,000 publicity drive in the region, the area private eyes say Madeleine is most likely to be in. Esther McVey, director of the Madeleine Fund, explained: "The aim is simple: to remind people that Madeleine is still out there to be found and to generate vital new calls to our confidential, anonymous phone line."So far, the response has been fantastic, but we still need people to call 00 34 902 300 213 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if they have any information they feel is in any way relevant." - 30th November 2007

▪ Forensic experts from Portugal have arrived at Leicestershire Police HQ for talks with British specialists about DNA samples from the Madeleine McCann inquiry. Four members of the Portuguese investigation team are meeting scientists from the Forensic Science Service (FSS). It is understood that DNA samples taken from a car hired by the parents of Madeleine, Gerry and Kate McCann, will be discussed. There has been much speculation over whether the samples will implicate the couple in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter. The pair remain official suspects but are not expected to be interviewed by the team from Portugal. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "We understand there is no intention for the McCanns to be interviewed, or indeed anyone else. "Such a meeting should not be seen as surprising. We do not see it as a significant development." Leicestershire Police and the FSS both described the meeting as routine. A spokeswoman for the East Midlands force said: "Throughout the investigation there has been really good dialogue between the teams in Portugal and the UK but they felt it was a good time to sit down and talk face to face. "They are not going to be interviewing anyone else. It is a routine meeting and then they will be going home." The meeting comes after the rolling out of an advertising campaign in train stations and public transport areas across the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa to help find Madeleine. The little girl, from Rothley, vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3 while her parents dined nearby with friends. - 29th November 2007

▪ Portuguese police are expected in Britain shortly to discuss forensic evidence as part of the probe into missing toddler Madeleine McCann, her parents' spokesman said Wednesday. Reports indicated that two officers were due to arrive during the day, in the latest development over the disappearance of the three-year-old in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Gerry and Kate McCann, confirmed that British police were due to talk to Portuguese experts about forensic evidence at the heart of the investigation. "We have this morning been informed by Leicestershire Police that a meeting between forensic scientists from Portugal and the Forensic Science Service (FSS) will be taking place in Leicestershire in the near future," he said. "We understand there is no intention for the McCanns to be interviewed, or indeed anyone else. Such a meeting should not be seen as surprising. We do not see it as a significant development," he added. It is understood the meeting will be about DNA samples collected from a car hired by the McCanns, which has been examined by the FSS at its laboratory in Birmingham, central England. Press reports in Portugal and Britain indicated that two Portuguese police were heading to Britain during the day. It is believed that the meeting with British counterparts will take place Thursday. Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal on May 3, a few days before her fourth birthday, while her parents dined nearby with friends. Kate and Gerry McCann, who are both doctors, returned to England in the beginning of September after being named as official suspects in the case by Portuguese police. They have not been charged. - 28th November 2007

▪ A new advertising campaign has been launched across southern Spain in the hunt for Madeleine McCann. The ads, in railway stations and public transport areas, are the first wave of an £80,000 publicity drive and have been paid for by donations made to the fighting fund set up earlier this year. Meanwhile, Portuguese and British forensic scientists are set to meet to discuss DNA samples examined in the investigation. It is understood that they will focus on samples collected from a car hired by the Rothley four-year-old's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, which has been examined by the Forensic Science Service at its laboratory in Birmingham. Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine's parents, said: "We have this morning been informed by Leicestershire Police that a meeting between forensic scientists from Portugal and the Forensic Science Service will be taking place in Leicestershire in the near future. "We understand there is no intention for the McCanns to be interviewed, or indeed anyone else. Such a meeting should not be seen as surprising. We do not see it as a significant development." The Portuguese experts are thought to be in the UK and the meeting is expected to take place on Thursday. Madeleine McCann vanished from a holiday resort on the Algarve on May 3. Her parents were named as formal suspects in the case on September 7. They say they are innocent and have launched a high-profile campaign to clear their names and find their daughter. - 28th November 2007

▪ Questions are being raised over how long Kate and Gerry McCann can continue the hunt for their daughter after a huge slump in donations to Madeleine's Fund. When the young girl vanished on May 3, cash poured in to find her, but now it is comparatively little more than a trickle. The fund has £1,095,223.50 in its coffers, according to its website. But an estimated three-quarters of this will just be used to pay the six-month contract the McCanns took out with detective agency Metodo 3. The Spanish-based agency is likely to be charging around £2,000 a day, crime experts have told Sky News Online. When travel and other expenses are added, the final bill for the contract is likely to be as much as £750,000. And this does not cover the cost of publicity campaigns and other expenses as the McCanns focus their search on Morocco - the area they have been told Madeleine is most likely to be in. The McCanns are also using other specialists. But their spokesman Clarence Mitchell's reported £75,000 salary is being covered by millionaire Brian Kennedy. Other wealthy benefactors - like Richard Branson - have offered financial support to cover their legal bills. But it is not known how much money, if any, they have pledged towards the fund itself. Or whether they would step in if the McCanns ran out of cash. The couple, both 39, saw a massive drop in donations after they were named official suspects in the case, and it emerged they had used the fund to pay their estimated £2,000 a month mortgage. Their spokesman told Sky News Online it is natural for the flow of money to diminish after a fund's launch. - 27th November 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are visiting Britain for the first time, Sky News has learned. They will travel to the UK tomorrow to speak to police in Leicestershire - the county where the McCanns live. Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said a team of four will fly to Britain. It may include Portugal's second most senior policeman Paulo Rebelo, who is now leading the inquiry. There will also be two forensic officers and a representative from the country's national pathology institute. As well as meeting officers from Leicestershire, they will also see forensic representatives from a Birmingham laboratory. The lab has been testing samples taken from the holiday apartment where Madeleine's family stayed and the car they hired. The team may also re-interview friends of Gerry and Kate McCann who had dinner with the couple on the night the four-year-old went missing. But it is thought less likely that they will speak to the McCanns themselves, Brunt added. Madeleine disappeared on May 3 in the resort town of Praia da Luz. - 27th November 2007

Robert Murat was the prime suspect. - 26th November 2007

▪ Detectives hired by Gerry and Kate McCann believe the couple's daughter Madeleine was snatched to order, is still alive and that she may be hidden in Morocco. Francisco Marco, 35, who is heading the team from his family-run Metodo 3 detective agency in Barcelona, has just returned to Spain after a two-week visit to the North African Arab kingdom. "At the beginning of October we picked-up a trail which we are following," he said in an interview with the Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo. "The country is perfect for hiding a kidnapped girl. There are a number of networks there dedicated to the trafficking of children, although they haven't been identified yet. "And, except in the north, where Spanish television can be seen, in the rest of the country nobody is aware of this case," Marco told the newspaper. Marco, a lawyer and criminologist, is the director-general of Metodo 3, which was founded 21 years ago by his mother, Marita Fernandez. It was chosen by the McCanns on the recommendation of multi-millionaire Brian Kennedy who is helping finance the now-worldwide search for Madeleine. Before agreeing to take on the case nearly three months ago, Marco said he and his mother had a long, hard and probing discussion with Gerry and Kate. Senora Fernandez told El Mundo: "I played devil's advocate and asked them terrible things to see their reactions. Kate burst into tears when one of the twins came in and hugged her. "As the mother and grandmother that I am, it strikes me as impossible that a woman that had to go through artificial insemination to have children, and who loves her children in this way, could have done anything bad to Madeleine." She claimed that words had been put into her son's mouth when British newspapers had quoted Marco last week as saying that Robert Murat was the prime suspect. - 26th November 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have made no plans for Christmas despite claims they are buying presents for their missing daughter. A spokesman for the pair have told Sky News Online that Christmas will just be another day without Madeleine, and their focus is on finding the vanished girl. Reports in a national newspaper claimed the family would leave presents for her under the Christmas tree in the hope she would be home in time to unwrap them. But their spokesman Clarence Mitchell dismissed the claims as "emotional guff". He said: "We haven't finalised plans for Christmas. We will speak about Christmas when the time is right. "Christmas will just be another day for Kate and Gerry. Let's get Madeleine home first - and then we can talk about Christmas. At the moment Kate and Gerry live from day to day, and one day isn't different from any other." He added: "If she's still missing at Christmas, then of course it's going to be an emotional time for them." The Sunday People quoted Madeleine's grandfather Brian Healy as saying the family are convinced she is still alive and are hoping for the ultimate Christmas miracle. The 67-year-old, who is Kate's father, was quoted as saying: "We will all buy her a Christmas present and they will be under the tree waiting for her when she comes home." He told the paper: "I will never forget how happy the whole family was last year as we watched the three children play so blissfully together. - 26th November 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives are reportedly set to end their hunt for missing girl Madeleine McCann. An elite team of senior officers took control of the investigation last month after it began to falter. But they could now pull out of the Praia Da Luz resort where Madeleine disappeared in May, according to Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas. It said the mystery is no nearer being solved despite new analysis of all the evidence. Portugal's second most senior policeman Paulo Rebelo had been sent to lead the new investigation team after claims the first investigators made a series of blunders. Alleged mistakes included the destruction of possibly vital forensic evidence. Meanwhile, a woman is threatening legal action over allegations she was spotted with Madeleine two days after the girl went missing on May 3. Michaela Walczuch, 34, is the girlfriend of Robert Murat, the first person to be named an official suspect in the case. - 23rd November 2007

▪ A lorry-driver told investigators he saw a woman resembling Ms Walczuch with a child like Madeleine near Silves, about 25 miles from Praia da Luz. But a friend said Ms Walczuch could not have been involved in the abduction because she was at church on the night the girl vanished. The mother of Madeleine McCann has voluntarily undergone drug tests in response to "smear stories" about her in Portugal. Reports claimed mother-of-three Kate McCann was taking anti-depressants at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, to cope with the stress of looking after her young children. But the family spokesman Clarence Mitchell has told Sky News Online that the test results show no drug use by Mrs McCann in at least the seven to eight weeks before her daughter vanished. He said there was a "timeline of bodily output", based on known rates of hair growth, that ruled out any use of anti-depressants by Mrs McCann in the last eight months. Tests on the McCanns' twins Sean and Amelie, that were carried out after it was suggested the couple had sedated their children, are also clear, Mr Mitchell added. "We can talk about this issue because it does not enter into Portuguese police files," Mr Mitchell said, adding that the slurs against Madeleine's mother had been made off the police record. Kate McCann's test results are included in a dossier of evidence collected by the legal team to refute allegations against the couple. Also in the defence file are DNA test results on the hire car, carried out independently by Home Office -approved experts - that rule out any claim that the McCanns transported their daughter's body in the vehicle, according to Mr Mitchell. - 23rd November 2007

▪ Private detectives working for Madeleine McCann's parents are studying a report that she was spotted at the same place and time as the partner of an official suspect in her disappearance. A tourist reportedly saw a little girl fitting the blonde youngster's description with a woman she thinks was Robert Murat's girlfriend, Michaela Walczuch, in Morocco on June 15, 43 days after the four-year-old went missing. The child was being dragged across the street in the northeastern town of Zaio by an Arab woman, said Isabel Gonzalez, 60. She told reporters: "I have always been convinced the girl I saw in Morocco was Madeleine. Now I am equally sure the blonde woman I saw that day in the town was Murat's girlfriend." A number of reported sightings of Madeleine have so far proved fruitless and her parents are treating the latest with caution. Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "As with all other sightings, we simply will not comment on the detail. "However, all the relevant information is with our investigators and they continue to work thoroughly on every sighting that comes in. We have also liaised with Portuguese police in recent days." Ms Walczuch, 34, strenuously denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and has reportedly described such claims as "ridiculous". Mr Murat also insists he is innocent. - 21st November 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents Kate and Gerry have escaped a private prosecution for child neglect charges, Sky News Online can reveal. Retired solicitor Tony Bennett has failed in his bid to issue a summons against the pair. The summons claimed the two doctors neglected their three children by leaving them in their holiday apartment in Portugal when they went out for dinner in the evenings. It was during the evening of May 3 that Madeleine disappeared. But Leicester Magistrates' Court has decided to turn down the summons request. The decision was announced by the judicial communications office at the High Court. A spokesman told Sky News: "After careful consideration, the request to issue a summons against Gerald and Kate McCann for alleged offences contrary to section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 has been refused as it is clear this court does not have the necessary jurisdiction. "All applications are considered in two stages. "The first stage is whether the court has the jurisdiction to issue a summons, the second is if there is sufficient evidence. "As with this application, if the first stage is not passed the second stage is not considered." Mr Bennett, of Chippingfield, Harlow, said before the court's decision: "I'd already got some concerns about the case. I've researched it quite thoroughly over the last six to eight weeks." He added: "Obviously speaking as a qualified social worker I was concerned that no action was being taken." The McCann's family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple had committed no offence under UK law or any other country's law. Mr Bennett unsuccessfully tried to bring a private prosecution against celebrity Michael Barrymore over the death of Stuart Lubbock. - 20th November 2007

▪ A woman who insists she saw Madeleine McCann being carried away has spoken of her guilt at failing to stop the abductor. Jane Tanner is one of the so-called "tapas nine" who were dining in an Algarve holiday resort when the young girl went missing on May 3. Minutes before the alarm was raised, Ms Tanner saw a man carrying a child away from the Mark Warner holiday complex in Praia da Luz. She revealed she did not get a close look at his face and was unsure whether she could identify him. Ms Tanner, 36, told a newspaper: "I wake up to that image every day. Every day I see him there, striding away, carrying Madeleine away and I try desperately to remember more detail, to try and remember what his face was like. "I think about it over and over again. It's horrible. He had his face turned away from me, sort of sideways and it was very dark. I just didn't see it properly, I wish to God I had. I wouldn't be able to identify him from photos or anything because I didn't get a clear look at him." She also said she had never told police the abductor was Robert Murat, an anglo-Portuguese ex-pat who was the first named suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. I've never pointed the finger at Robert Murat because I simply don't know if it was him or not," she said. "I would say the man I saw was more local, or Mediterranean-looking, rather than British, or a tourist. He had dark, almost black, long hair and had swarthy skin. "He was dressed in that sort of smart casual way European people dress, not the way Brits on holiday dress normally." - 20th November 2007

▪ The mother of the first suspect named over the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann spoke for the first time to rubbish notions her son was involved, in a BBC programme to be screened Monday. Robert Murat's mother Jenny said her son was with her throughout the evening of May 3, when McCann, aged three, disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Portugese south coast. British ex-patriot Murat lives with his mother close to the holiday complex where McCann had been left sleeping with her twin siblings while her parents ate in a nearby restaurant. Jenny Murat said anyone suggesting her son had been seen on the complex was not telling the truth. "I just don't know why they are lying," she said. "On May the third I'd been out taking the dogs out, which I do every single night of my life. And I got home about eight o'clock and Robert was already there and he was in all of the evening. "We were sitting in the kitchen talking the whole evening. I would definitely have known if he'd gone out." The toddler's parents Gerry and Kate McCann are the only others named as "arguidos" -- formal suspects -- in the case. They have raised a one-million-pound fighting fund through public donations to help the search for their eldest child. They have hired a Spanish private detective agency, headed by Francisco Marco, to hunt for her. "He's very confident," the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said. "He's 100 percent certain that she's alive and believes that they are 'very, very close' to finding the kidnapper." Mitchell confirmed that a new possible sighting of the missing toddler in Portugal on May 5 was being investigated. - 19th November 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann was seen in a car two days after her disappearance from a Portuguese holiday resort, a Spanish private detective has said. Francisco Marco said the sighting was north of Praia da Luz, the resort where the McCann family was staying. The revelation comes as footage of Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate, shot by a family friend, is to be screened on BBC One's Panorama. Madeleine, of Rothley, Leics, vanished from her holiday apartment on 3 May. She went missing days before her fourth birthday. Mr Marco, whose agency Metodo 3 is investigating the case on behalf of the McCanns, said a witness saw Madeleine in a car, on a small road, being handed over to another person. He said he believed the witness was reliable. "We know for example that two days after the kidnapping Madeleine was in a car and she was given to another person who was inside Portugal on a very small road," he said. He told the BBC he was confident the alleged kidnappers would be caught. "We are very close. I am not saying maybe, no no no... we are very very close to finding the kidnappers." I've no doubt that Madeleine was targeted and that makes us sick to the core to think that someone was watching us and our daughter Gerry McCann Friend tells of abduction He said a report had been filed with Portuguese police, but the country's secrecy laws meant it could not be made public. Gerry McCann speaks out in the personal video of his belief that his family had been watched by "a predator" in the days before his daughter's disappearance. - 18th November 2007

▪ A new sighting of Madeleine McCann is being investigated in the hunt for the missing four-year-old. A "witness" claims to have spotted Madeleine in central Portugal two days after she disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3. Gerry and Kate McCann have been informed of a reported sighting of their daughter in a car with a woman. Meanwhile Francisco Marco, head of the Spanish private detective agency hired by the McCanns, has said he is certain the little girl is alive. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "He's very confident. He's 100 per cent certain that she's alive and believes that they are 'very, very close' to finding the kidnapper. "Naturally we are extremely encouraged by any indication by our investigators that things are going well. But there have been a number of leads that have come to nothing and Kate and Gerry remain cautious." The McCanns, both still official suspects in her disappearance, hired agency Metodo3 in September to boost efforts to find their daughter. Mr Marco, head of a 40-strong-team said: "We have a six-month agreement with the McCanns. "We have already spent a month and a half working. I will find her before that period is up." And he is certain Mr and Mrs McCann had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance. "Our staff interviewed the McCanns for 10 hours - enough time for us to tell if they were trying to fool us. "My specialists assure me they are not hiding anything. I would not risk the prestige this agency has gained over 23 years without being convinced there is a case," he said. - 18th November 2007

▪ A private detective hired by Kate and Gerry McCann has said he is certain their missing daughter Madeleine is alive. Francisco Marco also told a US television station that the net is closing on the youngster's abductors. The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "He's very confident. "He's 100% certain that she's alive and believes that they are 'very, very close' to finding the kidnapper. "Naturally we are extremely encouraged by any indication by our investigators that things are going well. "But there have been a number of leads that have come to nothing and Kate and Gerry remain cautious." The comments come after new testimony emerged that Madeleine was seen in central Portugal two days after she disappeared from her family's holiday apartment. Mr Mitchell confirmed that a new sighting at an undisclosed location on May 5 was being investigated. But he added: "This is very much an ongoing inquiry by our investigators. We will not comment on individual sightings." Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz as her parents dined nearby with friends. The McCanns, both still official suspects in her disappearance, hired agency Metodo 3 to boost efforts to find their daughter. Speaking earlier this month, Mr Marco said he thought Madeleine is alive in Morocco. He also said he was following up reported sightings of a blonde-haired girl with her distinctive right eye. Mr Marco said: "We have a six-month agreement with the McCanns. "We have already spent a month and a half working. I will find her before that period is up." - 18th November 2007

▪ Portuguese police probing the May disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann "still do not have the solution" to the case, but are still receiving new information, the police chief said in an interview published Saturday. "We have stronger assurances on certain aspects of the investigation, but it is also true ... that we still do not have the solution," Alipio Ribeiro, the national director of Portugal's judicial police, told the Expresso weekly. "A criminal investigation cannot produce miracles," he said. "We continue to work with the best elements. For the moment, we have nothing to say on the matter." Madeleine, known as Maddie, disappeared on May 3 from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while her parents had dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant. She was three years old at the time. The girl's parents were named suspects in the case in September, but they have not been charged and strongly deny any involvement, maintaining that their daughter was abducted. Asked about possible arrests in the case in the coming weeks, Ribeiro said: "I don't know yet." He said "all hypotheses are still on the table." "New information comes to us every week," he said. "We are not closing any door." - 16th November 2007

▪ A close friend of the McCann family has spoken for the first time of how she is convinced she saw Madeleine being carried away by her abductor. Jane Tanner was among a group of friends dubbed "the tapas nine" who dined with the McCanns at their Algarve holiday resort while their children slept nearby. Earlier that evening she saw a mystery man walking away from the complex carrying a sleeping child who she now firmly believes was Madeleine. Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz just days before her fourth birthday. Ms Tanner said she decided to speak out despite the instructions of the Portuguese police after being labelled a liar and a fantasist in the media. Speaking to the BBC, she said: "I know what I saw and I think it is important that people know what I saw because I believe Madeleine was abducted." Describing the night of the abduction, she said another friend came to her apartment at about 10pm and said the child was gone. She said: "That was the first I heard about it. Then I saw Kate and Fiona running around shouting 'Madeleine.' Kate said to me: 'Jane, Madeleine's gone, Madeleine's gone'. Ms Tanner denied reports she has refused to cooperate with Portuguese detectives or that she changed her story. - 16th November 2007

▪ Gerry McCann is to return to full-time work in the New Year, his family spokesman has told Sky News Online. Mr McCann returned to his job part-time as a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital on November 1 - nearly six months after his daughter Madeleine vanished in Portugal. He is currently working three half-days a week as he tries to bring his life back to normality. Hospital trust bosses have set out a work pattern for him, which is mainly academic work for heart research and studies of MRI scans. But the 39-year-old, who reportedly earns £75,000 a year, and had been on unpaid leave, will soon return to normal duties. His spokesman Clarence Mitchell told Sky News Online: "He's getting back into it. "He's doing three half-days a week at the moment which will increase to full-time in the New Year. "He's pleased to be back, and the hospital's pleased to have him back." Mr Mitchell said he did not know whether Mr McCann had had direct contact with any patients yet, but said he would soon be doing so. Patients' groups have voiced doubts about his fitness to return. Roger Goss, the co-director of Patient Concern, told Sky News: "He should be monitored for three to six months - and patients should have the choice of another doctor if they wish." Kate McCann, a GP, has said she cannot consider returning to work while Madeleine remains missing. - 15th November 2007

▪ Gerry and Kate McCann's hopes of seeing details of their daughter's disappearance have been dashed - despite a change in Portuguese secrecy laws. This week's shake-up in the country's laws will make it easier for people - including official suspects in a case, like the McCanns - to access police investigation files. Previously, all information in police files had to remain secret. But the McCanns have told Sky News Online the overhaul will not lift the veil on documents concerning their daughter's disappearance. Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the couple had been informed by the Portuguese legal system that it would not apply to "complex" cases like Madeleine's. The McCanns had hoped the change would end the rumour and speculation that has surrounded the police inquiry. Carlos Pinto de Abreu, the McCanns' family lawyer, had been a prime mover behind the new legislation, and had hailed it as an important step towards a more open system. The changes follow complaints that officers made a series of blunders in the Madeleine investigation, including failing to seal off the crime scene. There have been accusations that detectives have been hiding behind the secrecy rules to conceal these errors. Many have blamed the information vacuum under the old rules for encouraging leaks to the media. These have included claims about forensic evidence in the McCanns' hire car, and suggestions that Kate McCann's diary shows she had trouble controlling her children. Police have named the McCanns as official suspects in their daughter's disappearance, and have submitted a 1,000-page dossier against them. - 14th November 2007

▪ The Portuguese police conducted a "flawed" investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, according to a British MEP. "The Portuguese police and judicial system is known to be suspect," says a letter from the office of Roger Knapman. The letter from the MEP for the South West of England added: "The original police investigation was amateurish and flawed. "It is important to realise that Portugal has no real history of citizen's rights and liberties or democracy." The letter was written on Mr Knapman's behalf, in reply to a woman who lobbied several MEPs complaining of the damage the case was doing to UK-Portugal relations. The woman accused the British Government and Gordon Brown of using political pressure to allow the McCanns to "avoid the consequences of Portugal's legal system". The MEP's letter says it is absurd to suggest the Prime Minister is involved in a cover-up. It points out that Portugal became a democracy only 30 years ago. "Many of the police were trained under fascism and the institutions still bear the impact of this long period of dictatorship." It adds: "In all the circumstances it is entirely right that British citizens should be protected against an unreliable foreign system. "In any event I think you can rest assured that the British police and intelligence services have long had a better grip on the facts of this case than the Portuguese police. The letter was written by Piers Merchant, a former Tory MP who was forced to quit after his affair with a 17-year-old was exposed by The Sun. He now works as an assistant to Mr Knapman at the UK Independence Party. - 13th November 2007

▪ Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have been barred from asking her parents and their friends 100 new questions, it was reported today. A Portuguese prosecutor has allegedly ruled that there is insufficient evidence to reinterview Kate and Gerry McCann and the seven British friends who were dining with them when Madeleine was reported missing. Detectives from the Polícia Judiciária were expected to arrive in Britain last month to reinterview at least four of the “tapas seven” friends about events in Praia da Luz on May 3. However, the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas claimed today that José Cunha de Magalhães e Meneses, the public prosecutor in charge of the case, has said he will not authorise further interrogations without stronger evidence. A source quoted by the newspaper said: “The letter of appeal [to the British authorities] is concluded. It contains over 100 questions which will be put to Kate and Gerry McCann, their family members and their friends. The purpose is to confirm the testimonies produced at the time the little girl disappeared.” Detectives who started a full review of the case last month, are still awaiting for the results of some tests by the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in Birmingham. Preliminary results from tests on samples found at the McCann’s holiday apartment and a car hired have proved inconclusive, it was reported. - 13th November 2007

▪ The first picture from inside the bedroom that Madeleine McCann vanished from in Portugal has emerged. The single bed where the four-year-old was sleeping before she went missing on May 3 can be seen pushed against a wall. Apartment 5A in the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz has been locked up since a second round of police forensic tests were carried out two weeks ago. Gerry and Kate McCann left the little girl and twins Sean and Amelie, two, asleep in the room while they dined nearby. The new unofficial image is a combination of three stills taken of the room, stitched together to give a panoramic view. Sky's crime correspondent, Martin Brunt, said the photographs were taken through a window at the front of the apartment - the same window the McCanns believe the youngster's kidnapper used to escape. The room is the furthest in the flat from the tapas restaurant where Madeleine's parents and their friends were dining, Brunt explained. There is an open door visible on the left-hand side of the shot through which Gerry McCann last checked on his children at 9.05pm. At 10pm, Kate McCann raised the alarm. A blue blanket can also be seen on the bed. Police are thought to have tested the theory a blanket was used by Madeleine's abductor to carry her out of the apartment. Detectives reportedly still believe the apartment could hold vital clues to the case. The current thinking of the Portuguese police is that an abductor probably got in through the patio doors by the swimming pool and took Madeleine out the same way, said Brunt. Meanwhile, there are new fears that the McCanns may remain arguidos, or formal suspects, in their daughter's disappearance for the next 15 years under Portuguese law. Photos Here - 12th November 2007

▪ Portuguese police have identified three moments which they believe could hold the key to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, according to a television documentary. Detectives are said to be focusing their investigation on three time periods on the night of May 3, which they believe were crucial when the four-year-old went missing from her parents’ holiday apartment. All three are connected to moments when Kate and Gerry McCann claim to have been indoors with their children, indicating detectives have not yet abandoned the idea that the couple could be responsible for the death of their missing daughter. They were made arguidos - formal suspects - in the case on September 7. Two days later the couple, both doctors, left Portugal to return home to Rothley in Leicestershire. They have always vehemently denied harming their daughter. The timeline of the evening on which Madeleine disappeared is revealed in a Portuguese documentary to be aired in English tomorrow by the state broadcaster RTP. Producers of the programme, titled “Anatomy of a Mystery”, say the timeline was created using information provided by senior detectives investigating the case, who are said to have given their tacit approval to the final result. Investigative reporter Sandra Felgueiras, who presents the programme, said: “We spoke to many people involved in the investigation and we are certain that the timeline is the best ever produced. “Our police sources confirmed that this is the most accurate version of events produced to date.” - 9th November 2007

▪ Friends who dined with Gerry and Kate McCann on the night their daughter vanished have denied that two of them want to change their stories. Spanish newspaper El Mundo said that lawyers of the unnamed pair had contacted Portuguese detectives to offer new information about four-year-old Madeleine McCann's disappearance. The claim came after suggestions in the media that members of the so-called 'tapas nine', other than the McCanns themselves, were to be made formal suspects in the case. Gerry and Kate McCann were having dinner in a tapas restaurant in the Portuguese village of Praia da Luz with seven friends on the night of May 3, when Madeleine vanished. The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the friends had all been contacted following the El Mundo report and insisted it was "totally untrue". But he said that the couple's friends had said they were happy to be re-interviewed by police if it resolved any apparent inconsistencies and hastened the McCanns being cleared. He said: "Contrary to a report in the Spanish press, and after consultation amongst Gerry and Kate McCann's friends, I can deny that any approach has been made by their lawyers asking to amend or change the witness statement of any of them. "This report is simply untrue. "Kate and Gerry's friends, who were with them on May 3, have consistently told the truth and remain happy, indeed they are keen, to be reinterviewed." The McCanns were declared official suspects by Portuguese detectives in September, the day before they finally flew back to the UK after four months in Portugal. - 8th November 2007

▪ A family spokesman said the media operation since the young girl disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Portugal had been "carefully considered". Clarence Mitchell was responding to accusations from one of Portugal's top police officers that Gerry and Kate McCann had created a press frenzy they could not control. Carlos Anjos, chairman of the Portuguese Union of Police Detectives, said the couple had acted against police advice and were "partly to blame" for stories they complained about. "There is no criminal investigation which can feed a news frenzy for six months so what we have seen are both English and Portuguese journalists behaving in a scandalous and unprofessional way," he told the BBC. "Writing terrible stories in the papers some of which have clearly affected the McCanns... now we have to say that the McCanns are partly to blame for this. "Because it was something they created. "It is our opinion that the McCanns created a monster of information about the 'Maddie case' which they then lost control of." However, Mr Mitchell said the campaign was designed to keep Madeleine in the public consciousness. "Mr Anjos has been very vocal on this throughout," he said. "My understanding is that he is not an active officer in this investigation. "We are not whipping up the media storm. Everything we have done from the word go has been very carefully considered and thought through. - 7th November 2007

▪ A child protection expert has accused the Portuguese police of making "critical" mistakes at the start of the Madeleine McCann investigation. Mark Williams-Thomas was commenting after members of the initial response team spoke publicly about the "chaotic" scenes at the apartment in Praia da Luz. Both officers, who remain anonymous, told reporters the investigation into the missing girl was "fatally flawed". One said: "To arrive as back-up and find a circus walking in and out of a possible crime scene - well that's ridiculous." Responding to the statement, Mr Williams-Thomas said: "It was for them to consider the importance of the apartment as a crime scene and secure it immediately, obtaining personal details from everyone who had been in the apartment for later eliminations purposes. "As soon as they arrived they were in charge and should have taken control." One of the Portuguese officers also suggested the McCanns' behaviour had been "strange" when the team arrived. "They were scared, and not the usual scared," he told reporters. "They were jumpy and nervous. "I don't know, it wasn't normal. None of it was normal and hasn't been right the way through." But Mr Williams-Thomas replied: "You cannot expect, however educated Gerry and Kate are, for them to be considering the importance of evidence at that stage having just reported Madeleine missing. - 6th November 2007

▪ A bag of clothes with a possible DNA link to Madeleine McCann has been found in a lay-by near Faro Airport, in Portugal. The items are said to have been found just over two weeks ago at the airport, which is an hour's drive from Praia da Luz where the four-year-old went missing on May 3. It is understood the contents, including a child's T-shirt, a pencil case, a shower curtain, adult jeans and a blue fleece, were handed to the Policia Judiciaria who passed the bag on to the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham. After ten days of analysis, experts there are said to have found traces of hair and skin with a partial DNA match to Madeleine on the adult clothes. But the link is thought to be only around three on a scale of one to eight. Although they recognise that the link is at best partial, Kate and Gerry McCann said they were "encouraged" by the development which would suggest she could still be alive and also backs up their view that Madeleine was abducted. A friend said: "It is encouraging because we think it shows that there is a chance, this could indicate an abductor has potentially discarded clothes on the way from Praia da Luz. "We realise this is not conclusive proof but we are encouraged the police have examined it and sent it for analysis so quickly. "Certainly we feel that whoever owned the clothing has got a lot of questions to answer.". - 5th November 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents have appealed to her abductor to treat her "like a princess as she deserves". On the six-month anniversary of her disappearance, Gerry McCann said he "hoped and prayed" she was being cared for properly. He also told of the pain that he and his wife Kate were suffering being separated from her. Writing on his blog, Mr McCann said the case was "all the more distressing when we have to speculate about the situation Madeleine finds herself". He said: "It is an incredibly long time for us - but must be even longer for Madeleine. "We have no idea whether she is suffering, but we have to hope and pray that she is being treated like a princess, as she deserves." He said millions of people now knew Madeleine was and the couple would not give up looking for her. Mr McCann made the comments ahead of a special service to mark the passing of six months since her disappearance. The McCanns, who are still suspects in Madeleine's disappearance, were joined at the vigil by friends and neighbours at a church near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. Mr McCann returned to his job as a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester last Thursday. - 5th November 2007

▪ Authorities in Morocco have no reason to believe missing British toddler Madeleine McCann may be in the country as suggested by British press reports, Moroccan Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa said Sunday. British newspapers reported Saturday that Moroccan police were looking for the girl, who disappeared from southern Portugal in May, in the Rif mountains following reported sightings of her in the village of Fnidek east of Tangiers. "We have no new evidence suggesting such a presence in Morocco," the minister told AFP when asked about the press reports. "We have cooperated for a long time with Portuguese and British police through Interpol and we have not had any new development on this case up until now," he added. A previous sighting of a girl in Morocco who looked like Madeleine by a Spanish tourist last month proved to be a false lead, the minister recalled. Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal on May 3, a few days before her fourth birthday, while her parents dined nearby with friends. Kate and Gerry McCann, who are both doctors, returned to England in the beginning of September after being named as official suspects in the case by Portuguese police. They have not been charged. The director of a Spanish private detective agency hired by the couple to look for Madeleine has said he believes she was abducted and taken to Morocco. - 4th November 2007

▪ A new photograph of Madeleine Mccann has been released to mark six months since the four-year-old disappeared from her family's holiday flat in Portugal. The picture was taken 20 days before she vanished and shows her sitting on the back of a Shetland pony with her mother Kate by her side. It was taken on a day out at the Hatton Country World park in Warwickshire on April 13 - less than three weeks before she went missing. Last night Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate attended a special service to mark the six months since her disappearance. The couple were joined at the vigil by friends and neighbours at the St Mary and St John church near their home in Rothley, Leicestershire. They held hands as they walked into the 14th Century church just before 9.30pm - the time Madeleine vanished while the family was on holiday in Praia da Luz in Portugal. Earlier Kate McCann made a fresh appeal for information about Madeleine. She said: "Six months is such a long time for a little girl to be separated from her family. "We believe that our Madeleine is out there somewhere and retain hope that we can be reunited. "Madeleine is a beautiful little person who deserves a loving and happy life." The mother of three urged anyone with information to call a phone line manned by private detectives on 0034 902 300213. - 4th November 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann prayed in their local church at a service marking the six-month anniversary of her disappearance. Gerry and Kate McCann attended the service at St Mary and St John parish church in Rothley, Leicestershire, six months to the day since their eldest child disappeared from the resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve southern coast. The service began at 9:30 pm, thought to be the exact time that Madeleine, then aged three, went missing as her parents dined with friends in a restaurant on their apartment complex. Reverend Rob Gladstone led special prayers for missing children, including others who have vanished. He said a special verse entitled A Rothley Prayer, which was based on a verse from Hebrews. It included the line: "Comfort and liberate all those, especially young children who have been taken from their families against their will, give courage to their grieving families." The McCanns visited the church earlier with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to say a private prayer, but did not bring them to the evening service. The couple did not comment as they entered and left the 700-year-old church. Brian Kennedy, Madeleine McCann's great uncle, told reporters: "It was a very uplifting service. Obviously this is a very emotional time for them but I think they are standing up very well." Family friend Val Armstrong added: "They are so resolute in this. The conviction they have is that she is still alive and we have to believe that. Kate McCann earlier made a fresh appeal for her daughter's safe return. - 4th November 2007

▪ Kate McCann has marked the six-month anniversary of her daughter Madeleine's disappearance with a fresh appeal. In a statement, Mrs McCann said she remained hopeful about her daughter's safe return. She said: "Six months is such a long time for a little girl to be separated from her family. We believe that our Madeleine is out there somewhere and retain hope that we can be reunited. "Madeleine is a beautiful little person who deserves a loving and happy life. To ensure this, there is no doubt that the best place for her to be is with her family. "We know somebody somewhere can make this happen. That person has the ability and power to bring about so much joy as well as bring peace to themselves. "If you have any information relating to Madeleine's disappearance or whereabouts please pass it on." The mother of three, from Rothley in Leicestershire, urged anyone with information to call a phone line manned by private detectives on 0034 902 300213. The McCanns will mark the anniversary by taking part in an ecumenical prayer service at the Church of St Mary and St John in Rothley. The move comes as the Spanish private detective hired by the McCanns to find Madeleine vowed that he would do so within five months. Francisco Marco said he thought she was alive in Morocco and is following up reported sightings of a blonde-haired girl with her distinctive right eye. - 3rd November 2007

▪ Reports that DNA results back up claims that the McCanns were involved in Madeleine's death have been slammed by their spokesman. Results were reportedly sent to Portuguese police by the Birmingham-based Forensic Science Service which include new evidence of the presence of Madeleine's body in a hire car. The car had been rented by a number of people, including Kate and Gerry McCann, several weeks after her disappearance from the couple's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve on May 3. The couple are preparing to mark the six-month anniversary of her disappearance at a special ecumenical church service on Saturday. Clarence Mitchell said: "This is yet another unsourced, unsubstantiated and possibly inaccurate report and as such we simply won't comment in it. "However, Kate and Gerry are entirely innocent and therefore are unconcerned about reports in the media because they know the truth." He added: "They are not responsible in any way, shape or form for their daughter's disappearance. "Any evidence or material that the police may have that gives them cause for concern, Kate and Gerry can entirely explain with innocent reasons." Friends of the McCanns have said that any traces of Madeleine's DNA in the car can be explained by the fact that it was used to ferry her clothes and belongings to a new apartment, as well as transferring household waste such as her siblings' used nappies. - 2nd November 2007

▪ A Spanish private detective hired by Gerry and Kate McCann has vowed to find missing Madeleine within five months. Francisco Marco said he believes the child is alive in Morocco and is already following up reported sightings of a blonde-haired girl with her distinctive right eye. The detective's Spanish-based agency, Metodo 3, was given the job of finding Madeleine in September. He said: "We have a six-month agreement with the McCanns. We have already spent a month and a half working. I will find her before that period is up." The 35-year-old said he is certain Mr and Mrs McCann had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance from Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3. Mr Marco, head of a 40-strong team, said: "Our staff interviewed the McCanns for 10 hours - enough time for us to tell if they were trying to fool us. "My specialists assure me they are not hiding anything. I would not risk the prestige this agency has gained over 23 years without being convinced there is a case." The father of two believes Madeleine was stolen to order from the family's holiday villa in the Algarve. He told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia: "A blonde girl like Madeleine is a symbol of social status in Morocco. That is the way it is and I can't tell you more." But the McCanns are not getting their hopes up over the new sighting, their spokesman insisted. - 2nd November 2007 ▪ The father of missing toddler Madeleine McCann returned to work Thursday nearly six months ago after she vanished while on holiday in Portugal, saying the family had done "everything we can" to find his daughter. Gerry McCann, a cardiologist at a hospital in Leicester, told reporters that he was "very pleased" to be returning to work and re-establishing "a degree of normality". Initially, he will work part-time and have limited contact with patients but his boss said it would be unfair to "develop prejudices" about McCann, who alongside wife Kate has been named as a suspect by Portuguese police. It will be six months on Saturday since Madeleine McCann went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz shortly before her fourth birthday. Her family will mark the six-month anniversary with a prayer service in their local church. "We have always said that at six months, we didn't want to look back and say 'I wish we had done that and wish we had done this'," Gerry McCann said just before going back to work. "But now we feel that we have done everything we can do to establish the search for Madeleine on an ongoing basis and we feel we have the proper infrastructure now in place to find her. That in turn allows me to concentrate on returning to work properly." He added that he was "not expecting any significant developments in the near future" unless Madeleine was found. - 1st November 2007

▪ A NANNY found a prowler hiding outside the McCanns’ holiday apartment before Madeleine vanished, it was revealed last night. The Brit rang a special hotline set up by the couple’s private detectives to tell how the stranger sprinted off after she spotted him lurking in the shadows. The former Ocean Club worker, identified only as “MH”, was babysitting a young boy at the same holiday flat in which the McCanns later stayed. She said she told UK police about the mystery dark-haired man and gave them a statement in June. But she has not been questioned by Portuguese police leading the search for Madeleine, who vanished on May 3, two days before her fourth birthday. Last night private eyes hired by parents Kate and Gerry, both 39, said her evidence was a “solid lead”. They are convinced Madeleine was snatched to order by a gang who smuggled her to Morocco, where investigators are probing 10 possible new sightings. The private detectives are also hunting an “insider” at the resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal, who they believe tipped off the kidnappers about the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. The nanny said she spotted the stranger lurking in bushes outside the flat. A source close to the McCanns said: “She had a call from her bosses warning her of a problem with rats. For that reason, she left the flat briefly. “She saw something move in the darkness ... to her surprise, she then saw a man’s shoe. She cried out and the man ran from the shadows, shouted: ‘No, no!’ and fled.” - 31st October 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have slammed a German satirical magazine's "extremely hurtful" article on the publicity surrounding their daughter's disappearance. The Titanic published a double-page spread in the form of a supermarket advert, depicting a number of products promoted with Madeleine's image. One is for a domestic cleaner guaranteed to remove "all traces at home and against which DNA tests have no chance". Another is for a popular brand of soup flavouring called Maggi renamed after Madeleine. And one promotion is for a brand of chocolate with the usual childish face replaced by that of the young girl, who vanished in Portugal. It suggests that 1% of every sale will be donated to Interpol. The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "This is not only extremely hurtful to Kate and Gerry but totally disrespectful to Madeleine." The magazine had not sought permission to use Madeleine's image and the McCanns' lawyers were now studying the publication, Mr Mitchell said. But Titanic editor Oliver Nagel defended the feature, saying it was not a criticism of the McCanns and it was meant solely for a German audience. Over the spread the magazine says Madeleine "has become the most famous face in the world and probably the universe" and that it is a logical next step that her image be used for product promotion. Mr Nagel added: "I would not say anything. We don't go round apologising for the articles we are printing. - 31st October 2007

▪ A child protection expert believes the man heading the Portuguese inquiry into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has reached a crucial stage in the investigation. Former police detective Mark Williams-Thomas said: "It's now time to make a decision about the line of inquiry which focuses on Kate and Gerry McCann. "It's time to either make the case against them or release them from suspect status and put forward an alternative case." Mr Williams-Thomas, who has run major paedophile inquiries in Britain, is confident the new head of the investigation, Paulo Rebelo, has been through all the evidence and will now be looking at the possibilities. He said: "There is now a new focus, a new team, and the new man heading the investigation has been in position for about three weeks. "He's proactive and seems to be doing all the right things. He should have been involved from the start." The Portuguese police' handling of the original investigation into Madeleine's disappearance six months ago has been widely criticised. There were concerns that detectives did not secure the crime scene for long enough to gather adequate forensic material. The Portuguese were also criticised for failing to make a public appeal for witnesses. Portuguese law constrains what information police can release, but Mr Williams-Thomas hopes the law will be reviewed in the light of the Madeleine case. - 31st October 2007

▪ Portuguese police have staged a reconstruction of the night Madeleine McCann disappeared from her holiday flat - six months into the case. Paulo Rebelo, who is now heading up the investigation, spent three hours at the apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve with six other detectives. The windows and shutters of the flat were checked thoroughly and a large bundle was passed through the window where the four-year-old was sleeping to re-enact the moment she may have been snatched on May 3. Key locations in the area were also checked, such as the house of suspect Robert Murat and the house of Sergei Malinka, a Russian computer expert linked to him. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We welcome any indication that the Portuguese police are taking the abduction theory seriously because that is what happened." Meanwhile, it has emerged that Kate and Gerry McCann have used some of the money from the campaign to find her to pay their mortgage. The couple have been on unpaid leave since Madeleine's disappearance. Mr Mitchell confirmed that money sent to help their efforts to find their missing daughter had been used for their housing costs. He said: "The fund has always had the ability to assist the family financially if necessary, and they've only used it to pay for two mortgage payments, earlier this year. - 30th October 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann repaid two instalments of their mortgage with money from the fund set up to help find her, their spokesman confirmed on Tuesday. But Kate and Gerry McCann stopped taking money from the one million pound "Find Madeleine" fund after they were made official suspects, Clarence Mitchell said. He was speaking after media reports on Tuesday that the couple made two 2,000-pound repayments on their 460,000-pound detached house in Rothley, Leicestershire with fund money. He confirmed the couple made two repayments in July and August, but defended their motives. The primary objective of the fund, a not-for-profit company, was to help efforts to find Madeleine, but it can also provide financial support for her parents to cope with the stress, he said. The couple have not worked since the young girl disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May, just before her fourth birthday. Mitchell said once they were made official suspects in the case, they stopped using the fund for mortgage repayments. It was a mutual decision with the fund, after they conceded they would not be entitled to the money, he said. Mitchell confirmed that because of their financial predicament, Gerry McCann, 39, will return to work as a consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on Thursday. It remains unclear what his wife, also 39, will do after reports said she was unlikely return to work as a locum GP. - 30th October 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat was "absolutely not worried" despite a reported move by detectives to re-interview him, a friend said on Tuesday. Paulo Rebelo, who heads the police inquiry, ordered a fresh interrogation of the Briton after his first inspection of the Portuguese holiday apartment from where the little girl went missing, said the Evening Standard. But Mr Murat, 33, has not spoken to police for nearly three months and was not concerned about today's report, said family friend and spokesman Tuck Price. Mr Murat, whose villa is just yards from the spot where Madeleine was abducted on May 3, strenuously denies any involvement in the four-year-old's disappearance. He was made an official suspect in the case 10 days after the Leicestershire youngster went missing. Mr Rebelo, recently appointed new head of the investigation, is said to have examined windows at the McCanns' former holiday apartment in Praia da Luz and paced out all possible escape routes during his inspection of the property. He is also reported to have walked the 100 yards to the villa Mr Murat shares with his mother. Mr Murat is one of three formal suspects in the Madeleine McCann investigation along with the child's parents, Gerry and Kate. The report of his re-interview came as the McCanns were forced to answer questions in the media about the use of the fighting fund set up to find their daughter. Their spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, confirmed that money had been used to help meet mortgage costs on their detached property in Rothley. - 30th October 2007

▪ Private investigators searching for Madeleine McCann found a blonde girl who had been kidnapped by a Moroccan family, it was claimed today. The discovery will give new hope to Kate and Gerry that their daughter is still alive and in a "similar situation". Sources inside Spanish detective agency Metodo 3, which has been hired by the McCanns, said Interpol is investigating the discovery of the blonde girl living in the Rif mountains — the area where they are searching for Madeleine. An insider said: "She was not Madeleine but she was an English speaker, possibly an American." The boss of Metodo 3 said he believed Madeleine was abducted by a care worker on the instruction of a paedophile gang who stole the child to order. He believes another girl matching Madeleine's description, who has been spotted with a woman aged about 60 in the Rif mountains by 10 different people, could well be the four-year-old who went missing from the Algarve on 3 May. Francisco Marco, Metodo 3's director-general, said: "My own feeling is that this woman is some sort of carer who is working on behalf of other people. We can't be certain it's Madeleine but several unconnected people have told our informers of the same girl with the same woman. "The only difference is that she has slightly shorter hair than Madeleine had when she disappeared. Everything else matches. - 29th October 2007

▪ "They've been seen over a wide area but always within the confines of the Rif mountains." This evening police in Portugal are due to carry out a re-enactment of events on the night Madeleine McCann went missing. The four-year-old vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve on May 3 and has not been seen since. McCanns to mark six month milestone 'quietly' The McCanns made a tearful appearance on Spanish TV to publicise a new hotline. Officers - including the new head of the investigation Paulo Rebelo - are expected to descend on the Ocean Club complex in the quiet town of Praia da Luz. They will spent several hours in the ground-floor apartment from which Madeleine vanished and at one point an officer will push a bundle out through a half-open window. Detectives are now understood to be examining the theory that Madeleine was kidnapped, stolen to order on the instructions of a paedophile gang and might still be alive in Morocco. This goes directly against earlier lines of enquiry which focused on her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, who are formal suspects or arguidos in the case of the disappearance of their daughter. It was allegedly thought at one stage that Mrs McCann accidentally killed Madeleine and relied on her husband to help cover it up, a theory put forward by police chief Goncalo Amaral who was sacked from the investigation. A source close to the couple said: "Kate and Gerry are a lot happier with the way the investigation is being run under the new Portuguese police team which took over from Amaral. - 29th October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are pinning hopes of finding their missing daughter on private investigators in Spain. The couple have been told the young girl is most likely in the Iberian Peninsula - an area which includes Spain, Portugal and Andorra - or North Africa. Six months after Madeleine disappeared, Gerry and Kate McCann made a desperate plea this week during an emotional interview to a Spanish TV network. The couple released a description of the man they believe took their daughter and launched an anonymous phone help line. Writing on his regular blog Gerry said: "We did our first interview since being made arguidos, for Spanish TV. "This was very difficult for us but had one important purpose. "We announced that private investigators are looking for Madeleine and that there is a dedicated anonymous telephone line for anyone who has information, which may help us to find Madeleine." The sketches depict a man of southern European or Mediterranean appearance walking with a child in his arms. They were drawn after a witness saw a man near the McCann's apartment on May 3, the night Madeleine disappeared. The man is drawn with greasy, straggly hair, wearing a purple or maroon top and beige chinos. He is aged about 35 to 40, 5ft 6in (1.7m) tall, and of slim build. "We hope that this picture may jog someone's memory who may have seen this man in the Praia da Luz area on the night or days before Madeleine was abducted," Mr McCann said. "Someone else may be aware of a man matching this description who has behaved suspiciously at any time since the beginning of May." - 28th October 2007

▪ Many sightings of Madeleine McCann have been reported in Morocco by holidaymakers after an appeal by private investigators searching for the missing girl and the release of a description of her alleged abductor. The investigators are reported to be particularly interested in three calls that gave details of a girl matching Madeleine’s description with a middle-class Moroccan woman aged about 60. Gerry McCann has said for the first time that he is convinced that a friend saw the abductor taking his daughter from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3. A sketch of a man allegedly seen walking away from the Ocean Club resort was released by the private investigators last week. Mr McCann wrote on his internet blog at the weekend: “We believe this child was Madeleine . . . Someone else may be aware of a man matching this description who has behaved suspiciously at any time since the beginning of May.”. The friend who claims to have seen the abductor has said that she is still haunted by the image of him striding away from the ground-floor apartment where the McCanns were staying, carrying a girl. Jane Tanner, 36, from Exeter, has insisted that she told Portuguese police immediately of the sighting. Carlos Anjos, president of the Judicial Police Inspector’s Union, dismissed the picture as a “cartoon”. - 28th October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are pinning hopes of finding their missing daughter on private investigators in Spain.The couple have been told the young girl is most likely in the Iberian Peninsula - an area which includes Spain, Portugal and Andorra - or North Africa. Six months after Madeleine disappeared, Gerry and Kate McCann made a desperate plea this week during an emotional interview to a Spanish TV network. The couple released a description of the man they believe took their daughter and launched an anonymous phone help line. Writing on his regular blog Gerry said: "We did our first interview since being made arguidos, for Spanish TV. "This was very difficult for us but had one important purpose. "We announced that private investigators are looking for Madeleine and that there is a dedicated anonymous telephone line for anyone who has information, which may help us to find Madeleine." The sketches depict a man of southern European or Mediterranean appearance walking with a child in his arms. They were drawn after a witness saw a man near the McCann's apartment on May 3, the night Madeleine disappeared. The man is drawn with greasy, straggly hair, wearing a purple or maroon top and beige chinos. He is aged about 35 to 40, 5ft 6in (1.7m) tall, and of slim build. "We hope that this picture may jog someone's memory who may have seen this man in the Praia da Luz area on the night or days before Madeleine was abducted," Mr McCann said. - 27th October 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have given their first TV interview since being named as official suspects in their daughter's disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann appeared on a Spanish station to announce the launch of a phone line for anyone with information about the four-year-old. Mrs McCann broken down in tears towards the end of the interview as she talked personally about Madeleine. "I feel sad and I feel lonely and our life is not as happy without Madeleine," she said. "I feel anxious she is not with us." Asked about the last time she saw Madeleine, she said: "She was very happy and very loving and I know Madeleine was very happy with her life. She is special." Mrs McCann was also asked if she was as confident now of finding Madeleine alive as she was on the day she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. She replied: "Maybe even more so. I think she is possibly being held by someone in their house but I don't know. "As Madeleine's mummy I feel in my heart that she is there. I don't know how anyone could harm anyone as beautiful as Madeleine. I don't mean her appearance. I mean as a beautiful person." Asked how their other two children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, were coping, she said: "They do ask about Madeleine. Madeleine was very much a big part of their life. They are not upset and they are not distressed but they are very much aware she is not there." - 26th October 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have released images of a man they believe abducted their daughter in May from a Portuguese resort. The artist's sketches show a man with dark, greasy collar-length hair and wearing a purple or maroon top with beige trousers, carrying a child. The images were drawn by an FBI-trained forensic artist using details from a friend of the McCanns. The friend saw the man but did not link him to the disappearance at the time. Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz days before her fourth birthday. Her parents Gerry and Kate were named as official suspects in September. Jane Tanner was among a group of friends who dined with them on 3 May when they left Madeleine and their two other children asleep in an apartment nearby. Ms Tanner described the man she saw as aged about 35 to 40, 5ft 6in (1.7m) tall, and of slim build. And the child he was carrying was described as wearing the same pyjamas as Madeleine. However, his face has been left blank as Ms Tanner was not certain about some details. The images were commissioned by private detectives working for the McCanns, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said. View The Image Here. and Here.. - 25th October 2007

▪ Tears shed by Kate McCann during a televised interview are nothing compared to the grief she has hidden from the cameras, the family's spokesman has said. The couple, whose daughter was last seen nearly six months ago, gave the emotional interview to a Spanish TV network in order to publicise a new hotline for people to ring with information about Madeleine. In the interview, the McCanns talked about life without their daughter, and remembered Madeleine as a "very loving and very happy" little girl. "I feel sad and I feel lonely and our life is not as happy without Madeleine," said Mrs McCann, who added: "I feel anxious she is not with us." Mr McCann described how one of the most difficult things about life without his first-born child was having to tell his twin children that he did not know when their big sister would be coming back. "The hardest thing for me is when the twins say 'when is Madeleine coming back home?' and we have to say 'we don't know, but everyone is looking for her'," he said. The interview, which shows Mrs McCann breaking down towards the end of the reporter's questions, was billed as revealing a rare public show of emotion from the couple. Their composure in previous televised appeals has attracted criticism and suspicion from some commentators - a response spokesman Clarence Mitchell has described as "the height of arrogance". He told Sky News: "I would suggest to anyone who criticises Kate, in particular, for being cold and calm and a little strange, ask how you would react if your child was missing in these circumstances. - 25th October 2007

▪ A 24-hour hotline is being launched by Kate and Gerry McCann in a fresh attempt to find their missing daughter Madeleine. The couple will make a "direct, heartfelt" appeal on Spanish television urging people in Portugal, Spain and north Africa to phone 00 34 902 300213 if they have any information about the four-year-old. The confidential line, manned by private detectives, has been given the full backing of Portuguese police. The McCann's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said they were concentrating on that region because it is thought to be the area where the little girl is "most likely" to be. Mr Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry McCann will issue a direct, heartfelt appeal to the people of Spain, Portugal and north Africa to ask them for their help in finding their daughter Madeleine. "Kate and Gerry will reiterate their firm belief that Madeleine is still alive, and they will urge anyone with information, no matter how minor it may seem to them, to contact a newly-established, confidential 24-hour phone number operated by private detectives based in Spain.". He added: "Their renewed appeal is being made with the full knowledge and support of the police in both Portugal and Spain." - 24th October 2007

▪ Kate McCann has broken down in tears during a television interview, while making an appeal for help in finding her daughter. The appearance, shown on Spanish TV station Antena 3, is the first televised interview Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry have given since being made official suspects in Madeleine's disappearance. The four-year-old vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 while her parents dined nearby with friends. Mrs McCann became emotional towards the end of the questioning, recorded on Tuesday, as she talked personally about her eldest child. "I feel sad and I feel lonely and our life is not as happy without Madeleine," she said in tears, adding: "I feel anxious she is not with us." Asked about the last time she saw Madeleine, she said: "She was very happy and very loving and I know Madeleine was very happy with her life. She is special." The McCanns reportedly chose Antena 3 ahead of more well known broadcasters such as Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters for the interview because they believe their daughter is most likely to be in Spain, Portugal or north Africa. They urged people from that region to dial +34 902 300213 on a confidential, 24-hour phone line manned by private investigators if they have any information about Madeleine. - 24th October 2007

▪ Portuguese police have said they would seek to conduct interviews in Britain, rather than ask the group to return to Portugal. Mr Ribeiro also appeared to admit that mistakes had been made in the inquiry. With a fresh team of detectives drafted in, he said, 'we have to give a new thrust to the investigation and try to understand signs that perhaps we didn't in the beginning'. The developments came as a former head of Scotland Yard launched a scathing attack on Portuguese police. Lord Stevens said Kate and Gerry McCann had become the victims of a witchhunt and the investigation of them was a 'farce'. He said the 'sheer inadequacy' of the Portuguese inquiry would make it 'an outrageous miscarriage of justice' for Madeleine's parents to face charges over her disappearance on May 3. The McCanns have had to endure claims that they accidentally killed their daughter, then hid her body and staged an abduction, accusations they vehemently deny. Lord Stevens, who led a massive inquiry into the death of Princess Diana after retiring from Scotland Yard in 2005, said: 'I've been a detective at the most senior level for 30 years and have never seen such a witch-hunt, or one based on such flimsy evidence.' - 23rd October 2007

▪ The Soham murder detective who caught Ian Huntley has blasted Portugese police for their handling of the Madeline McCann investigation. Retired Det Chief Supt Chris Stevenson, 58, said officers in Praia de Luz are too inexperienced and ill-equipped to deal with the case. He believes police were too slow off the mark when the four-year-old went missing, on May 3, and that she will probably never be found alive. Speaking to a national newspaper, Mr Stevenson said: "If you don't immediately realise what you are dealing with, you get caught and make major forensic errors. "That's what appears to have happened in the Maddie case. This was a child missing from home but they didn't seem to have thought anything suspicious might have happened at first. In Britain we refer to this period immediately after a child vanishes as the 'golden hours.'" Stevenson, the senior officer in charge of the Soham investigation when Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman , both 10, went missing in 2002, went to Portugal with a team of Britain's top crime experts to analyse the handling of the inquiry. His three-day investigation was broadcast in the Channel 4 documentary, Searching for Madeline: A Dispatches Special, which was aired last week. - 23rd October 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann left her alone for three hours for the last four nights of their holiday in Portugal to enjoy dinner with their friends at a nearby restaurant, a key witness has claimed. “Gerry and Kate McCann, and their friends all left their children in their apartments at exactly the same time for four days. Their fondness for the same restaurant made Madeleine easy prey for a potential abductor. “The apartments are all quite close to the pool, but there are trees in between so you can't see them from the restaurant. Even though they were checking their children every 20 minutes or so there was still a lot of time they were left alone when someone could have gone in and taken them. “When you think back now, because the routine was so set in stone every night, if somebody had been watching the group they would definitely have been able to work out what was going on and choose the right moment to take the child,” the Daily Mail quoted a waiter at that restaurant as saying. The waiter, whose name has not been revealed, has also claimed that this arrangement was widely known about by all workers at the restaurant, who thought it was strange that other holiday-makers had to queue for reservations at the popular Tapas bar. - 23rd October 2007

▪ A TV comedy sketch suggesting the Prime Minister would use Madeleine McCann as an election publicity tool has now attracted 55 complaints from viewers. The sketch - part of the 'Bremner, Bird and Fortune' show - portrayed Gordon Brown as someone who would find the missing toddler on the eve of a general election to help win votes. Viewers have written to the media regulator Ofcom outraged the toddler should be the subject of a joke. One expressed his 'abhorrence at a supposed joke' and suggested Channel 4 had 'reached a new level in despicable taste'. A spokesman for Ofcom said: "We have received 55 complaints about Bremner, Bird and Fortune broadcast on 14 October. "We will make an initial assessment of the complaints, with reference to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, before deciding if any further action needs to be taken." Aired at 7pm, the episode was watched by an estimated 1.3 million viewers. Channel 4 recently defended the programme. It said the sketch was aimed at "satirising the lengths politicians would go to win public support, following press criticism of the timing of Gordon Brown's visit to Iraq in the run up to a snap general election".A spokesman added: "We can assure you the sketch was not aimed at the McCann family. - 22nd October 2007

▪ The father of missing Madeleine McCann is considering going back to work before Christmas. Dr Gerry McCann, a consultant cardiologist at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital, has been off work since his daughter disappeared in Portugal on May 3. Madeleine's father is currently on unpaid leave from his job, which reportedly earns him around £75,000 a year. But he is now talking to managers at the hospital about a possible return before the end of this year, his spokesman Clarence Mitchell confirmed. "No final decision has been taken on his return," Mr Mitchell said. "It's one area that's under general consideration. It is hoped that he would go back before Christmas, but whether it happens in the next week or next month still has to be decided." NHS bosses would also have to be satisfied that Mr McCann was ready to go back, Mr Mitchell said. "Whether it's full time or starting gradually, it's all under consideration," he added. It is another difficult decision for Mr McCann and his wife Kate following their agonising decision to fly back to the UK without their eldest child. Mrs McCann, who worked as a part-time GP in Melton, has previously said she was unable to consider working again while Madeleine remained missing. The couple are expected to have further meetings with advisers this week. They strenuously having anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance. - 21th October 2007

▪ The McCann family spokesman has refused to comment on a report that said tests on Madeleine's brother and sister back the parents' claim they never sedated their missing child. Analysis of hair samples from two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie is said to show no evidence of sedatives. That would add strength to Kate and Gerry McCann's denial that they had given their three children sleeping pills on the night Madeleine vanished. Madeleine, who was three at the time, went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3. McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell refused to confirm or deny the report in the Evening Standard. He said: "We will not comment on any of the legal aspects of this case. Our lawyers are looking at all of the issues raised by the case very closely indeed. "Kate and Gerry have already made it quite clear that they have never used sedatives on their children." Mr and Mrs McCann have faced a series of allegations since Portuguese detectives named them as formal suspects in Madeleine's disappearance. They strongly deny any involvement, and have said they are considering legal action against media organisations which suggested they had drugged their children. - 20th October 2007

Tests on Kate and Gerry McCann's other two children support their insistence that they never sedated their missing daughter Madeleine, it was reported today. Analysis of hair samples from their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie found no evidence of sedatives, according to London's Evening Standard. This would add strength to the couple's vehement denial of allegations they had given their three children sleeping pills on the night Madeleine vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3. The McCanns' official spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, refused to confirm or deny the report. He said: "We will not comment on any of the legal aspects of this case. "Our lawyers are looking at all of the issues raised by the case very closely indeed. "Kate and Gerry have already made it quite clear that they have never used sedatives on their children." Mr and Mrs McCann have faced a series of allegations since detectives named them as formal suspects in Madeleine's disappearance on September 7. They strongly deny any involvement, and have said they are considering legal action against media organisations that suggest they drugged their children. - 20th October 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are the victims of a "witch-hunt" and there is no evidence to suggest they murdered their daughter, said Britain's former top police officer. In an article for the News of the World, former Metropolitan Police chief Lord Stevens said there was no hard evidence because of the "sheer inadequacy" of the Portuguese police investigation. He writes: "There's absolutely no chance that the parents of Madeleine McCann would be charged with her murder in this country. It would be an outrageous miscarriage of justice if they were. "I've been a detective at the most senior level for 30 years and have never seen such a witch-hunt, or one based on such flimsy evidence." He said Portuguese police should have immediately treated the McCanns as the prime suspects, adding: "That police error has become their tragedy now, because if they had been properly investigated back then they may well have been cleared." He believed abduction was the most likely possibility. Lord Stevens retired as Metropolitan Police commissioner in 2005 after five years in the post and more than 40 years in the force. - 20th October 2007

▪ Prime Minister Gordon Brown will discuss the Madeleine McCann case with the Portuguese premier Jose Socrates. Mr Brown, who is in Lisbon for an EU Summit, told reporters: "I'm meeting the Portuguese Prime Minister later and we will discuss this issue. "I have discussed this issue with him before, to assure myself that the police authorities are taking the actions that are necessary and there's proper cooperation between the British and Portuguese police." The Prime Minister spoke to the Portuguese premier about the case in early July. He thanked him for his help in the efforts to find Madeleine. As well as keeping himself up to date on the details of the police investigation, Mr Brown has spoken to Gerry McCann several times. It was reported that conversations between the couple and ministers were stopped when the McCanns were named as suspects because of the sensitive nature of their legal status. Gerry and Kate McCann were named as official suspects, or "arguidos" last month. - 18th October 2007

▪ The winner of a prestigious award for novelists has revealed how she takes part in the "international sport" of disliking Gerry and Kate McCann. In a venomous attack on the family, Mann Booker Prize winner Anne Enright wrote that she was "angry" that Kate and Gerry McCann "refused to accept" their daughter was dead. "Disliking the McCanns is an international sport," she writes. "I disliked the McCanns earlier than most people (although I am not proud). I thought I was angry with them for leaving their children alone. "In fact, I was angry at their failure to accept that their daughter was probably dead." Enright, 45, was this week's surprise winner of the literary prize for her book The Gathering. But earlier this month the Irish novelist wrote an essay about the McCanns in the London Review of Books. Entitled Disliking the McCanns, the 2,000-word piece discusses public perceptions of the couple. Enright says she does not share some of the public "animosity" towards the "beautiful mother" Mrs McCann. "I find Gerry McCann's need to 'influence the investigation' more provoking," she writes. "The sad fact is that this man cannot speak properly about what is happening to himself and his wife... the language he uses is more appropiate to a corporate executive than to a desperate father. - 18th October 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's father has reaffirmed his "ongoing hope" that his missing daughter will be found alive. Gerry McCann used his internet blog to play down comments by the family's official spokesman suggesting that he and his wife, Kate, now believed there was a "probability" the four-year-old was dead. He wrote: "Contrary to some other reports, Kate and I do not accept that Madeleine is 'probably' dead. "We know it is a possibility. However, the fact there is no evidence Madeleine has been seriously harmed gives us ongoing hope that she will be found alive." Mr McCann also welcomed the review of the case being carried out by Paulo Rebelo, the new head of the Portuguese police investigation. In his latest blog entry on the official Find Madeleine website, he said: "The media frenzy is gradually subsiding, with just occasional unsubstantiated reports of 'evidence' appearing." He added: "It is very encouraging that Mr Rebelo's officers will be seemingly reviewing all the material in the inquiry, which will hopefully identify areas for further investigation." Clarence Mitchell, the McCann family spokesman, had earlier told reporters:"Kate and Gerry are realistic enough to know that there is a probability she is dead. - 17th October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have denied that they believe their daughter is dead and praised Portuguese detectives for reviewing their investigation into her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann said that they knew of no evidence that their daughter was seriously harmed, despite a series of reports that police have proof that she had been killed. Mr McCann has used his internet blog to deny reports that the couple now believe their daughter was dead, after her disappearance shortly before her fourth birthday. “Contrary to some other reports Kate and I do not accept that Madeleine is probably' dead',” he writes. “We know it is a possibility, however the fact there is no evidence Madeleine has been seriously harmed gives us ongoing hope that she will be found alive.” Mr McCann, a hospital consultant, and his wife, a GP, have been helping to organise a new publicity campaign to promote the international search for Madeleine. A new £80,000 poster campaign will target remote villages in southern Portugal and Spain. - 17th October 2007

▪ Kate McCann fears she is being "persecuted" by people who believe she is involved in her daughter Madeleine's disappearance because she does not look maternal enough, her mother has revealed. Susan Healy, Madeleine's grandmother, acknowledged that Mrs McCann and her husband Gerry made a "terrible mistake" in leaving their three children alone in the family's Portuguese holiday apartment. But she strongly defended her daughter, who along with Mr McCann has been named a formal suspect in Madeleine's disappearance on May 3. Mrs Healy told the Liverpool Echo: "She said last night, 'If I weighed another two stone, had a bigger bosom and looked more maternal, people would be more sympathetic'. I think it's terrible that she's having to think like that. "She does feel persecuted - not by the general public, who have been extremely supportive, but by some sections of the media, and I just feel it's important I let people know she is not this person who is in control all the time." Insisting her daughter had done nothing wrong, Mrs Healy described her as "one of the most maternal people I know" and said her life revolved around her children. - 16th October 2007

▪ New searches for Madeleine McCann are to be carried out by Portuguese police around the holiday resort where the child was last seen, it has been reported. Land and a lake within a large radius of the Ocean Club Holiday resort in Praia da Luz - where the youngster vanished on May 3 - are to be examined. The areas to be covered include the coast between Praia da Luz and the village of Burgau, land between the Ocean Club and the beach, and the forests and isolated villas around the Bravura dam in Odiaxere, according to newspaper reports. The land was searched early on in the investigation but it is believed searches there were not extensive. Paulo Rebelo, one of Portugal's most senior detectives and the new head of the investigation, is thought to have ordered the move. Police frogmen are also expected to start searching the lake, which is two-and-a-half miles wide. Meanwhile officers are reportedly planning to examine spots where Madeleine McCann's parents, Gerry and Kate, and their friends, used their mobile phones. Robert Murat, the first person to be declared an official suspect over Madeleine's disappearance, broke his silence to make a direct plea to the Portuguese Police to finally clear him of suspicion. - 15th October 2007

▪ Robert Murat, the first person to be declared an official suspect over Madeleine McCann's disappearance, has made a plea for his name to be cleared. The British expat who lives with his mother Jenny Murat less than 100 metres from where the four-year-old went missing in the Portuguese village of Praia Da Luz, has been under police restrictions for five months including a ban on giving interviews. But the property consultant has made a direct plea to the Portuguese Police to finally clear him of suspicion. It is the first time he has spoken since being declared an "arguido" - or official suspect - and could theoretically lead to action from the police. He said: "It's five months, my savings have gone, Mum is doing what she can, it is just very, very difficult." Mr Murat's mother ran a stall in the centre of the village appealing for information about Madeleine in the wake of her disappearance. Mr Murat was taken in for questioning by police 11 days after the four-year-old disappeared on May 3. Police searched the family home Casa Liliana, and its garden using specialist sniffer dogs after suspicions were aroused over his interest in the case. - 12th October 2007

▪ The new man in charge of the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann has signalled his intention to solve the case by bringing in a crack team.Paulo Rebelo - who recently took over the inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal - has appointed four senior officers to boost the nvestigation. He said each one of the officers is an expert in his field and has been seconded from other areas of the police in the country. It comes after the senior officer on the Madeleine case, Goncalo Amaral, was reportedly sacked for accusing the McCanns of manipulating the media. And the second-in-command, Chief Inspector Tavares Almeida, was revealed to have asked for an extended leave of absence. The new members of the team include a chief inspector and an inspector brought in from the Lisbon headquarters of the Policia Judiciaria (PJ). Both of them are specialists in homicide and will concentrate on the theory that Madeleine was murdered. The third new team member will focus on examining data and pursuing new lines of inquiry. And the fourth officer is an inspector from Portugal's serious crimes police section. - 12th October 2007

▪ The team of investigators working on the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann has been reduced to six people, a Portuguese police official said Wednesday. The search for the girl had involved 100 police at the height of the investigation after she disappeared at a resort complex on May 3. Her parents have been named formal suspects but police have struggled to make a breakthrough in the inquiry. Only the head investigator and five inspectors are now working full-time on the case, the head of the police inspectors union, Carlos Anjos, told the Lusa news agency. The team has already been reduced from 100 to 40 and a new head of the investigation was named this week. "It's a normal situation," Anjos said, adding that the chief investigator could ask for reinforcements if needed. "Starting from the moment where the hypothesis that the little girl might have disappeared by leaving the apartment on her own was excluded, it was not logical to maintain such a number of people on the inquiry," he said. Madeline, who is now four years old, disappeared while she slept in the room of a hotel complex in Praia da Luz with her younger twins. Their parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined at a restaurant nearby. - 11th October 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's father has insisted the four-year-old is his biological daughter after speculation over the missing girl's paternity. Consultant cardiologist Gerry McCann issued a statement following a report in the Portuguese media. An article raised doubts about whether he is the Leicestershire youngster's real father. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said speculation in the Portuguese press was "unwarranted, unsubstantiated and totally inaccurate". Mr Mitchell said: "For the record, Gerry is the biological father of his daughter Madeleine. "A newspaper report in the 24 Horas newspaper suggesting otherwise is nothing short of lies. It is indeed an absolute fabrication." The couple's lawyers in Britain and Portugal reminded editors in both countries that they are monitoring coverage very closely. Mr Mitchell said the McCann legal team "would not hesitate from taking action at the appropriate stage in either country when and wherever it's felt necessary". Madeleine disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in a Portuguese resort on May 3. - 11th October 2007

▪ Reports that Portuguese police have infiltrated a paedophile ring have been welcomed by the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann. Kate and Gerry McCann are said to be "extremely encouraged" by the news which was confirmed by their spokesman Clarence Mitchell. He said 150 computers had been seized in raids on the homes of 80 suspected paedophiles across Portugal. Mr Mitchell said: "This was an operation undertaken by officers not on the Madeleine case, but we hope that there will be liaison between the two enquiries. "If the police are looking at images on 150 computers there might be some information developed from that. "We would be especially interested to hear whether any of the raids took place in or around Praia da Luz." Until 2004, possession of child pornography was only an offence in Portugal if the material was to be sold on. Meanwhile, Mr McCann has refu ted claims in the Portuguese media that he is not Madeleine's natural father. Mr McCann, a consultant cardiologist has today issued a statement through spokesman Clarence Mitchell. - 11th October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are considering legal action against "hurtful" claims that they gave their four-year-old daughter - and her younger brother and sister - sedatives on the night she disappeared. Gerry and Kate McCann's lawyers are studying speculation in the Portuguese press that tests on evidence carried out in the UK suggest their elder daughter and twins Sean and Amelie were given the drugs on May 3. The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Contrary to renewed speculation in the Portuguese press, Gerry and Kate McCann wish to make it categorically clear that they have never, ever used sedatives on their children. To suggest otherwise is as outrageous as it is hurtful." He continued: "Lawyers for the McCanns will be monitoring British coverage of the latest Portuguese claims very closely and will take action if it's felt necessary." According to Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas, a Policia Judiciaria (PJ) source said the conclusion came from preliminary results from tests conducted at the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham last month. The Forensic Science Service would not comment on the reports.- 10th October 2007

▪ Detectives have reportedly asked tourists who stayed at the resort where Madeleine McCann went missing to provide DNA samples and fingerprints. The request is said to have come after fresh evidence was uncovered of a possible kidnapper. The head of the British probe into the four-year-old's disappearance in Portugal wrote a letter to holidaymakers asking for their help, according to a newspaper. Madeleine disappeared a few days before her fourth birthday on May 3 during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in the Algarve. The letter reportedly explains that Portuguese detectives have failed to identify a number of samples recovered from the resort. The newspaper said some of these were from the McCanns' apartment from which Madeleine disappeared while her parents ate dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant. Leicestershire Constabulary, which is co-ordinating the investigation in the UK on behalf of the Portuguese authorities, would not confirm whether Superintendent Stuart Prior had sent the appeal.- 10th October 2007

▪ Significant new evidence about the night Madeleine McCann disappeared has been uncovered, it was claimed, as one of Portugal’s most senior detectives took charge of the investigation. Paulo Rebelo, an assistant national director of the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), took over responsibility for the case last night. He made his name in the investigation into Portugal’s most notorious paedophile ring. His appointment was made amid reports in Portugal that detectives have evidence contradicting Kate and Gerry McCann's version of the events of the night that they reported their daughter missing. Police believe that Madeleine and her twin brother and sister may not have been alone in the McCann holiday apartment, but that the children of seven British friends who were on holiday with the McCanns were also present when Madeleine disappeared on May 3, the 24 Horas newspaper claimed. The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have insisted that Madeleine was with only her two-year-old twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, while they dined with their friends at a tapas restaurant at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz. The group has claimed that their children were in their own apartments and that they made checks on their own children and those of their friends during the evening.- 9th October 2007

▪ Suggestions that the results of DNA tests have kept Madeleine McCann's parents "in the frame" have been dismissed by the family spokesman. Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry McCann had nothing to hide over the disappearance of their daughter and there was an innocent explanation for anything the police might have found in the investigation. "Officially, I cannot discuss the detailed aspects of the case - it is still very much an active police investigation," he told GMTV. "What I can say though is Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide at all. They are perfectly happy to answer any of this, if it comes to it. "There are wholly innocent explanations for anything the police may or may not have found. That has been the case from day one and it remains the case. "I would point to some of these stories this morning - they are unsourced, they are unsubstantiated. Frankly, some of the headlines this morning are a complete disgrace. In his interview, Mr Mitchell said the couple were "coping" and were throwing themselves into working on their defence. - 9th October 2007

▪ The appointment of the veteran Paulo Rebelo to replace Goncalo Amaral comes five months after Maddie disappeared from the family's hotel room while her parents Kate and Gerry McCann were eating at a restaurant in the same complex. The girl's disappearance just before her fourth birthday sparked enormous media interest, an international campaign to find her, and a joint operation by British and Portuguese police. Portuguese police last month named Kate and Gerry -- both doctors -- as formal suspects after questioning them separately for hours after receiving the results of forensic tests carried out at a laboratory in England on items found in the holiday apartment and a car the couple rented. No charges have been filed against the couple, who strongly deny having played any role in the daughter's disappearance. Amaral had also accused the McCanns of releasing false information in a bid to distract and confuse the enquiry. - 9th October 2007

▪ A leading child protection expert has said he has significant concerns about the man nicknamed "The Locator" who has been called in to help find Madeleine McCann. Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas told Sky News Online he doubts the ability of Daniel Kruger to provide any assistance in tracking down the missing child. Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have given the South African some hair found on her clothing to use in his "missing person machine". Mr Kruger refuses to reveal how his mysterious methods work, but they have apparently won him success and recognition in his homeland - which prompted the McCanns to call him in. He said he has scoured Praia da Luz, in Portugal, and the surrounding area using the equipment, which he developed himself. Not much is known about his "matter orientation system machine", but it is said to use satellite technology, and he has claimed he is currently in negotiations with companies to develop it. The former policeman said he believed Madeleine was not transported beyond the area where she went missing on May 3, but her chances of being alive were "very slim". - 8th October 2007

▪ Gerry and Kate McCann's composure after their daughter Madeleine vanished masked their private turmoil, a former adviser to the couple has said. Public relations consultant Alex Woolfall said they reacted exactly as he would expect and left him in no doubt about their innocence. "They were behaving exactly as I thought someone in that situation would be," he told The Times. "They had not slept. They were trying to work out what to do that might help generate images of her. "They were not at all controlled. When I was with them, they were between being completely distraught and trying to do what they felt was the right thing." Mr Woolfall is an expert in crisis PR for communications group Bell Pottinger. He was employed by the Mark Warner holiday resort in Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared on May 3. He helped the McCanns choose photos of the child for the media and prepare a statement appealing for help. Portuguese police have named the couple as suspects in the case but they have always protested their innocence. - 6th October 2007

▪ Mr McCann says although the twins are now too young to understand what has happened, they may become traumatised as they get older. Deciding exactly how much to tell the two-year-olds is a very delicate matter. Mr McCann has denied press reports that the twins have been told Madeleine has gone on a "little trip". "Kate and I have told them that we don't know where Madeleine is, but that lots of people are looking for her," he said. Honest without being bleak is the approach recommended by experts. Child psychologist Dr Helen Barratt is a specialist in separation and attachment. She said: "Generally speaking, it's best to try to explain as much as possible. Making up stories just confuses children." She added: "It's important that they feel they can ask questions of the parents. And if you've misled the children at any point, they may add two and two and get 10." Dr Nadja Reissland has first hand experience of how loss can affect youngsters. Her husband died of a brain tumour after a nine-month illness. Throughout, the couple tried to explain everything to their two young children. "I think it's very, very sensible not to spin a story. In the McCanns' situation, the twins are living with the obvious fact that their sister is not at home'" said Dr Reissland, an expert in children's emotions. - 5th October 2007

▪ A senior police officer in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has asked for an extended leave of absence, it has been reported. Chief Inspector Tavares Almeida's request, reported in the Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas, emerged after his boss, Goncalo Amaral, was taken off the case earlier this week. A police source told 24 Horas: "As a rule, requests of a short, medium or long duration are granted. It is very unlikely to be denied. If that happened, it would be the first time in the PJ (Judicial Police)." Mr Almeida reportedly refused to confirm or deny the report, telling the newspaper: "I don't speak to journalists." To lose a second senior officer would raise further concerns about an inquiry that appears no closer to finding out what happened to four-year-old Madeleine. Mr Amaral was removed from the investigation after reportedly saying that her parents, Kate and Gerry, had been calling the shots by identifying lines of inquiry for officers in their home county Leicestershire. - 4th October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann who went missing in Portugal said massive public support has given them strength to continue searching for their daughter, a report said. "I've had days when, if I wasn't crying about (daughter) Madeleine, I was crying from the letters and messages people have sent to us," mother Kate McCann told the Leicester Mercury, a newspaper serving her hometown of Rothley. "It has helped so much," she said. Both said being named suspects in their daughter's disappearance by the Portuguese authorities in September was still nothing compared to the pain of finding out their child was missing. Gerry McCann said: "I think when we were made suspects in our own daughter's disappearance, when the inference was that Madeleine was dead and that, somehow, we were involved... But, no, it can't get worse than that first night. "Everything that has happened, everything we do and feel, it is all put into perspective by how we felt on that first night." - 4th October 2007

▪ The new Portuguese chief heading up the Madeleine McCann case should "refocus" the inquiry on finding her, the family's spokesman said. Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral has been removed from the case following his comments that Kate and Gerry McCann were calling the shots by identifying lines of inquiry for Leicestershire officers. The family's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Mr Amaral's claims were "ludicrous", adding: "What they want now is whoever takes over to refocus the inquiry on to finding Madeleine." Mr Mitchell said the decision to remove the chief inspector was "a decision for the Portuguese authorities". He said: "Kate and Gerry have always said they were more than happy to co-operate with the Portuguese authorities whoever that might be. "So in other words, whoever takes over from Mr Amaral as head of the investigation, they will continue that co-operation and do anything that is required - including going back to Portugal for more interviews if necessary." - 3rd October 2007

▪ Five months after British toddler Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal, a police probe appears to have stalled following the dismissal of the detective heading the investigation. "With the sacking of the detective in the Madeleine case, the investigation sinks into an impasse," highbrow daily newspaper Publico said Wednesday on its front page. Portuguese authorities have remained silent since Goncalo Amaral was fired on Tuesday for accusing British police working on the case of siding with Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, who are both official suspects. In comments published in the Diario de Noticias daily, the detective also accused the McCanns of releasing false information in a bid to distract and confuse the inquiry. Their last statement came on September 19 when public prosecutor Luis Bilro Verao said no new evidence had been put forth since the McCanns were declared suspects 12 days earlier and there were no plans to re-interview the couple. - 3rd October 2007

▪ The detective leading the inquiry into the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal was dismissed on Tuesday, Portuguese police chief Alipio Ribeiro said. "This decision was taken by the national director," he told news radio TSF without giving further details. Portuguese media reported earlier that Goncalo Amaral had been sacked because he criticised British police working with the investigation in comments published earlier on Tuesday in daily newspaper Diario de Noticias. Amaral told the paper that British police "have been investigating leads created and cultivated" by Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate "forgetting that the couple are suspects in the death of their daughter". "The British police have been working solely on what the McCanns want and on what suits them," he added. Portuguese police have declared the McCanns as suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, who vanished from her bedroom in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3 just before her fourth birthday while her parents were out. - 2nd October 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are considering taking advice from psychics in the search for their missing daughter, says a friend. Relatives of Gerry and Kate McCann are understood to have been reading up on mystics and have been in contact with at least one. They are now said to be urging the couple to take their advice. The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have had more than 1,000 approaches from people claiming to be mediums since Madeleine's disappearance in Portugal in May. While any information judged to be relevant or credible has been passed on to police, the McCanns have had no direct contact with psychics. But relatives in Scotland have reportedly been pressing the couple to meet a psychic since their return to the UK in September. The couple, both devout catholics, are understood not to have ruled it out although nothing has been agreed. "They are desperate for help and even some family members are suggesting it as a possible route," a friend said. - 2nd October 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's photograph is to be displayed on supermarket trolleys throughout Portugal and southern Spain as part of a new campaign. Local newspapers in rural areas of both countries will also carry her picture to ensure as many people as possible see the image. The McCanns' official spokesman told journalists the new campaign could start as early as next week. "We want to remind people that Madeleine is still out there," Clarence Mitchell said. "Gerry and Kate still believe she is alive. There is still absolutely no evidence to suggest she is in fact dead." Mr Mitchell said the McCanns will do interviews during the new campaign and are talking to their lawyers about how much they can say about the investigation without contravening Portuguese laws. Madeleine McCann Madeleine McCann. The pair could face jail if they speak about the police inquiry. "They don't want to do or say anything that would make matters worse," Mr Mitchell said. - 1st October 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents fear they could still be under suspicion when they mark the first anniversary of her disappearance next year. Gerry and Kate McCann have told friends that they are prepared for a long battle to clear their names after being declared "arguidos", or official suspects, in the case. The couple have hired a top Portuguese legal team including the president of the country's bar association to prepare their defence and have expressed hopes they could be cleared "long before" Christmas. But lawyers have played down suggestions of an early end to their ordeal and the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that they accepted they could still be suspects next year. "Our understanding is that this is a marathon rather than a sprint, we are in this for the long term," he said. "I understand that they can remain arguidos for eight months and I understand the police can have an option to extend it. In theory, they could technically be arguidos right up until the first anniversary of Madeleine going missing. We are prepared for that if necessary. We hope not. We are pushing to have this arguido status lifted immediately.". - 1st October 2007

▪ Gerry and Kate McCann have welcomed the latest supposed sighting of their daughter in Morocco, even though it did not turn out to be her. They believe the media coverage boosted their campaign to find Madeleine, who went missing shortly before her fourth birthday. A spokeswoman for the family told Sky News Online: "They were obviously disappointed it was not her. "But they are pleased with the publicity because it has turned the focus back on the search for Madeleine." There have been several apparent sightings of the British girl since she disappeared from a holiday resort in Portugal on May 3. The latest one turned out to be the five-year-old daughter of an olive farmer. Reporters went to the remote village of Zinat after an image of a young girl being carried on a Moroccan woman's back was shown around the world as a possible sighting of Madeleine. But it emerged on Wednesday that the girl in the photograph was youngster Bushra Binhisa. - 29th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's father is supporting calls by Portugal to create a Europe-wide alert system for missing children. Portugal, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, is reportedly pushing for such a system to be set up at a key meeting of European home affairs ministers. Madeleine went missing from her parents' rented holiday flat on the Algarve on May 3. Portuguese police faced criticism over the speed of their initial response to the disappearance, including questions over how quickly they sealed the borders and alerted the ports and airports. Images of Madeleine were circulated through the media by friends and family in the hours after Madeleine's disappearance. Portuguese officials are now said to be backing the extension of a French alert system, which includes electronic roadside messages, across the EU's 27 countries. - 29th September 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann's spokesman has angrily dismissed claims that the couple buried their missing daughter's body in Spain. Reports in the Portuguese press suggest that the police are investigating two "missing hours" in which the couple could have disposed of Madeleine's body. The reports say detectives are working on the theory that the McCanns may have buried her body during a trip to Spain on August 3 - three months after Madeleine went missing. They question why the McCanns visited the town of Huelva, just over the Spanish border, on a public holiday. And they are looking into the reason why the trip was postponed from the day before, and why it took longer than expected to reach Huelva. A furious Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, told Sky News Online that all the allegations appearing in the Portuguese press were "utterly ludicrous". While he said that the McCanns did not comment on every "ridiculous" allegation, he insisted Gerry and Kate McCann's movements were "fully accounted for". - 28th September 2007

▪ Friends and family of Gerry and Kate McCann are to send more than 2,000 toys left by well-wishers after Madeleine vanished to needy children in eastern Europe. Cuddly toys and dolls were left at a war memorial in the family's home village of Rothley, Leicestershire, in May. They were intended as a symbol of hope and support for efforts to find the four-year-old after she went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The gifts were removed over the summer along with thousands of yellow and green ribbons tied to railings at the memorial, which became a focal point for prayers for Madeleine. The toys were gathered up and carefully washed by parents from the village's two primary schools and are now set to be shipped to children in Belarus. Janet Kennedy, Kate McCann's aunt, will be among a handful of people meeting today to package up the toys into shoeboxes. Each will be sent with a small picture of Madeleine. - 27th September 2007

▪ Nearly £300,000 has been spent so far on the search for Madeleine McCann. To date, according to its website, individuals and organisations have given £1,036,104 to Madeleine's Fund, a non-charitable not-for-profit company. Donations have rolled in from people touched by the appeals of parents Gerry and Kate McCann, whose daughter vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3. Directors of the fund set up to help find Madeleine and support her family have met to discuss how the cash is spent. The exact figures for what the donations are spent on will not be disclosed until the end of the financial year when the accounts are made public, said director Esther McVey. But the board did reveal that nearly a third of the money collected has already been used. Costs incurred include the launch of the Find Madeleine campaign, advertising, the production of the yellow and green wristbands and the employment of former campaign manager Justine McGuinness. - 26th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann were left disappointed after a photo of a blonde girl snapped in Morocco turned out to be a false alert, their spokesman said Wednesday. The picture, taken by a Spanish tourist and showing a grainy image of a small girl clinging to the back of a local woman, was splashed on the front pages of British newspapers amid reports it could be a breakthrough. But by the end of the day journalists dispatched to investigate the sighting south of Tangiers confirmed they had found the woman and girl in the picture, and it was not Madeleine. The toddler disappeared from a holiday apartment in southern Portugal on May 3 while her parents were eating nearby. "Clearly, if these reports that the girl in the photograph isn't Madeleine are true, it is disappointing news," said Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann. "This is why Gerry and Kate refused to comment on individual sightings and why I was advising caution overnight," said the spokesman, who had warned that the couple feared going on an "emotional rollecoaster." And he added: "Clearly, the search for Madeleine will continue and I would appeal for everyone to refocus their efforts to achieve her safe return." - 26th September 2007

▪ Interpol are said to be examining a photo taken in Morocco that could show Madeleine McCann. It features a light-skinned, blonde-haired child who looks similar to Madeleine being carried on an elderly Moroccan woman's back in a sling. The image was taken by a Spanish woman in Zinat in northern Morroco on August 31. Clara Torres from Albacete gave the picture to Spanish police who are understood to have passed it on to Interpol. Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann are believed to have seen the photo after a copy was given to their lawyers. Speaking on Sky News, the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the McCanns are waiting for the results of analysis on the picture before getting their hopes up. - 25th September 2007

▪ A comedian has been booed off stage for making a joke about missing Madeleine McCann and shooting victim Rhys Jones. Have Longley criticised the fact that photographs have been released of both children in Everton football tops. Longley told the stunned audience at Liverpool's Baby Blue club that "you think parents would have learned about putting their children in Everton shirts after Maddie and Rhys". The red-faced comic, who was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was booed off stage. He left the building "a shadow of his former self", according to a worker at the club. PE teacher Alison Pritchard from Prescot, Merseyside, watched the show and said Longley seemed "really funny" until he told the joke about Madeleine and Rhys. - 25th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's father has said he is "confident" he and his wife will be cleared of any involvement in her disappearance. Gerry and Kate McCann, who have hired a team of top British and Portuguese lawyers, are determined to be eliminated from the inquiry "as soon as possible". Writing on his blog for the first time since a Portuguese prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to reinterview the couple, Mr McCann said: "Kate and I have been very busy with our legal advisers as we want to be eliminated from the inquiry as soon as possible and start concentrating wholeheartedly again on the search for our daughter. "We are very confident this will happen when all the facts are presented together." - 25th September 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann have publicly denied sending private detectives into Portugual to investigate Madeleine's disappearance. The denial comes after the couple were said to have hired specialists to continue the search for their daughter as long as four months ago amid fears that the Portuguese police had already begun to assume she was dead. But police in Portugal pointed out that hiring private investigators for use in criminal cases is illegal in their country. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' official spokesman, insisted there were no private detectives working for them inside Portugal itself. He said: "Gerry and Kate McCann wish to make it clear that no work being done on their behalf to help find Madeleine is being done other than within the law. - 25th September 2007

▪ British police assisting Portuguese detectives on the Madeleine McCann case insist they are still involved in the investigation. But a Leicestershire Police spokesman refused to confirm or deny reports its role could be coming to an end. He said the force would continue to work under the direction of the Portuguese police "as long as they require it". The statement came after the Evening Standard said that, four months after joining forces with PJ, the constabulary's role is now "hanging by a thread". A spokesman for the McCann family said: "I note this particular report with interest, beyond that I cannot comment further." Leicestershire Police was appointed as the main liaison point for the PJ shortly after Madeleine's disappearance. - 25th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents are facing up to the possibility that she is dead. But they cling to the hope that their next phone call will tell them she has been found alive, their spokesman revealed. Clarence Mitchell spoke of Gerry and Kate McCann's "turmoil" at losing their four-year-old daughter, which he said had been made many times worse by their being made official suspects in her disappearance. Speaking at a media conference in their home village of Rothley, Leicestershire, he said: "They are a family facing possible bereavement. They hope desperately that the next phone call is 'We have found her and she's OK'. I am not naive but that is still a possibility. - 23rd September 2007

▪ The family of missing toddler Madeleine McCann have been using the services of a private security firm because of fears that Portuguese police were not properly searching for their child, according to a report published Monday. The Times reported that Kate and Gerry McCann, the 39-year-old medical doctor parents of Madeleine, hired Control Risks Group in May to build up profiles of likely abductors and to check up on reported sightings of the girl. "Control Risks are one of the groups who've offered their services to the McCanns," an unnamed source close to the parents' legal team told the daily. "You can assume that they are doing some things that the Portuguese police can't do." The source declined to discuss how Control Risks were being paid. - 23rd September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents have "known for months" that there were two possible sightings of their missing daughter in the same city on the same day, their spokesman has revealed. Norwegian Marie Pollard gave them fresh hope when she reported seeing her at a petrol station in Marrakech, Morocco, just days after her apparent abduction from their holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3. It has now emerged that Kate and Gerry McCann were also told of a British tourist contacting police on his return home to say he thought he had also seen the four-year-old. This second, separate sighting - passed on to the Portuguese and Moroccan authorities but not disclosed to the media - was in the same part of the city and at a similar time on May 9 as the first. - 22nd September 2007

▪ Missing girl Madeleine McCann was reported seen in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh by two unrelated witnesses days after she disappeared in Portugal, newspapers reported Sunday. A British man has told police he is certain that a little girl he saw in the lobby of the Ibis hotel in Marrakesh was McCann, who vanished days earlier from the family's hotel apartment in the Algarve on May 3, The Sunday Express said. He contacted police after he flew home to Britain and saw news reports of her abduction, it said. The Moroccan secret police took his report seriously because witness Marie Pollard, a Norwegian woman who returned to Spain, reported seeing her a few hundred yards away at the Afriquia petrol station, the newspaper said. Pollard, according to the newspaper, said the girl, who was with a man, looked sad and said to him in good English: "Can I see mummy soon?" - 22nd September 2007

▪ Millionaire businessman Brian Kennedy has confirmed he is providing financial backing to the parents of missing Madeleine McCann. Mr Kennedy, who owns the Latium Group and rugby union team Sale Sharks, said he felt "compelled" to support Gerry and Kate McCann following the accusations made against them. He said in a statement: "In light of the quite literally incredible accusations against Gerry and Kate McCann, which are clearly exacerbating their emotional torture, I felt compelled to offer, along with other like-minded businessmen, financial support and the full logistical support of the Latium team. "This will relieve the McCanns of the daily pressure of co-ordinating the legal teams that will expedite the clearing of Gerry and Kate's names, allowing all parties to refocus on finding Madeleine." Cheshire-based Mr Kennedy is estimated to be worth £250 million and made his fortune in double-glazing and home improvement ventures. - 22nd September 2007

▪ Robert Murat, the first person to be declared an official suspect by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has been told he is to be cleared, it was reported. British expat Mr Murat, who lives with his mother in a villa less than 100m from the spot where Madeleine was last seen, was taken in for questioning by police 11 days after the four-year-old disappeared in May. Police searched his house and garden using specialist sniffer dogs after suspicions were aroused over his interest in the case. Murat, 33, whose father is Portuguese, had earlier offered his services as a translator to police working on the case and became a familiar sight around the crime scene in the days after Madeleine's disappearance. - 22nd September 2007

▪ The parents of missing girl Madeleine McCann have hired one of Portugal's top lawyers to head up their defence team, according to press reports Friday. Rogerio Alves, the president of the Portuguese Bar, told the Diario de Noticias: "If I accepted the job, it's because I believe there are good reasons to do so." "The important thing is to discover exactly what happened, to see that justice is done, and if possible, find the child," he added. Alves, whose presidency comes to a close at the end of November, now joins another highly-regarded lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, on the McCanns' defence team. Pinto de Abreu has been in place since the start of September. Although the Portuguese police have declared the couple official suspects in the case, they have never made specific their suspicions. Instead, the couple's friends and family have let it be known that they are suspected of a possible involuntary manslaughter and subsequent disposal of the body. - 21th September 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann are prepared to take a lie detector test to prove their innocence. Friends say Kate and Gerry McCann want to show they have nothing to hide over the disappearance of the four-year-old who went missing on a family holiday in Portugal in May. The couple's decision is the latest stage in a high-profile fightback led by family and friends against police suspicions they may been responsible for Madeleine's death and staged an elaborate cover-up. Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said that it was "extremely unlikely" the couple would be asked to take a lie detector test by police. He said: "Kate and Gerry McCann have absolutely nothing to hide and, if a request from the Portuguese authorities was made for them to undergo such a lie detector test, they would have no issue with it, provided the test is suitably overseen by an appropriate expert who can ensure the absolutely reliability of the equipment being used. - 21th September 2007

▪The parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann welcomed on Thursday the Portuguese prosecutor's decision not to re-interview them over her disappearance in May. Portuguese authorities declared Gerry and Kate McCann formal suspects earlier this month after questioning them separately for hours. But they have filed no charges against them. On Wednesday, the Portuguese prosecutor in charge of the case said he had no plans to re-interview the parents. Luis Bilro Verao said no new conditions were imposed on them. They were obliged only to inform authorities of their whereabouts if they decide to leave their home in Rothley for more than five days. - 20th September 2007

▪ An eye-witness to events on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared has rubbished suggestions her mother's reaction to the discovery could be suspicious. The witness, who was present in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, said it was impossible Kate and Gerry McCann could have been "faking" their grief after finding Madeleine missing that night. And the witness dismissed reports that Kate McCann had run back from the apartment where Madeleine had been sleeping screaming: "They've taken her." Portuguese Police are said to have found the choice of words suspicious believing it could be possible evidence of a cover-up. But, speaking to the Evening Standard, the witness, who asked not to be named, claimed Mrs McCann had in fact said: "Madeleine's gone, Madeleine's gone." - 20th September 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have been told that police have no immediate plans to summon them for a fresh interview. Gerry and Kate McCann were also informed by a prosecutor in Portugal that detectives could be following "other lines of inquiry" apart from them. The couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, are to remain officially suspects - or "arguidos" - in the case, but they have also been told that there are no plans to impose new bail restrictions on them. It is thought the suggestion that police could follow other lines of inquiry may mean that detectives are continuing to keep an open mind despite the McCanns' status as official suspects. The couple were formally declared suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter less than two weeks ago before they left Portugal to return to the UK. - 19th September 2007

▪ The new spokesman for Madeleine McCann's parents has said he quit his top Government PR job to help the couple because he is convinced they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance. Few outside their friends and family spent more time with Gerry and Kate McCann in the days and weeks after their eldest child's apparent abduction in Portugal than Clarence Mitchell. Then the former director of the Central Office of Information's media monitoring unit was representing the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. But he said he resigned from the post and quit a career in Government public relations to help the McCanns, who have been named official suspects in four-year-old Madeleine's disappearance. - 18th September 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives have flown in to the UK with a list of fresh questions for the parents of Madeleine McCann, it was reported. Three officers have arrived in Britain ahead of a fresh interrogation of Kate and Gerry McCann, according to the Evening Standard. The couple, both 39, returned to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, last week after spending four months in Portugal awaiting developments. The newspaper said the officers wanted Leicestershire Police to put the questions to the McCanns, who have been declared official suspects in the case although they deny any involvement in her disappearance or death. "The Portuguese police will not be asking the McCanns questions directly but will be providing a list of questions that the Leicestershire Police should ask," the paper quoted a source close to the investigation as saying. - 18th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann sought Tuesday to refocus public attention on finding their daughter with a statement from their new press spokesman. Media speculation in Portugal and Britain has flown since Madeleine's parents were named as formal suspects in her disappearance on May 3 as the family were on holiday in southern Portugal. Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC journalist who gave up a job in the government media service to become the McCann's spokesman said that accusations against them were "ludicrous." "To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine...is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical," he said. "The focus must now return to Madeleine and move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days. The focus must be the child at the centre of this, Madeleine," he added. - 18th September 2007

▪ The new spokesman for the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann said on Tuesday it was ludicrous to suggest they were guilty of harming her. Gerry and Kate McCann are trying to clear their names after Portuguese police named them as formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter four months ago. Since their return to England last Sunday, the McCanns have faced intense media speculation about their role in the case. "To suggest that they somehow harmed Madeleine accidentally or otherwise is as ludicrous as it is nonsensical," Clarence Mitchell, referring to accusations in British and Portuguese media, told reporters outside the McCanns' house. "The focus must now return to Madeleine and move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days," said Mitchell, who resigned his job as a government official to represent the McCanns. - 18th September 2007

▪ The case against the McCanns appears to be weakening after a judge reportedly refused to order Kate McCann to return to Portugal for questioning. Kate McCann could now be re-interviewed this week by British police acting on behalf of the Portuguese authorities, according to reports. But a source close to the family said no formal request had been made to the couple, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in May. Meanwhile, the McCann's new spokesman, former BBC reporter Clarence Mitchell, said he has given up his Government job to help the "innocent victims of a heinous crime". He said: "I am extremely grateful to Kate and Gerry for asking me to return to become their official spokesman. - 18th September 2007

▪ Virgin chief Richard Branson voiced faith Monday in the embattled parents of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, whom he said have faced "trial by innuendo" in the Portuguese press. The comments came after Branson pledged 100,000 pounds for a legal fund to defend Kate and Gerry McCann, who are being treated as suspects over her disappearance in southern Portugal. "I trust them implicitly and I can't think of anyone I know who's had a worse time," said the entrepreneur. "I wouldn't have got involved if I didn't feel good about them. "I want to make sure they have the chance for their side of the story to be fairly told if they ever go to court, particularly in Portugal where they've already been tried by innuendo in the media. "It's going to be tough for them to get a fair trial and they need all the help they can get." - 17th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's mother could be reinterviewed this week by British police acting on behalf of the Portuguese authorities, fresh reports suggest. Kate and Gerry McCann's lawyers issued a statement saying they had received no request for new questioning "to date". But for a third day, Portuguese newspapers reported that police and prosecutors in the Algarve planned to ask their British counterparts to quiz Mrs McCann for them. The judge in the case, Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias, rejected prosecutors' request to have the McCanns brought back to Portugal for further questioning, according to the Correio da Manha. A letter of appeal will now be sent to Britain, setting out the new questions Portuguese detectives want to ask the couple, the paper reported. - 17th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann are to launch an advertising campaign across Europe to try to shift attention back to the search for their daughter, a family member said on Saturday. Gerry and Kate McCann, who are formal suspects in the police investigation into her disappearance, believe she is still alive and have asked police to keep looking for the four-year-old. They will pay for the campaign using a million pound fund donated by well-wishers since their daughter was reported missing while on holiday in Portugal on May 3. "The fund will finance a broad range of initiatives in advertising to remind everyone that Madeleine is still missing," Gerry McCann's brother John said in a statement. "I hope that the general public will continue to support us in this." The McCanns, both 39-year-old doctors, returned to England last Sunday after Portuguese detectives questioned them both as suspects for hours. - 16th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann "are taking stock" and preparing for their legal case after a week of intense speculation about the little girl, a family spokeswoman said. Gerry and Kate McCann, who have been made formal suspects by Portuguese police in their daughter's disappearance, met lawyers and media experts in London on Friday. On Saturday they were hoping for a "period of calm" and a chance to return to a routine with their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. Speaking at a media conference in their home village of Rothley, in Leicestershire, on Saturday morning, the spokeswoman said: "They had a series of meetings with media and legal advisors. "What they are really trying to do is to take stock of their situation and prepare for next week. - 16th September 2007

▪ The family of Madeleine McCann are to launch an advertising campaign to help find the missing four-year-old, it has been announced. Up to £80,000 will be drawn from the fighting fund set up to search for the Leicestershire youngster and spent on newspaper, television and billboard adverts. Made formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, Gerry and Kate McCann are keen to keep the focus on finding her. The campaign, set to launch in two weeks, was announced at a media conference in their home village of Rothley. In a statement issued through a spokeswoman for the family, Mr McCann's brother and fund director, John McCann, said: "On behalf of the extended McCann family and the Madeleine fund, I would just like to say how grateful we are for people's generosity and support. - 16th September 2007

▪ Gerry McCann hit out at "ludicrous accusations" that he and his wife were involved in their daughter Madeleine's death. The latest unconfirmed allegation is that tests on a liquid found in the family's hire car suggest the young girl might have overdosed on sleeping tablets. Toxicological analysis showed Madeleine consumed a "significant" quantity of the pills, the French newspaper France Soir reported, citing unnamed sources in Portugal. Mr McCann said he and his wife Kate knew they were innocent but were frightened and had been "backed into a corner". He told a friend, quoted in The Sun: "There are large craters in every one of these theories, in these just ludicrous accusations. As far as Kate and I are concerned, there is no evidence to suggest that Madeleine is dead. We are 100% together on this, not one grain of suspicion about each other." - 14th September 2007

▪ The aunt of Madeleine McCann has said her family is willing to sell their homes to pay legal fees run up by the missing girl's parents. Philomena McCann said the extended family will do all it can to support Gerry McCann, her brother, and his wife Kate both emotionally and financially. Asked if the family would consider selling their homes, she said: "It's a possibility, yes. These things happen. Money and property is not as important as family and love, is it? Not to me anyway." Earlier this week it was revealed that cash from the fund set up to find the four-year-old will not be used to pay for legal representation for Mr and Mrs McCann. - 14th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann plan to appeal directly to Foreign Secretary David Miliband as pressure mounts on them as suspects behind her disappearance. Kate and Gerry McCann, both 39, have been in touch with Mr Miliband since the start of their ordeal 131 days ago, and see the South Shields MP as their last option for support if they were charged with killing their daughter. Speaking to the Gazette today, David Hughes, one of the McCann family's inner circle of advisers, said: "If the situation progresses much further, we'll make direct contact again with Mr Miliband to ask for his help and support." The likelihood of Kate and Gerry McCann being charged over the death of their daughter was dramatically increased this morning, after DNA found in the family's hire-car was reported as 'almost certainly' Madeleine's. More Here - 13th September 2007

▪ As the pressure grows on the parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann, support from their extended family, who have angrily denounced the police probe, has become stronger. The McCanns, named as formal suspects by Portuguese police last week, come from close Roman Catholic working-class families and their relatives have offered both emotional and practical back-up since Madeleine vanished in Portugal on May 3. Gerry McCann's brother John McCann has compared the family's role to a football match in which relatives take it in turns to "play in goal". "We have always used sport analogies. We all take turns at having a good game when other people are not," he told AFP from the couple's home in Rothley, Leicestershire. "It's like most families -- we rally round while someone's in a state.- 13th September 2007

▪ Speculation is mounting that prosecutors in the Madeleine McCann case want to secure more items from the family as they continue to hunt for evidence against them. There are claims that British police are preparing to seek possessions from Kate and Gerry McCann, on behalf of the Portuguese authorities, though the force in their home county, Leicestershire, has said it is not aware of any such request. Sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday that police want to examine Mrs McCann's private diary. Detectives have passed their dossier of evidence against the couple to Algarve-based public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses. He immediately ordered that the files should go before a criminal instructional judge. Reports in Portugal said the prosecutor had made a number of requests of the judge, among them that he approve the seizure of the diary. - 13th September 2007

▪ Prosecutors in the Madeleine McCann case want to examine her mother's private diary for clues. The authorities reportedly took Kate McCann's diary last week, along with correspondence belonging to the McCanns. The judge is being asked to approve the seizure of the couple's documents retrospectively to comply with laws prohibiting "abusive interference in their private lives". It is thought the diary will help police "understand the couple's habits" and supply clues to the investigation. Police also intend to seize some of Madeleine's toys for forensic analysis. They have passed their 4,000-page dossier of evidence against Kate and Gerry McCann to Algarve-based public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses. - 11th September 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann will not use money from a fund set up to help find their daughter to pay their rising legal bills, a family spokesman said on Wednesday. Gerry and Kate McCann have raised a million pounds since launching the fund in May after the 4-year-old went missing while on holiday in Portugal. The McCanns, both 39, returned to England on Sunday after detectives in Portugal questioned them for hours as formal suspects in the case. "We are not seeking support from the fund," spokesman David Hughes told reporters outside the McCanns' family home in Rothley, Leicestershire. The couple do not want to upset people who think the money should not be used to pay their legal bills, he added. The fund's trustees were due to meet this week to discuss how the money should be used. - 11th September 2007

▪ The father of missing Madeleine McCann says he is "100% confident" his wife had nothing to do with her disappearance. Gerry McCann used his blog on the official Find Madeleine website to speak of the "unending nightmare" of the past week. He and his wife Kate were declared official suspects by detectives in the case before making the agonising journey back to Britain with their two-year-old twins - but without Madeleine. Family friends have said the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, fear they could be charged over their daughter's death. Mr McCann wrote in an emotionally-charged blog entry: "We always hoped that we would not have to return without Madeleine and could never have imagined the possibility that we would do so as suspects in our own daughter's disappearance. - 10th September 2007

▪ The prosecutor has already decided there is enough evidence for the file to go to the judge and it will now be up to the judge to see whether there is enough evidence to file charges."In the next 10 days the McCanns could find out if they are to be brought back here to be charged with Madeleine's death." Meanwhile, bodily fluids - not blood - matching Madeleine McCann's DNA have been found in the car hired by her parents, according to sources.The sample was taken from the boot, where the spare tyre is kept.It had an 88% match with the missing four-year-old's DNA, sources said.Police searching the car also found so much of Madeleine's hair that it could not have been transferred from a blanket or clothes.It must have come directly from her body, sources said. - 10th September 2007

▪ Portuguese police have moved a step closer to potential charges against Madeleine McCann's parents by announcing plans to hand their file on the missing four-year-old to the public prosecutor. And in Britain, Kate and Gerry McCann are facing fresh fears of having their other children, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie removed by social services, who held talks with police about the case. Algarve-based public prosecutor Jose Cunha de Magalhaes e Meneses will now decide whether the police evidence is strong enough to bring charges against the couple. This could mean months of agonising waiting for Mr and Mrs McCann, who returned home to Rothley, Leicestershire, on Sunday, having been named as suspects in their daughter's disappearance. The prosecutor has three main options - he could bring charges, rule that no action should be taken, or send the papers back to police requesting more evidence. - 9th September 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann, named as suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter Madeleine in Portugal, flew home on Sunday to face intense media scrutiny over the case. The couple, who have pleaded their innocence in a tragic mystery that has intrigued Europe, stressed after their four-month ordeal that they left the resort of Praia da Luz with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities. The McCanns, pursued to Faro airport on the Algarve coast by a barrage of photographers and TV crews, insisted they were not running away from the investigation but were leaving for the sake of their two-year-old twins. "They played no part in the disappearance of their beloved daughter," their spokeswoman, Justine McGuinness, told reporters before the couple left Portugal. - 9th September 2007

▪ Missing Madeleine McCann's parents want to return to Britain as soon as possible amid fears they could be charged over her disappearance. They hope to fly back on Monday but are worried it may appear they are "running scared", according to Gerry McCann's sister Philomena. Family friends said the couple at present intend to remain in the Algarve to "help the police" but are taking legal advice on whether they can return to the UK. Portuguese police declared both Mr McCann and his wife Kate "arguidos", or formal suspects. Although they have no bail conditions and still retain their passports, police could in theory apply for a court to impose movement restrictions on them. - 8th September 2007

▪ British couple Kate and Gerry McCann will stay in Portugal after they were made formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, a family spokesman said Saturday. The parents, both doctors who strongly denied new allegations that the mother was involved in the accidental death of little Madeleine McCann, want to leave the country but will stay to help police, said the spokesman. The McCanns have been in Portugal since Madeleine went missing on May 3, apart from visits to other countries in a massive campaign to keep the case before the world. The new suspicions have stunned the family as well as Britain, where the latest developments were splashed across the front page of every major newspaper. - 8th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents have abandoned plans to leave Portugal after being named as suspects in their daughter's disappearance, a family friend said. Portuguese detectives made Kate and Gerry McCann "arguidos", or formal suspects, while re-interviewing them about what happened to the missing four-year-old. The couple had intended to return from the Algarve to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. But after yesterday's dramatic developments - and with the threat of being charged over Madeleine's death hanging over them - they have decided to remain in Portugal, according to the friend. Earlier, Gerry McCann's sister Philomena McCann said the couple wished to return to Britain but are worried it may appear that they are "running scared" if they return home to Britain. - 8th September 2007

▪ Both the parents of missing Madeleine McCann have been declared formal suspects in her disappearance. Kate McCann was named an "arguida" on Friday morning before undergoing questioning during which she was asked if she accidentally killed her daughter.Her husband Gerry was also given the legal status of a suspect during questioning on Friday night. Gerry McCann left a Portuguese police station early on Saturday after being quizzed by detectives amid fears his wife will be charged with killing their daughter. He walked out of the regional headquarters of the Policia Judiciaria - Portugal's CID - after undergoing nearly eight hours of questioning. Earlier his wife Kate endured being asked directly by detectives whether she accidentally killed Madeleine. Mrs McCann has been warned by her lawyer that she could be charged over her daughter's death. - 8th September 2007

▪ Family and friends of Kate and Gerry McCann urged Portuguese police on Saturday to eliminate the couple from their inquiries and to return to the hunt for their missing daughter Madeleine. Portuguese police on Friday named the McCanns as suspects in their investigation into the four-year-old's disappearance, after hours of questioning, their lawyer confirmed. "If this is what it takes to speed up the process of absolutely exonerating Gerry and Kate, let's get on with it," Gerry's brother John McCann told BBC radio. "I hope the police can move quickly, bring whatever evidence they have got, and discuss with Gerry and Kate just exactly why they think what they think." The couple were questioned separately by police on Friday, with Gerry McCann leaving the police station at around midnight, having arrived for questioning just after his wife left in the afternoon.- 8th September 2007

▪ Gerry McCann has been declared an arguido, or formal suspect, by police investigating the disappearance of his daughter Madeleine, his lawyer Carlos Pinto de Abreu has said. Both the parents of missing Madeleine McCann are now formal suspects in her disappearance. Kate McCann was named an "arguida" yesterday morning before undergoing questioning during which she was asked if she accidentally killed her daughter. - 7th September 2007

▪ Kate McCann has been named as a formal suspect in the "death" of her missing four-year-old daughter Madeleine. A family member has claimed she was offered a deal by police - that she would serve only two years in prison if she admitted accidentally killing her daughter. Police are said to believe that Madeleine was killed accidentally and that her body was hidden, then moved and hidden again. They are not treating Madeleine's disappearance as murder. There have been reports that Mrs McCann, 39, is likely to be charged with causing the accidental death of her daughter. She was questioned by police again today but released without being charged. Detectives quizzed her for 11 hours yesterday. - 7th September 2007

▪ Portuguese detectives have accused the mother of missing Madeleine McCann of killing her daughter. Kate McCann, 39, fears she could be charged over the young girl's death after being named as an "arguida", or formal suspect, in the case. She returned to the family's rented house in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz after being quizzed by police for five hours. Portuguese detectives appear to be working on the theory that Mrs McCann killed her daughter by accident and covered up the death by claiming she was abducted. Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann, has claimed that Portuguese detectives offered Mrs McCann a "deal" if she "confessed to accidentally killing Madeleine". - 7th September 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents fear Portuguese detectives are about to name them as suspects in their daughter's disappearance, a family friend said. Kate McCann returned to an Algarve police station on Thursday to undergo questioning for a second time. Her husband Gerry will be re-interviewed on Friday. Portuguese police have not revealed why they want to speak to the couple again. However, there is speculation the move may be linked to forensic tests on samples taken from the McCanns' holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. - 6th September 2007

▪ Portuguese police on Thursday again questioned the mother of missing toddler Madeleine McCann after they received forensic results from a British laboratory. As she went into the police station in the southern town of Portimao, Kate McCann made a new appeal for her daughter's return or information about her whereabouts. Her spokeswoman Justine McGuiness said McCann had "returned to Portimao to be questioned by the Portuguese police and to assist them in their investigation." McGuiness said Kate McCann and her husband Gerry "are happy to help the police in their investigations to find their daughter Madeleine, as they have been since she was taken. - 6th September 2007

▪Madeleine McCann's mother has appealed directly to her daughter's abductors as she arrived for questioning at a Portuguese police station. Mrs McCann called for those responsible for the disappearance of the four-year-old to release her or contact the police. She was driven to the police station in Portimao by her husband Gerry for further questioning by detectives. Mrs McCann was accompanied by lawyer Carlos Pinto de Abreu and Mr McCann will be interviewed separately on Friday. Mrs McCann's brief statement said: "I miss Madeleine so much. Gerry and I want to appeal again to the person or people who took her or know who took her to do the right thing. - 6th September 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have strongly denied speculation their marriage is under strain. Portuguese newspaper reports say the couple's relationship is under pressure from the search for the missing four-year-old. But a family friend said the horrendous experience of their daughter's disappearance had, if anything, brought Kate and Gerry McCann closer together. The Portuguese speculation is the latest in a series of stories attacking the couple. Reports saying a rift is growing between the McCanns apparently stem from the fact they attended Mass separately 10 days ago, the friend said. Mrs McCann went to a Saturday night Mass in Praia da Luz's village church. - 5th September 2007

▪ Portuguese police have failed to tell the parents of missing Madeleine McCann about a possible forensic breakthrough that could end their agonising wait to learn what happened to their daughter. Kate and Gerry McCann only heard about the apparent development after a newspaper report that tests at a British laboratory had produced "significant new information". Experts at the Forensic Science Service (FSS) in Birmingham have spent the past month analysing samples taken from the McCanns' holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. The evidence recovered from the flat includes blood flecks found by British sniffer dogs on the wall in Madeleine's bedroom, where she vanished on May 3. - 5th September 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have been assured they will receive a sympathetic and warm welcome when they return home. Residents in Rothley, Leicestershire, are expecting Gerry and Kate to return from Portugal with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie in the near future. The family have not decided when to come back to Britain but the lease on their rented villa in Praia da Luz runs out on September 11. Villagers have placed a burning candle at the foot of Rothley's war memorial to show that hope for four-year-old Madeleine's safe return has not extinguished. And prayers have been said in the village's four churches. - 5th September 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have told how a daily ritual helps maintain their spirits as they continue to pray for good news. Gerry and Kate - who maintain a bullish belief that the four-year-old is still alive - are today facing four months without their daughter. Madeleine has not been seen since vanishing from the family holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3. Kate said: "Every day Gerry and I get up and say, 'Today could be the day that Madeleine comes home'. We have to keep hoping. "I know many people think our daughter can't be alive but nothing has changed our thoughts." She added: "It is four months since Mad - 3rd September 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have urged people to continue asking for posters of their daughter to be displayed in holiday resorts. Their appeal came despite the fact that they are reducing their own public profile. It is exactly four months since the then three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while her parents ate with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. Her parents have endured many milestones during the search, including Madeleine's fourth birthday on May 12, and have maintained a high-profile campaign which has kept their daughter's face in the news. In his blog, Gerry McCann said the couple now plan to have a lower profile, although the hunt for Madeleine continues. - 3rd September 2007

▪ A furious Gerry McCann has explained exactly why he and his wife Kate are suing a Portuguese newspaper over "lurid allegations" about their missing daughter Madeleine.The Tal & Qual newspaper published a front-page headline suggesting that Portuguese police think the McCanns killed the four-year-old. The couple have now instructed their lawyers to take action against the newspaper for defamation over the story it printed on August 24. Explaining their decision, Mr McCann said: "As well as damaging our personal and professional reputations, such allegations smear the investigation, the campaign to find Madeleine and cause great offence and anxiety to all our family. "This is why, after careful consideration, we have issued a writ against the newspaper for defamation. - 1st September 2007

▪ The parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann are to sue a Portuguese newspaper which claimed they killed their daughter, according to reports. Last Friday, Tal e Qual reported that the "police believe" Kate and Gerry McCann caused Madeleine's death. The paper said it was either an accident or with a fatal dose of a drug. The claim was said to come from a police source. The McCanns' lawyers are to file a seven page defamation complaint which will say the "untrue" story had caused the couple "suffering and humiliation", reports said. Portuguese police have said the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, are not suspects. - 31th August 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's would-be classmates said a poignant prayer for the missing girl on what should have been her first day at school. The four-year-old, who disappeared on holiday in Portugal 119 days ago, was due to start at Bishop Ellis Catholic Primary School in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, on Thursday morning. But instead the place in the "Four Plus" reception class set aside for her in hope of her return remained empty. As well as saying a special prayer for Madeleine, the school is also keeping a candle burning until she comes home. - 30th August 2007

▪ The father of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has begged her abductor to end his family's 118-day nightmare. Writing in his daily blog, Gerry McCann, 39, said his daughter may have been snatched because of a sudden impulse or "act of madness" which they might not understand themselves. He told whoever took Madeleine from her room in their Portuguese holiday apartment on May 3: "If you have done something you regret, if you find yourself in a situation you never intended, it is not too late to do the right thing." He added: "Please come forward, return Madeleine, leave her in a place of safety." - 29th August 2007

▪ The father of Madeleine McCann has walked out of a TV interview after being asked about blood traces found in his daughter's bedroom. Gerry McCann grew frustrated with repeated questioning about the police investigation into the young girl's disappearance 117 days ago. He halted the interview with Spanish television channel Telecinco, pointing out that Portuguese law meant he could not comment on details of the inquiry. Madeleine, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was snatched from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz on May 3 while her parents dined at a tapas restaurant nearby. - 29th August 2007

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have welcomed MEPs' backing for a Europe-wide sex offenders register. A survey commissioned by the Find Madeleine campaign found European politicians were overwhelmingly behind the idea - 97 per cent of MEPs agreed there should be an EU-wide sex offenders' register. And 95 per cent of MEPs want crimes involving children to be treated the same way in all member states, according to the research. Meanwhile, Portuguese police now believe Madeleine was killed accidentally in her apartment, according to reports. A police source said officers believe the four-year-old is dead, and that she died in the family's apartment. - 23rd August 2007

▪ Detectives have told Madeleine McCann's parents not to leave Portugal amid hopes of a breakthrough, according to reports. Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, are not suspects and it was believed they were making plans to leave Praia da Luz and return home in the middle of next month. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, the senior Portuguese detective investigating the disappearance, has said he has a "positive feeling" about the inquiry as they await key DNA test results. Police will step up the hunt for the young girl this week by launching fresh searches, according to unconfirmed reports. - 22nd August 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents have met the brother of Ken Bigley to discuss the trauma of having a relative kidnapped. Mr Bigley was taken hostage and later beheaded in Iraq in 2004, and footage of the murder was posted on the internet. Phil Bigley visited Kate and Gerry McCann in Portugal to offer his support. The visit comes as hopes are mounting of a long-awaited breakthrough in the hunt for the missing four-year-old. Full results of DNA tests on blood specks found in the family's apartment are expected from a British forensic laboratory "imminently". Portuguese detectives investigating Madeleine's disappearance are understood to be poised to carry out a series of new searches in the Algarve as reports suggested the police inquiry had entered a "decisive phase". - 21st August 2007

▪ The hunt for missing Madeleine McCann has entered a "decisive phase", with an arrest in Britain possible in the coming days, it has been reported. It is 109 days since the four-year-old was snatched from her bed in her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve seaside village of Praia da Luz. The police investigation has shifted direction in recent weeks, with British detectives and sniffer dogs being sent to Portugal to help with the inquiry. Preliminary DNA tests on blood specks found by the dogs in the McCanns' apartment revealed they came from a man, The Times reported last week. The full forensic results will be returned "imminently" - possibly on Monday, according to reports. - 20th August 2007

▪ Hopes for a long-awaited breakthrough in the hunt for Madeleine McCann are mounting after reports suggested the police inquiry is entering a "decisive phase". Portuguese detectives investigating the four-year-old's disappearance are understood to be poised to carry out a series of new searches in the Algarve. They are also looking again at claims a pensioner disturbed an intruder in her apartment directly above the McCanns' holiday flat just two weeks before Madeleine vanished. And full results of DNA tests on blood specks found in the family's apartment are expected from a British forensic laboratory "imminently". - 20th August 2007

▪ Police have confirmed that a girl spotted last month was the daughter of a Belgian man and not missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann, news reports said. A woman had alerted police after spotting a girl she believed was Madeleine at a roadside cafe in eastern Belgium. Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal, on May 3, while her parents Gerry and Kate from Leicestershire were having dinner with friends. - 18th August 2007

▪ Thousands of messages from well-wishers are helping Madeleine McCann's parents to stay positive as the hunt for the missing girl enters its 107th day. Kate and Gerry McCann said they have received more than 20,000 letters and hundreds of thousands of emails offering sympathy and good wishes. Mr McCann said the support had initially come from family and friends after Madeleine went missing from the bedroom of a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, while her parents were having dinner with friends. "Then we started to get thousands of messages from all over the world," he told the Daily Mirror. "People worry that they are intruding but I can't say how much it has helped." - 17th August 2007

▪ Blood traces found in the bedroom where Madeleine McCann was sleeping the night she was snatched were not hers, it has been reported. Newspaper report says forensic results show the blood came from a man. The results, printed in The Times, come at the end of a fortnight in which speculation has been rife that the little girl was murdered in the Praia da Luz apartment. There have been numerous reports in the Portuguese media quoting anonymous police sources as saying detectives believe Madeleine died in the apartment the night she went missing. The technical analysis of the tiny spots of blood found smeared on the bedroom wall show it probably comes from the "northeast European sub group", the British newspaper said. - 16th August 2007

▪ The mother of Madeleine McCann says she would rather know if her four-year-old daughter is dead than live in doubt for the rest of her life. "I've never liked uncertainty and this is the worst kind of limbo," Kate McCann said in extracts of an interview released on Monday. "Gerry and I have spoken about this and in our heart of hearts we'd both rather know -- even if knowing means we have to face the terrible truth that Madeleine might be dead." Madeleine disappeared on May 3 during a holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Portuguese police said on Saturday that new evidence found in recent days had prompted officers to pursue more intensely the theory that the four-year-old might have been killed. - 13th August 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents are hoping for the best but fearing the worst as they await DNA test results that could support detectives' theory that their daughter was killed. Relations between Portuguese police and the McCanns are under strain after a senior officer went on TV to reveal four-year-old Madeleine could be dead - without telling her family first. A family friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, said it was "extraordinary" that police had "not had the decency" to contact the couple before giving the interview. It is understood the McCanns were particularly distressed that Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa chose to make his comments on the 100th day since Madeleine went missing. - 12th August 2007

▪ The parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann have called for a faster international response in child abduction cases. The couple have recorded an appeal for a special section of video sharing website YouTube, that helps to find missing children. In the video, the McCanns speak of their dilemma in vigorously publicising the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter. Mrs McCann said: "A few people have said to us, too much publicity might not be good because whoever's got her might keep her hidden. - 12th August 2007

▪ Relations between Portuguese police and Madeleine McCann's parents are under strain after detectives revealed in an interview that she might have been killed, without telling her family first. Exactly 100 days after she disappeared from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, investigators acknowledged for the first time that she could be dead. As Kate and Gerry McCann clung to the hope their daughter will be found alive, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said new evidence suggesting she was killed was being investigated with "intensity". He told the BBC: "In these past few days, there have been some developments, and some clues have been found, that could point in a possible death of the little child. But till the moment, and we are waiting for the lab results of the evidence that has been collected, all the lines are open." - 12th August 2007

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents were not told by Portuguese police that the man leading the hunt for the missing girl would go public with his belief that the youngster was dead, it has emerged. A family friend said it was "extraordinary" the police had "not had the decency" to tell the couple they now believed Madeleine could be dead before giving interviews to the media. Speaking on the 100th day of Madeleine's disappearance from an Algarve hotel, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said he believed the four-year-old may not be alive. The acknowledgement threatens to open up a rift between the McCanns and police. The senior officer's comments appear to contradict the message that the McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have been receiving from investigators. - 12th August 2007

▪ The 100th day since Madeleine McCann went missing will be marked today amid claims of tensions between Portugese police and the four-year-old's parents. There has been a distinct hardening in the attitude of officers investigating the disappearance towards Gerry and Kate McCann this week, according to one source. On Monday, Mr McCann met senior officers in the case at the British Consulate in the Algarve for a routine briefing. When he and his wife next spoke with detectives two days later, the meeting took place at the police station in Portimao and the tone was much more formal, the source said. There has been no suggestion from the police that the McCanns are now suspects, but the couple are understood to be apprehensive about the change. - 11th August 2007

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have said the investigation into their daughter's disappearance could be "starting with a new slate". In a series of interviews to mark 100 days since Madeleine vanished they suggested there had been shift in the inquiry, leading to speculation that the only formal suspect, Robert Murat, could soon be cleared. His lawyer has claimed residents in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz wanted the family - referred to as "these bloody McCanns" - to go home, but the McCanns told Sky News they would not be "bullied" into leaving Portugal by a growing backlash against them. - 10th August 2007

▪ The parents of four-year-old Madeleine McCann who disappeared on a family holiday in Portugal launched on Friday a new section on the YouTube Internet site to help find other missing children. Gerry and Kate McCann said the pages on the popular video sharing website -- called "Don't You Forget About Me" -- will feature videos of the youngsters with the aim of raising public awareness about their disappearance. On the eve of the 100th day of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance, the couple, both medical doctors from Leicestershire, said they hoped to reach the millions of young people who used the site daily. - 10th August 2007

▪ Missing Madeleine McCann's parents have criticised fresh reports in the Portuguese press that police believe their daughter was murdered rather than abducted. Newspapers in Portugal have printed a series of allegations contradicting the official stance that the four-year-old girl was snatched from her family's holiday flat in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz on May 3. They have reported that detectives now believe she died in the apartment that night and no longer think that Robert Murat, the only official suspect in the case, was involved. One paper has even suggested that police "intercepted" emails and phone calls between parents Kate and Gerry McCann and the friends on holiday with them when Madeleine vanished. - 10th August 2007

▪ Nearly 100 days since Madeleine McCann disappeared from the Algarve, the police investigation is focusing on forensics. DNA tests in the Belgian café where a waitress thought she saw the missing four-year-old proved inconclusive, and did not provide a match to Madeleine. Now traces of what appeared to be blood, found on the wall of the McCanns' holiday apartment, are being tested at a laboratory in Birmingham. If it is blood, what will the forensic experts be able to establish? - 9th August 2007

▪ Police are awaiting the results of tests carried out on traces of blood recovered from Madeleine McCann's holiday home. Samples are being analysed at a top UK forensic laboratory in a bid to establish if the evidence matched the DNA of the missing four-year-old. The traces, found on the wall of the Algarve apartment, were only uncovered this week - more than three months after the British girl disappeared. It is believed a specially-trained sniffer dog, brought in by British detectives, located the tiny traces despite attempts to wash them off. - 9th August 2007

▪ Portuguese police hunting for four-year-old Madeleine, missing since May believe she may be dead and are looking for her body, a source close to the inquiry said Wednesday. "The latest developments in the investigation indicate that police are looking for a body," the unnamed source told Lusa news agency, adding however that police have not ruled out the possibility of finding the girl alive. Portuguese police have neither officially confirmed nor denied the report. Madeleine McCann by this weekend will have been missing for 100 days from a hotel room in the southern Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where she and her two-year-old twin siblings were sleeping while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant. - 8th August 2007

▪ A DNA test on a drink bottle used by a young girl in Belgium did not match that of missing Madeleine McCann, it has been claimed. A child therapist said she was "100% sure" she saw the young British girl at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, on July 28. But newspaper reports in Belgium and Holland quoted police sources as saying the drink bottle held no DNA traces linked to Madeleine. A Belgian Police spokeswoman said she was not able to confirm the reports.- 7th August 2007

▪ The parents of missing toddler Madeleine McCann refused to be drawn on the reported discovery of blood stains in their holiday apartment Tuesday, but insisted they believe she is still alive. Gerry and Kate McCann, who have been searching for the four-year-old since she vanished from the resort of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal in May, added in a television interview that they were cooperating fully with police. Asked about media reports in Britain and Portugal that blood had been found on the wall in the bedroom from where the toddler went missing, Gerry McCann said that the couple were "desperate" to find her. "We can't comment on any specifics and forensics and we wouldn't do that, we would never, never, ever jeopardise the investigation," he told Sky News television. - 6th August 2007

▪ Police appear to have found no new evidence in a second search at the home of the only official suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a family friend said. Up to 12 Portuguese and British officers scoured the inside and outside of the villa Robert Murat shares with his mother in the Algarve village of Praia da Luz over the weekend. Anglo-Portuguese Mr Murat, 33, remained in the house with his lawyer during the search, which lasted only two days despite warnings it could take four. Portuguese police remained tight-lipped on Monday about the results of the re-examination of the villa, citing Portugal's strict secrecy of justice laws. But a source close to the investigation told the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias nothing was found. - 6th August 2007

▪ Searches at the home of the only official suspect in the case of missing Madeleine McCann have finished for the day in Portugal. About 12 police officers were seen searching inside and outside the Praia da Luz home of Robert Murat, situated just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago. About 10 police officers, including two from Britain, began searching the land surrounding the property, clearing undergrowth and cutting down trees. Mr Murat's spokesman, Tuck Price, said Mr Murat was present while most of today's searches were carried out, adding that he was doing his best to help the police with their inquiries. - 6th August 2007

▪ The England rugby team has lent its support to the campaign to find missing Madeleine McCann during a pre-World Cup training camp in Portugal. The players donned specially-made white T-shirts displaying the four-year-old's face during training at Vilamoura in the Algarve. The squad's training base is east of the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine disappeared from the family's holiday apartment on May 3. The T-shirts featured her face on the front and the 'Look for Maddie' logo and www.findmadeleine.com website address on the back. - 5th August 2007

▪ Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal are searching again at the home of the only official suspect in the case. Around 10 police officers, including two from Britain, started searching the land surrounding the house of Robert Murat on Saturday morning, his spokesman, Tuck Price, said. They are clearing undergrowth and cutting down trees on the property in Praia da Luz, just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago. Mr Murat is not currently at home but the search is expected to last up to four days. - 4th August 2007

▪ Belgian authorities are taking seriously a reported sighting of missing British girl Madeleine McCann and have contacted Dutch police to help with the investigation, a local official said Friday. DNA test results are expected next week on a bottle taken from a restaurant where a girl resembling four-year-old Madeleine was seen drinking, local prosecutor Katja Van Doren told AFP. A child psychologist reported seeing the girl with a man and woman in the restaurant in the Dutch-speaking town of Tongeren, near the Dutch border east of Brussels. The three people drove away in a black Volvo with Belgian plates, local police said, stressing that the number plate could be false. View the e-fit Here. - 3rd August 2007

▪ It has been 90 days since four-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from a holiday villa in Portugal. Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, have previously observed such dates with planned events but nothing has been made public this time. However, writing on his blog on Tuesday, Mr McCann said the campaign would ramp up over the next few days. "Relatively quiet day apart from phone calls and campaign related emails. 1st August 2007

▪ Kate and Gerry McCann remain "confident" that everything possible is being done to find their missing daughter. The couple have had another meeting with Portuguese police to discuss the search for four-year-old Madeleine. Afterwards, Gerry said: "Kate and I are confident that every avenue is being explored." The McCanns believe that "the vital piece of information that leads to Madeleine is only a phone call away". Gerry paid tribute to Bill Henderson from the British Consulate in the Algarve, who is retiring and returning to the UK. - 31st July 2007

▪ Gerry and Kate McCann’s local paper in Leicestershire, the Leicester Mercury, has stopped all readers’ comments about the couple and their missing daughter Madeleine. The editor Nick Carter says they have been “bombarded” with spiteful and defamatory remarks about the McCanns. At the heart of many of these comments are calls for the couple to be prosecuted for neglecting their child. At the weekend Mr McCann described these critical remarks as "hurtful" and "unhelpful". The Madeleine story clearly incites strong emotions. There have been around 75,000 posts on the subject on our discussion boards alone since we launched them two months ago. Other forums have also been inundated with comments on the subject. - 26th July 2007.

▪ The father of missing Madeleine McCann is meeting politicians and White House staff in the USA to discuss the battle against child abduction. Gerry McCann is in the US on a four-day fact-finding visit to learn about the work of specialist agencies in preventing child trafficking and sexual abuse. He will meet the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and aides to First Lady Laura Bush in the White House. Mrs Bush is said to have taken a personal interest in the family's plight. - 23th July 2007.

▪ The father of missing Madeleine McCann is flying to Washington where he may meet Laura Bush. Gerry McCann will visit the US to talk to American politicians and child abduction experts. But he is also reportedly hoping to meet the wife of President Bush during his three-day trip. The Daily Mirror said Mrs Bush had read about the family's plight and wanted to lend her personal support to the family. A source told the newspaper: "Plans are still being finalised but it is hoped Gerry and Laura will meet at some point during the trip." - 22th July 2007.

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have told how messages of support from the public are getting them through their dark hours. It is 11 weeks since the four-year-old girl vanished from the holiday resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal. Gerry and Kate McCann have vowed to stay in the Algarve until they find Madeleine. Their Find Madeleine website has been flooded with messages of support from well-wishers across the world, and Gerry says it is giving them strength to get through their ordeal. Writing in his blog, Gerry added: "Kate and I spent some time reading through them and your messages do help us, especially on days when we are feeling particularly low. - 20th July 2007.

▪ Since Madeleine McCann disappeared, it's a question that's been frequently asked - when will her parents return home? Brian Kennedy, Madeleine's great uncle and closest relative in their village of Rothley, thinks it could be soon. "Kate still keeps quoting the end of the summer as a possible date of return. It will be a great ordeal coming back without Madeleine" says Brian. Brian and his wife Janet are frequent babysitters for Gerry and Kate. "I think when they do come home it will be low-key. We've talked about a party but that's not something we'd do instantly. There will be a lot of settling in to do." - 18th July 2007.

▪ Posters of Madeleine McCann will be put up in book stores around the world over the next few days to coincide with the publication of the seventh and final Harry Potter novel. Author J.K. Rowling, "profoundly moved" by the plight of Madeleine and her family, asked for the poster to be displayed at a time when thousands of Potter fans and their parents are expected to crowd into book shops to snap up copies. The poster will feature an image of Madeleine and a link to the international missing children's organisation www.icmec.org. Rowling and her publishers decided not to insert bookmarks with Madeleine's image into the books after parents urged them not to interfere with their children's reading experience and because of the title: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". - 17th July 2007.

▪ Friends of Madeleine McCann's parents and the chief suspect in the toddler's disappearance have met to discuss discrepancies in the case. Rachael Oldfield, 36, Dr Russell O'Brien, 36, and Dr Fiona Payne, 34, were on holiday with Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann in Praia da Luz on the Algarve when the four-year-old Madeleine was snatched on May 3. The three flew back to Portugal earlier this week to meet police and compare their versions of events on the night of the abduction with the only named suspect - or "arguido" - Robert Murat, an ex-pat living in the town. - 13th July 2007.

▪ The father of missing Madeleine McCann received a standing ovation as he appeared before police officers all over the country to thank them for their help in the search for his daughter and urged them not to give up. Gerry McCann, wiping away tears after a poignant video of his daughter was shown to officers at the Police Bravery Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London said he and his wife were now fully aware of the police's "sterling work". His daughter, four-year-old Madeleine, was snatched from her bed as she slept in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz 71 days ago. Mr McCann told. - 13th July 2007.

▪ The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann abduction case has been questioned for the fourth time in Portimao, Portugal. The Briton, Robert Murat, had already been quizzed for eight hours on Tuesday. Three close friends of Madeleine McCann's parents were also interviewed by police to go over their accounts of the events of May 3, when Madeleine was abducted from her parents' holiday apartment in the Algarve. Police have already interviewed the party in detail including one woman who saw a girl being carried away by a man in Praia Da Luz and now believes it was Madeleine. - 11th July 2007.

▪ Portuguese police investigating the disappearance of a four-year-old Madeleine McCann questioned the first suspect in the case again on Tuesday on the strength of fresh evidence, media reported. Robert Murat, a Briton and the only formal suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann, was interviewed in the southern town of Portimao, Portuguese television station TVI reported citing unnamed police sources. It said investigators had "new elements" with which they wanted to confront Murat, and also wanted to go over his previous statements again. His interrogation - conducted in the presence of his lawyer -- continued into Tuesday evening. - 9th July 2007.

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have told of their "outrage" after a fraudulent £1.35 million demand for information on her whereabouts. Dutch police revealed they had arrested a man in the city of Eindhoven suspected of attempting to defraud Gerry and Kate McCann. The four-year-old was snatched from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve, southern Portugal, two months ago. The 39-year-old man, who has not been named, allegedly pretended to know where Madeleine was but demanded a payment of two million euros for the information, a prosecution statement said. - 8th July 2007.

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann have told of their "outrage" after a fraudulent £1.35 million demand for information on her whereabouts. Dutch police revealed they had arrested a man in the city of Eindhoven suspected of attempting to defraud Gerry and Kate McCann. The four-year-old was snatched from her parents' holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve, southern Portugal, two months ago. The 39-year-old man, who has not been named, allegedly pretended to know where Madeleine was but demanded a payment of two million euros for the information, a prosecution statement said. - 6th July 2007.

▪ Local police believe missing Madeleine McCann is still in Portugal, Sky News has learnt. Missing: Madeleine McCann The news comes two months after the four-year-old girl was snatched from a holiday villa in the Algarve. Sky News has also discovered that police are continuing to investigate Briton Robert Murat because of a third party connection. Police identified Murat as a suspect early in the investigation but said they did not have enough evidence for an arrest. - 5th July 2007.

▪ The decision by two major cinema chains to withdraw a Madeleine McCann video appeal during screenings of children's films has sparked a backlash from parents. Four-year-old is still missingThe advert, made by the Find Madeleine campaign, shows photos of the four-year-old and explains how she was snatched from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal two months ago. Cineworld and Odeon both asked Carlton Screen Advertising to pull the appeal from their screenings of U-rated movies after receiving complaints from parents who said their children had been upset by it. - 5th July 2007.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have said that each day without their daughter was "incredibly difficult". In an interview to mark two months since Madeleine disappeared from the Portuguese holiday resort where they were staying, Kate and Gerry McCann said they intended to stay in Portugal for the foreseeable future and had no plans to return home to the UK at the moment. "We are committed to staying and we feel closer to Madeleine here," Mr McCann said. "Right now we are not capable as working as doctors. We still feel a lot can be done by ourselves. What we don't want is to look back in another three or four months and say we wish had done this," he said. - 3rd July 2007.

▪ The parents of Madeleine McCann have moved out of the Portuguese holiday resort from where their daughter was abducted - 60 days after she disappeared. Kate and Gerry McCann and their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie have set up home in a private property nearby. They stayed at the Mark Warner Ocean Club resort in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz for nearly two months, but the start of high season meant they had to find somewhere else to live. The family had based themselves in one apartment and used a second as an office, from which to run the campaign to find their four-year-old daughter. - 2nd July 2007.

▪ The father of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished in Portugal, has had a wallet containing cherished pictures of his daughter returned after it was stolen in London, reports said Monday. Gerry McCann appealed for the return of the wallet -- with two pictures of the four-year-old who disappeared from an appartment in the Algarve in May -- after it was stolen by a pickpocket during a trip to London on June 22. The Sun newspaper reported that it has now been sent by post to his old address in Britain, which was scrawled on a piece of paper inside the wallet. "Gerry is pleased. All the pictures of Madeleine are still there. It's a good bit of news -- which we haven't had in a long time," Brian Kennedy, Madeleine's great-uncle, told the newspaper. - 2nd July 2007.

▪ A four-wheel-drive vehicle crashed into the main terminal at Glasgow airport on Saturday and exploded in flames, a day after police foiled a possible al Qaeda plot to detonate two car bombs in central London. A Glasgow police spokeswoman said there were no immediate reports of any injuries and said the blaze was under control. Witnesses told the BBC that the vehicle, a Land Rover or a Jeep Cherokee, had exploded shortly after crashing into the glass front doors of the terminal, and said there was a heavy stench of petrol. "It raced across the central reservation and went straight into the building," said taxi driver Ian Crosby outside the terminal. - 30th June 2007.

▪ A couple accused of trying to extort money from Madeleine McCann's family will appear in court on Saturday, Spanish police said. Italian Danilo Chemello, 61, and Aurora Pereira Vaz, 54, from Portugal, were arrested after a raid on their home in Sotogrande, near Algeciras, in Spain. They are suspected of attempting to extort cash from the McCanns by promising them information about their missing four-year-old daughter. On Friday a judge in nearby Torremolinos imposed a secrecy order on the continued detention of the pair meaning police can no longer comment on the investigation. - 30th June 2007.

▪ Police defused a car bomb packed with petrol, gas and nails in London's busy theatre district on Friday, foiling an attack that could have killed many people and echoed a previous al Qaeda plot, police said. Police also sealed off two more central London streets - Park Lane and Fleet Street - as they investigated other suspicious vehicles. - 29th June 2007.

▪ Spanish police will continue their questioning of a couple suspected of trying to extort money from the parents of Madeleine McCann. Police said the Portuguese woman and Italian man were suspected of trying to swindle the McCanns by offering the parents information about the missing four-year-old. But the pair who were arrested by anti-kidnap group UDEV in the town of Sotogrande - are thought to have no connection to Madeleine's disappearance. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa of the Portuguese Policia Judiciara said his officers accompanied the Spanish authorities on the arrest becaus. - 29th June 2007.

▪ Spanish police are expected to continue their questioning of an Italian man and Portuguese woman suspected of trying to extort money from the parents of four-year-old Madeleine McCann. But hopes are fading of a breakthrough in the hunt for the missing child after it was reported that the Italian had no connection with Madeleine's disappearance. Spanish police said in a statement the pair were suspected of trying to swindle the McCanns, offering the parents information about the four-year-old. But Italian diplomats in Spain were told by Spanish authorities that the man had no connection with the disappearance. - 29th June 2007.

▪ Spanish police have arrested an Italian man and a Portuguese woman with possible links to the case of Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old who vanished nearly two months ago during a holiday in Portugal. It was not clear, however, if the two were suspected of having a role in the girl's disappearance. Spanish television news reports said the man may have tried to extort money from McCann's parents, offering them information about their daughter's whereabouts, though police did not confirm that. - 28th June 2007.

▪ Spanish police have arrested an Italian man and questioned a woman of unknown nationality in connection with the suspected kidnapping of British four-year-old Madeleine McCann, officials said Thursday. A police spokesman told AFP the arrest was made near the southern Spanish port of Algeciras after the French authorities issued an international arrest warrant for the man. "Police are examining the possibility of a link" with the Madeleine case, the spokesman said. Spanish broadcaster Telecinco reported that police had detained a married couple, an Italian man and a Portuguese woman, near the town of Sotogrande, which is not far from Algeciras. - 28th June 2007.

▪ Portuguese police are looking into claims that the Spanish authorities have detained an Italian man over the abduction of Madeleine McCann, a spokesman said. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, from the Policia Judiciara (PJ), said he had heard the report from Spanish newspaper El Pais and was trying to verify it. "I have heard about this and I am trying to check this information with my director," he said. It is 56 days since the four-year-old girl was snatched from her bed as she slept in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. - 28th June 2007.

▪ Police in Malta have received a host of new possible sightings of missing toddler Madeleine McCann from across the Mediterranean island. The latest include a girl matching Madeleine's description boarding a yacht belonging to an Arab family. There has also been a sighting by a Maltese woman, who reported seeing a girl resembling Madeleine on the Gozo ferry on June 20. In another, a woman said her partner saw a "lookalike" of the youngster entering a private residence in Mellieha with a female. - 27th June 2007.

▪ Police in Malta have received a host of new possible sightings of missing toddler Madeleine McCann from across the Mediterranean island. The latest include a girl matching Madeleine's description bording a yacht belonging to an Arab family. There has also been a sighting by a Maltese woman, who reported seeing a girl resembling Madeleine on the Gozo ferry on June 20. In another, a woman said her partner saw a "lookalike" of the youngster entering a private residence in Mellieha with a female. A British woman told police she had seen a girl who looked like Madeleine at Qawra, but in another report, a man claimed to have seen a child resembling Madeleine in a pushchair at the B'Kara open market. - 27th June 2007.

▪ A vigil for Madeleine McCann will be held at Ireland's holiest shrine, as a Spanish investigator prepares to hand over evidence about her alleged abductor. It is now 55 days since the four-year-old disappeared from a holiday apartment in a Portuguese seaside resort. Hundreds of well-wishers in Ireland have been sending messages of support to the girl's parents Gerry and Kate McCann, including many from Knock Shrine. Madeleine's maternal grandparents Sue and Brian Healy, from Liverpool, asked for the service at the church in County Mayo. It will run from 8pm until midnight on Friday. - 26th June 2007.

▪ The abduction of Madeleine McCann may be linked to a trafficking network that sees children put on the market for £7,000, detectives have said. Eastern European gangs are holding auctions in supermarket car-parks in Portugal and France. Officers in France have released details of the trade, as they believe it may be related to the four-year-old's disappearance, a Sky source said. In one case, the mother of a baby boy was arrested for attempting to sell her baby North of Lisbon. - 24th June 2007.

▪ Detectives in Malta are investigating two fresh claimed sightings on the island of missing Madeleine McCann. A spokeswoman for Malta Police said that a local woman and a British man had come forward separately on Friday night reporting that they may have seen the four-year-old. The new claims came on top of at least 12 other possible sightings reported to police as well as a British holidaymaker who contacted a newspaper saying he may have seen her. - 23rd June 2007.

▪ Police are hunting for missing Madeleine McCann on the island of Malta as a worldwide balloon release marks the 50th day since her disappearance. The "full-scale" investigation comes after a Maltese newspaper reported that two tourists saw a girl matching the four-year-old's description in Valletta. Subsequent reports said four other people had since come forward with possible sightings in Malta. The reports follow possible sightings across Europe and as far away as north Africa but it is the first time that claims have been made public of a possible Maltese sighting. - 22th June 2007.

▪ Portuguese police said on Friday they still believed Madeleine McCann is alive 50 days after she was kidnapped, as new leads arrive from possible sightings of the four-year-old in Malta. "Our expectations are that the child is still alive as we have no evidence to the contrary," said Portuguese chief police inspector Olegario de Sousa. "Time isn't on our side but the investigation continues." On Thursday, police in Malta launched a full scale investigation into five possible sightings of the fair-haired girl but have so far produced no concrete results. - 22th June 2007.

▪ Police in Malta are investigating a report that missing four-year-old girl Madeleine McCann may have been seen on the Mediterranean island last weekend, they said Thursday. Police "had received information from two persons that they saw a girl in Malta which resembles very much Madeleine McCann" on Saturday, a police spokesman told AFP, adding an investigation had been opened immediately. No further information could be given, he said. Malta's In-Nazzjon newspaper reported that police had stepped up checks at the airport. - 21th June 2007.

▪ Maltese police are investigating two reports that missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has been sighted on the island. Net Television, owned by the ruling Nationalist Party, said the reports were made by tourists on Saturday in Valletta. A search in one location had proved fruitless but police were keeping a closer eye on departures from the airport and Valletta harbour. Madeleine disappeared from a Portuguese holiday apartment on May 3. - 21th June 2007.

▪ Gerry McCann, the father of the four-year-old girl who disappeared in Portugal last month, had his wallet with pictures of his missing daughter stolen by a pickpocket, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Susan Healey, mother of his wife Kate McCann, told The Evening Standard that the theft is "another kick in the teeth" since their daughter Madeleine vanished, presumably kidnapped, from a resort in the Algarve on May 3. "Gerry is not clear exactly how his wallet was stolen. He did not see them take it. It contained precious photographs which have now been lost forever," she said. - 20th June 2007.

▪ Madeleine McCann's parents will appeal to Irish tourists to check holiday snaps for clues - while the flat their child was abducted from reportedly sold for half price. Madeleine's parents Kate McCann, 38, and Gerry, 39, will appear on television to ask anyone who took a trip to Portugal in early May to send photos to British investigators.A spokesman for Irish broadcaster RTE said: "They wanted to appeal to any Irish person who may have been in the Praia Da Luz area and ask them specifically ... to look at the backgrounds. - 19th June 2007.

▪ Children at the school Madeleine McCann should be starting in September are lending their help in the search for the missing four-year-old. They have spelled out the words "Find Madeleine" in the grounds of Bishop Ellis Catholic Primary in Leicester. It comes after Portuguese police said Madeleine McCann's family and friends may have destroyed vital evidence in the hours after she was snatched. The Inspector leading the case claims so many crowded into the room where she was taken, it was proving difficult for forensic teams. More than 20 people entered the apartment in Praia da Luz the night Madeleine went missing over six weeks ago. - 18th June 2007.

▪ Portuguese police investigating the kidnap of Madeleine McCann have said well-wishers may have destroyed vital evidence accidentally. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said so many friends and family crowded into the room from which the four-year-old was taken, that it was proving difficult for the forensic teams to collect clues. He said that their well-meaning actions could prove "fatal" for the investigation. The police officer's comments came as Kate and Gerry McCann marked 45 days since their daughter disappeared with no breakthrough in the case. - 18th June 2007.

▪ Madeleine McCann's friends and family may have destroyed vital evidence in the first few hours after her abduction, Portuguese police have said. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said so many people crowded into the room where she was taken, it was proving difficult for the forensic teams. He said their well-meaning actions could prove "fatal" for the investigation. The police officer's comments came as Kate and Gerry McCann marked 45 days since their four-year-old disappeared with no breakthrough in the case. A source close to the family described his words as "very unhelpful". - 17th June 2007.

▪ Portuguese police officers with sniffer dogs carried out a fruitless search for the body of Madeleine McCann on Friday after a tip-off from a Dutch source. Starting at dawn, they cordoned off an area nine miles from where she was abducted in Praia da Luz. For several hours, more than 30 Guarda Nacional Repulicana, 20 Policia Judiciara (PJ) and four specialist dogs combed the scrubland. But the search was called off later in the morning and the lead dismissed. Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa from the PJ said: "The search has been carried out. This clue has been completely checked and the result was negative, so the investigation goes on." - 15th June 2007.

▪ Portuguese police have searched an area of scrubland just nine miles from where Madeleine McCann was abducted. Police vans, including one carrying sniffer dogs, moved in at first light in the village of Arao, not far from Praia da Luz. It is now 43 days since the four-year-old was taken from her bed as she slept in the Algarve resort. Police cordoned off the road in the tiny village as they carried out their search. They were told on Wednesday about an anonymous letter sent to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf alleging Madeleine had been buried under rocks in the area. - 15th June 2007.

▪ The parents of a missing toddler Madeleine McCann, on Thursday criticised a Dutch newspaper for giving details of an anonymous letter which claimed to know where she was buried near a Portuguese village. Portuguese police scoured remote ground for the body of Madeleine McCann following the tipoff which was handed over by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. "We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in The Telegraaf (Netherlands) claiming to know where Madeleine is buried," said the girl's father, Gerry McCann writing on a website devoted to the search for Madeleine. - 14th June 2007.

▪ The parents of missing Madeleine McCann put on a brave face as they tried to play down claims that their daughter lies buried near where she was kidnapped. Portuguese detectives spent the day trying to verify an anonymous letter which said the four-year-old was hidden in scrubland only nine miles from Praia da Luz where she was snatched 42 days ago. Kate and Gerry McCann carried on as normal, taking care of two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie and collecting a friend from Faro airport. It is understood they do not believe the claim to be significant. - 14th June 2007.

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