New search in Madeleine McCann case to get under way in Portugal
Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance are set to begin a major new search in Portugal this morning.
German officers will scour more than 20 plots of land in the east of Praia da Luz, near the cottage where suspect Christian B lived and close to where Madeleine disappeared.
Radar equipment that can scan beneath ground will reportedly be used.
Portuguese police said they were carrying out a European investigation order from German authorities.
The UK's Metropolitan Police said it wouldn't be present but would "support our international colleagues where necessary".
Madeleine disappeared on holiday in Praia da Luz in 2007, in what has become one of the world's most high-profile missing person cases.
The three-year-old was asleep with her younger siblings in an apartment before their mother Kate discovered her missing.
Her parents were dining with friends nearby on the holiday complex and taking turns to check on their children every half hour.
German authorities last carried out searches in 2023 near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
It was previously searched in 2008 after Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid divers following claims Madeleine's body was there.
Police sources told Sky's partner in the country, SIC Noticias, the new search was expected to start on Tuesday morning.
It said authorities were looking for Madeleine's body or an indication she may have once been there.
Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under German law, is coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He has not been charged or indicted over Madeleine's appearance and denies any involvement.
In October, he was acquitted on rape and indecent assault charges in a trial in Germany - which also heard references to his status as the main suspect in the McCann case.
However, a German prosecutor told Sky News in January he wouldn't face charges in the foreseeable future.
Last month, Madeleine's parents marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, vowing they would keep searching.
"No matter how near or far she is, she continues to be right here with us, every day, but especially on her special day," they said ahead of her 22nd birthday.
"We continue to 'celebrate' her as the very beautiful and unique person she is. We miss her."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News
16 minutes ago
- Sky News
Charities welcome half a million more children being eligible for free school meals
Charities and school leaders have welcomed free school meals being opened up to more than half a million extra children. The government has announced it will make children in all households on universal credit in England eligible for free school meals from September 2026. Parents will be nearly £500 better off each year because of the change, the Department for Education said. Currently, only pupils from households with an income of less than £7,400 a year are eligible for free school meals, meaning hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty do not have access to them. The latest figures, from January 2024, show 2.1m children were eligible for free school meals - 24.6% of all pupils in England. The government has not said how it will fund another 500,000 children's school meals. It also claimed the eligibility expansion would lift 100,000 children across England completely out of poverty, but did not provide details of how. Charities broadly welcomed the change, with The Children's Society calling it a "practical, compassionate step that will make a real difference". Chief executive Mark Russell said it is a move his charity has been pushing for and would lift thousands of children out of hunger and help ease the pressure on households struggling to make ends meet. The Child Poverty Action Group said it was "fantastic news and a game-changer for children and families". "We hope this is a sign of what's to come in autumn's child poverty strategy, with government taking more action to meet its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty in the UK," Kate Anstey, head of education policy, said. School leaders' union NAHT welcomed the change but asked for the government to introduce "auto-enrolment so no child entitled to a free meal misses out". NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman added: "It's vital that this positive extension of free school meals is backed up by other tangible measures which help lift even more children out of poverty when the government's child poverty taskforce reports back later this year." 2:37 At the end of May, the government delayed publishing its child poverty strategy until the autumn over Treasury concerns about the cost implications of ending the two-child limit on universal credit, which is expected to be part of the strategy. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pushed Sir Keir Starmer on whether he will lift it at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday after the PM last week said the government "will look at" scrapping it, in his strongest indication yet that he will. On the free school meals announcement, Sir Keir said: "Working parents across the country are working tirelessly to provide for their families but are being held back by cost-of-living pressures. "My government is taking action to ease those pressures. Feeding more children every day, for free, is one of the biggest interventions we can make to put more money in parents' pockets, tackle the stain of poverty, and set children up to learn. "This expansion is a truly historic moment for our country, helping families who need it most and delivering our Plan for Change to give every child, no matter their background, the same chance to succeed." Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson called it a "giant step" towards ending child poverty.
Times
18 minutes ago
- Times
Labour's plan for illegal migrants explained — and is it working?
What you need to know Sir Keir Starmer has secured improved commitments from France on tackling small boats but this has yet to translate into action on the ground Labour believes a new bill going through the Lords would make a significant difference in its pledge to 'smash the gangs' Despite rejecting the Rwanda plan as a 'gimmick', the prime minister's plan for return hubs has a similar aim, but is still at an early stage Ministers are looking at tightening the rules around Article 8 of the ECHR, the right to family life, in asylum claims When Sir Keir Starmer entered No 10 almost a year ago he pledged to make good on Labour's election promise to 'smash the gangs' and succeed, where the Conservatives had failed, in securing Britain's borders against illegal migration. Yet so far this year almost 15,000 people have arrived in the UK in small boats — up 42 per cent on this time last year and a 95 per cent rise from the same point in 2023. This week ministers sought to blame the weather and insisted that their policies would be effective in making good on Starmer's pledge. But what exactly is the government doing, and how successful has it been? A new deal with France From the British side perhaps the most critical element of the government's small boats strategy has been to leverage Starmer's relationship with President Macron to persuade the French to take a more proactive approach to preventing small boats setting sail from French waters in the first place. At the start of the year the prime minister hosted Macron at Chequers, where the two leaders agreed to step up bilateral co-operation to prevent Channel crossings. This led to a formal agreement a month later under which the UK extended a £480 million deal to pay for policing French beaches in return for new measures to stem the flow of boats. In particular, Paris agreed to change the law to allow police officers to apprehend vessels in shallow waters and restore the offence of an 'illegal stay' in France, which would allow the police to arrest migrants and smugglers before they attempted a crossing. There was also a commitment by France to speed up the construction of a detention centre in Dunkirk — paid for by the British — which had become bogged down in planning rows. But, so far, these commitments have yet to materialise. The plan to enable police to intervene within 300m of the shore is yet to be implemented amid opposition from the officers themselves. There is also still slow progress on Dunkirk. Verdict: Ministers believe improved co-operation with France is as close as it comes to a silver bullet to stem the flow of boats. But while Starmer has won important commitments from Paris, which were never given to the last government, these commitments have yet to materialise into action on the ground. New legal powers to tackle smuggling gangs In January ministers published a bill that they claimed would give police anti-terrorism-style powers to 'identify, disrupt and prevent' organised immigration crime. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is going through the House of Lords, will make it illegal to handle items suspected of being used for organised immigration crime, such as boat parts and engines, with a maximum punishment of 14 years in prison. Those found collecting information that could be used by people smugglers will face up to five years in jail. This would include researching routes or vessels online, or arranging departure points, dates and times. The new offences will be accompanied by additional powers for Border Force officers, police and the National Crime Agency. They will be allowed to seize and search the mobile phones of anyone arriving in the UK illegally if they believe it will help an investigation into who organised the journey. The information gathered will also be available to be used in cases brought overseas. Verdict: Senior policing figures believe the legislation will make a difference in their ability to dismantle the smuggling gangs — pointing out that the numbers involved are in the hundreds — and are vulnerable to a concerted attempt to dismantle their activities. However, as the bill is not yet law, at the moment it remains an aspiration. Return hubs In one of his first acts as prime minister Starmer scrapped the Conservative Party's plans to send migrants to Rwanda, branding it a waste of money and a 'gimmick'. However, he is now drawing up a policy that sounds remarkably similar — sending failed asylum seekers to 'return hubs' in the west Balkans. There is one significant difference: the Tories planned to send all those who came to the UK on small boats abroad, while Labour's plan is limited to those who have exhausted all avenues of appeal. But the intent is similar: to deter people from making the crossings in the first place. Verdict: The plans are at a very early stage, and it is not a given that countries will agree to host the return hubs. Albania has already ruled out doing so. There remain significant legal and political challenges to getting the scheme off the ground. There is broader support for the idea among some EU states and also in the UN. But even if the plans get off the ground, there is no guarantee it will work as a deterrent. Deal with other countries In December Starmer negotiated a deal with Germany, which agreed to tighten its laws to make it easier to prosecute those helping to smuggle migrants to the UK. Ministers said this was important because facilitating people-smuggling to a third country was not technically illegal in Germany. However, the law has not yet been enacted, and ministers need to win approval from the new German government for it to be put into place. Starmer has also recently announced a partnership with Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia to detect and deter illegal migration operations. Verdict: The prime minister has made improving international co-operation to tackle smuggling gangs a big diplomatic priority for the government. But while the issue is a huge priority for the UK it is less important for other countries, and it remains to be seen how quickly and effectively diplomatic deals are converted into concrete action. The asylum backlog and hotels There are 8,000 more asylum seekers living in hotels than when Starmer pledged during the election campaign in June last year to 'end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds'. The reality of how difficult that is has become clear. This month the National Audit Office said the cost of asylum accommodation would be three times higher than previously estimated and more than 38,000 migrants are being housed in hotels, costing the Home Office an estimated £5.5 million a day — while a further 66,000 migrants are in dispersal accommodation such as large houses, bedsits and flats across different local authorities. • Migrants will be put up in hotels for years yet, Treasury admits The vast majority are awaiting asylum decisions, so speeding up that process is seen as key. The Home Office has had some success — it has been increased by 52 per cent and 24,000 people have been removed from the country. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is also planning to change the law to introduce a mandatory 24-week legal deadline for all asylum appeals. Verdict: If decision-making can genuinely be sped up it will help not only to bring down the hotel bill, but could act as a deterrent for those considering making the journey across the Channel. Human rights laws Ministers will bring in a new framework for judges to work to when deciding whether to allow migrants to make claims for asylum using the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The most heavily used part of the ECHR, Article 8 — the right to family life — has been leveraged by murderers and paedophiles to stay in the country. Cooper revealed this week about 30 per cent of cases had been considered 'exceptional' by judges, and she wants to restrict that to a more narrow set of circumstances. • Kemi Badenoch would override ECHR on asylum for illegal migrants Verdict: Restricting the scope of Article 8 will save ministers from some embarrassing headlines but is unlikely to be enough on its own to fulfil the government's immigration pledges. An appetite to direct judges — and suggestions that the government could be open to reforming the ECHR — shows a willingness from Starmer and Cooper to step into an arena previously inhabited by the Tories and Reform UK. But as those on the right ramp up pressure for Britain to pull out of the convention altogether, the efforts may fall short.
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Desperate search for missing 11-year-old girl who vanished without a trace two days ago
An 11-year-old girl has gone missing in NSW as police launch a desperate appeal for information on her whereabouts. Bella Morley was last seen in Wiseman Park, Wollongong in the state's south about 7pm on Tuesday. Police launched an inquiry into her whereabouts after being made aware by her family that she could not be located or contacted. Her family are extremely concerned about Bella and urge anyone with any information to come forward. More to come
