Egypt President Sorry Over 'Worst' Sex Attack

By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent

Egypt's new president has apologised to a woman who was attacked during the celebrations to mark his inauguration at the weekend.

Abdel Fattah al Sisi visited the woman at a Cairo hospital and told her: "I have come to tell you and every Egyptian woman that I am sorry. I am apologising to every Egyptian woman."

It comes after he ordered a crackdown on sex crimes following the emergence of a video, which has been circulated on social media, showing a woman being assaulted in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The blurry, two-minute clip, which was allegedly filmed during Sunday's inaugural festivities, shows a woman completely naked and bruised with hordes of men around as she is carried into a vehicle.

Dozens of women say they have been attacked in Tahrir Square in the past two years but many said this was the worst they had heard of.

Mr al Sisi has described sexual harassment as "unacceptable"

It has been covered widely by Egyptian media, with one newspaper demanding the perpetrators be executed.

In one of his first public statements, Mr Sisi called it an "unacceptable form of conduct, alien to the best principles of Egyptian culture".

It comes as a global summit to stop sexual violence in war zones, co-hosted by Angelina Jolie, continues in London.

On Tuesday, the actress told the summit: "We must send a message across the world that there's no disgrace in being a survivor of sexual violence. The shame is on the aggressor."

Part of the problem in Egypt has been an absence of laws protecting women against sexual harassment, allowing attackers to act with complete impunity.

Jolie co-hosted the London summit with Foreign Secretary William Hague

A decree issued last week made it a criminal act for the first time, with offenders warned they could face up to five years in prison.

Importantly, it defines harassment as including the making of obscene gestures "in any manner", recognising it does not have to be of a physical nature.

A study conducted last year by the UN showed 99.3% of Egyptian women have experienced some form of harassment, with around half (47%) claiming they are harassed daily.

It has become so prevalent and widespread in Egypt that many women have simply grown to accept it.

Men often stare and shout obscene comments at women as they walk along the street.

At times, it is seen as acceptable for women to feel shame and humiliation, as if something about how they dress or walk is to blame. 

It is an endemic problem and has become part of Egyptian culture - a dysfunctional yet accepted norm.

Farah Shash, of the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, said: "The culture here when it comes to sexual harassment is to blame the victim."

She said authorities in Egypt have never seen women's rights as a priority and women are reluctant to report incidents because the police are so unsympathetic.

Journalist Hania Moheeb, who was gang raped in Tahrir Square last January and is attending this week's summit, said: "The denial this society has been living in for over two decades is something that has to end."

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Madeleine McCann: Site Was Identified In 2007

Madeleine: Key Events Timeline

Updated: 7:29am UK, Wednesday 11 June 2014

Here is a timeline of the key events since Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends eating with the McCanns, later reports seeing a man carrying a child away earlier that night.

:: May 5 - Portuguese police reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal, and say they have a sketch of a suspect.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or official suspect.

:: May 25 - Detectives release a description of the man reported by Jane Tanner three weeks earlier after pressure from the McCanns, their legal team and the British Government.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: August 6 - A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the McCanns' holiday apartment.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During further questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression drawn by an FBI-trained expert showing the man described by Jane Tanner.

2008

:: March 19 - Mr and Mrs McCann accept £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death.

:: April 7 - Three Portuguese detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, fly to Britain to re-interview the seven friends on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished.

:: July 17 - Mr Murat receives £600,000 in libel damages from four newspaper groups over "seriously defamatory" articles connecting him with the child's disappearance.

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public.

2009

:: January 13 - Mr McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since coming back to the UK without his daughter.

:: March 24 - The McCanns launch a localised new appeal for information focused on the area in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared.

:: April 4 - Mr McCann goes back to Portugal to help film a reconstruction of the events on the night his daughter vanished.

:: April 22 - The McCanns fly to the US to record an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.

:: June 14 - Dying paedophile Raymond Hewlett says he was in the Algarve when Madeleine disappeared and has an alibi - but has no plans to reveal it.

:: August 6 - Detectives say they are hunting a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent, reportedly seen in Barcelona three days after the little girl went missing.

2010

:: Feb 18 -  Kate and Gerry McCann say they are "pleased and relieved" at a judge's decision to uphold a ban on a book by former detective Goncalo Amaral.

:: Mar 3 -  A newly-released file from Portugese police on possible sightings is called "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough, says a spokesman for the McCanns.

:: May 1 - Kate McCann reveals she had thoughts about being "wiped out" in a motorway crash to end the pain of losing Madeleine - but vows never to give up.

:: November 10 - Madeleine's parents launch an online petition to help force a UK and Portuguese joint review of all evidence in the case.

:: November 15 -  The McCanns sign a deal to write a book about their daughter's disappearance.

2011

:: May 13 - The Prime Minister David Cameron asks London's Metropolitan Police to help investigate the case.

:: November 23 - Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

They tell how media pressure affected their family life and accuse newspaper editors of hampering the search for their missing daughter.

Kate McCann says she felt "violated" when her diary was published without her permission.

:: December 5 - Scotland Yard detectives spend time in Barcelona as part of their re-examination of the case.

2012

:: March 9 - Portuguese police in Oporto launch a review of the original investigation.

:: April 26 - Scotland Yard says Madeleine McCann may still be alive and release an artist's impression of what she may look like as a nine-year-old.

:: July 6 - British detectives examine a claim that the little girl's body is buried near the apartment from where she vanished. It comes after a self-styled investigator sends police radar scans he claims show a burial site.

2013

:: February 11 - Gerry McCann calls for politicians to implement the conclusions of the Leveson Inquiry in full, backed by legislation.

:: February 13 - Police say the results of DNA tests on a girl in New Zealand who was mistaken for Madeleine reveal that she is not the missing British girl.

:: February 21 - Retired solicitor Tony Bennett who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death is given a suspended jail sentence.

:: May 2 - Madeleine McCann's parents tell Sky News a police review into their daughter's disappearance is making "excellent progress" as they mark the sixth anniversary since she went missing.

:: May 17 - Scotland Yard say they have identified a number of "people of interest" they want to speak to. It believes it has found enough evidence to reopen the case but the Portuguese authorities are still resistant. 

:: June 15 - The Home Office agrees to fund a full-scale investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

:: October 13 - UK detectives reviewing the case say key details in the timeline of her disappearance have "significantly changed".

:: October 14 - A fresh appeal is launched in a bid to find a suspect detectives say is of "vital importance", with two new separate e-fits - thought to be of the same man seen on the night Madeleine went missing - released by police.

:: October 17 - Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Scotland Yard team, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, and Mr and Mrs McCann meet officers in Lisbon to be briefed on the Portuguese case.

:: October 23 - Britain's most senior police officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe defends the way the Portuguese dealt with the initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, saying it would have been "very difficult" to immediately know if they were dealing with a serious crime.

:: October 24 - Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance after an internal review uncovers new lines of inquiry and witnesses who were never questioned during the original Portuguese investigation.

2014

:: January 3 - A family source says Kate and Gerry McCann have been denied permission to give evidence at a Portuguese libel trial over a book about the case by former local police chief Goncalo Amaral.

:: January 13 - British police investigate three burglars who were in the area when Madeleine disappeared, and whose phones were apparently "red hot" after she went missing. A letter is sent to Portuguese police asking for help to track them down.

:: January 29 - Scotland Yard officers, including the detective leading the case, fly to Portugal to meet police there and discuss the latest developments.

:: March 19 - Officers from Operation Grange launch a search for a man who sexually assaulted five British girls in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

:: April 23 - Detectives identify five new cases where a lone intruder abused young British girls in holiday apartments in the Algarve.

:: May 1 - Kate and Gerry McCann give an interview to Sky News where they are desperate to find out what happened to Madeleine, even if it is the "worst case scenario" as they back calls for a Child Rescue Alert service similar to the Amber Alert system in the US.

:: May 6 - Scotland Yard plans to dig for evidence in three locations in Praia da Luz are approved, with officers set to use ground penetrating radar.

:: May 8 - British Officers reportedly use a military helicopter to photograph potential excavation sites and hold a four-hour meeting with Portuguese colleagues to agree a timetable for new searches.

:: May 22 - Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation will enter a "substantial phase of operational activity" in Portugal in the coming weeks. 

:: June 2 - Portuguese police seal off an area of scrubland to the west of Praia da Luz as they prepare to examine the potential excavation site.

:: June 11 - Police begin to search an area between Praia da Luz and the town of Lagos behind a water treatment plant. The search of the scrubland site was wound down on June 9.

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Mystery Surrounds Brit Backpacker Missing In Oz

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A mother has flown from Scotland to Australia in a desperate attempt to find her son who has gone missing while backpacking.

Judith Ansell said her son was "distressed" when he spoke to her on the phone from Australia before he vanished two weeks ago.

Jonathan Ansell, 27, disappeared from Melbourne and is believed to have had no passport or money, and with no place to stay had been forced to sleep rough.

His mother believes he also had no mobile phone and had called her in Scotland from a payphone.

"I think he must have been calling from a phone box and didn't have any more money and it just got cut off," she told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

"He said he had run out of money, and was living rough."

Mr Ansell, from Glasgow, came to Australia on a work visa in April 2013 which ran out in April 2014.

He had been working on Hamilton Island, a popular holiday resort, before heading off to travel, visiting Sydney and Byron Bay.

In February, he met up with friends in Sydney, where his Scottish bank records indicate the last use of a credit card.

Victoria Police are checking to see if he had an Australian bank account that could shed more light on his movements. They believe he may have travelled into a rural area of the state.

Mrs Ansell described her son as affable, but extremely quiet and she said he was unlikely to approach people to ask for help.

A Twitter account called @Find_Jonathan has been set up and his sister Kate has also started a campaign on Facebook urging anyone with information to come forward.

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Nasa Captures Sun's Dramatic Solar Flares

The sun put on a dramatic light show display, with a sunspot emitting two bright solar flares in quick succession.

The flares were powerful enough to temporarily interfere with radio communications in Europe.

A solar flare is defined as a sudden, rapid and intense variation in brightness.

It occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.

The release of the sun's flares were captured by Nasa Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Solar flares are measured by class, with the X-class being the most powerful as they emit X-rays and UV radiation.

Wednesday's flares measured X2.2 and X1.5.

The numbers reflect the strength of the flare - for example, an X2 is twice as intense as an X1, while an X3 is three times as intense, and so on.

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Passport Service Cuts Hit Expat Applications

The backlog and workload problems at the passport office are causing frustration and anger - not just for people based in the UK, but for Britons living all around the world.

Until a few years ago, British citizens living abroad could simply wander down to their embassy and apply for a passport. It would be issued within a day or two. Job done.

The system was then changed largely because passports had become more sophisticated - with biometric technology for security. Embassies didn't have the equipment to produce the new biometric passports.

So, regional offices were set up within certain embassies around the world. For those of us living here in Beijing, Hong Kong became the regional hub.

We could apply via the British Embassy in Beijing, the application would be sent to Hong Kong and the new passport would be issued there. A little more bureaucratic but still entirely workable.

But in December, "cost saving" measures were made to the application system. All regional offices were shut and Britons globally were told they must apply for their replacement passports in the UK.

They now have two options. Either they can travel to the UK and then apply for the "one-day" service. That could cost a huge amount in air fares.

The alternative is to send their application form, together with their old passport, to the UK Passport office in Liverpool - a process that the Passport Office says will take "at least six weeks".

That means that for at least six weeks the applicant is unable to leave wherever it is they live. For many, that's entirely impractical. For some, it will impact on their business.

With a bit of research and a half-hour long distance phone call to the passport office, I have discovered that it is possible to send a copy of your old passport rather than the original, but only in "exceptional circumstances" determined on a "case-by-case basis".

However, this leads to its own problems - the moment the new passport is issued (back in the UK) the old one (still in the hands of the applicant) is cancelled.

So in the time it takes to send the new one to the applicant overseas - several weeks - they are unable to travel because the passport they hold will be flagged as 'cancelled' at immigration.

Confusing? Frustrating? Certainly.

The stories we're hearing are mounting up - a British bride-to-be, living in Hong Kong, has been waiting for her replacement passport for eight weeks. She still doesn't have it. Her wedding, in Bali, is in two weeks.

A Briton living in South Africa who's taking a group of South African children to the World Cup, had been waiting 15 weeks.

A British businessman living in Hong Kong told us he'd waited 10 weeks. His new passport has just arrived but the passport office forgot to send back his old one which contained his visas. He is therefore still unable to travel.

The bottom line is this - not all that long ago, Britons living abroad could get a replacement passport in a day or two.

Now they are being grounded for "at least six weeks" and in many cases, far longer.

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Morrissey Blames Support Act For Axed Tour

Morrissey appears to be blaming his support act for a "horrendous cold" which has caused him to cancel the rest of his US tour.

The former Smiths frontman was taken to hospital after collapsing following his show in Boston on Saturday.

The singer announced the end of the tour, including his scheduled June 21 date with Sir Cliff Richard in New York, with "unimaginable sorrow".

A statement on his Facebook page said: "It is with great sadness that the remainder of the US Tour has been cancelled.

"The respiratory infection Morrissey contracted in Miami has worsened, and in the interest of making a full recovery, all further touring plans have been halted.

"Morrissey thanks his fans for their compassion, understanding, and well-wishes during this difficult period as he recuperates."

A message posted on True To You, a respected Morrissey fan site, said he fell ill after catching what Kristeen Young described as her "horrendous cold" in Miami.

"Morrissey received medical attention in Miami, and once again in Boston, but it was not enough to shake off the virus, the recovery time for which is too lengthy to meet the final nine shows of the tour."

Young was reportedly asked not to appear in a number of shows but has decided to leave the tour altogether.

When the date with Sir Cliff was initially announced, the Devil Woman singer admitted he could not name any Morrissey songs.

He said: "I couldn't tell you the titles. I've just googled him to see what kinds of crowds he plays to and what sort of show he did. I'm thinking, okay, it looks like a pop-rock show."

It is not the first time ill-health has forced Morrissey from the stage.

Last year he cancelled a string of US dates after suffering a bleeding ulcer, Barrett's oesophagus and double pneumonia.

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Iraq: Tikrit Seized As Militants Surge South

Militants from an al Qaeda splinter group have launched a wave of attacks south of captured Mosul a day after more than 500,000 people fled the city.

Iraqi police said insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had seized control of Tikrit and freed hundreds of prisoners, AFP news agency reported.

The provincial governor, who is based in the city, is missing, officials have told AP.

An estimated 500,000 people have fled Mosul and the surrounding area

The city, which is the hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein, lies roughly halfway between the capital, Baghdad, and Mosul, which was captured on Tuesday.

In northern Baghdad a suicide bomber killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 others after detonating explosives inside a tent where local Shiite tribal leaders were meeting.

Some 250 guards at Iraq's largest oil refinery in Baiji were also forced to withdraw to another town after ISIL militants sent a delegation of tribal chiefs to persuade them to pull out.

ISIL fighters wave their flag at the Sykes Picot Border. Pic: albaraka_news

Video footage also showed fighting on the outskirts of Kirkuk, close to the Kurdistan region, and there were reports of clashes further south at an entrance to the city of Samarra, which is just 70 miles (110km) north of Baghdad.

A senior government official said the production of crude oil in Iraq - which produces around 3.5 million barrels of oil per day - could be affected after the attack on Baiji.

In Mosul, gunmen wearing military uniforms and all-black clothing have been guarding banks and government buildings and calling over loudspeakers for government employees to return to work.

Insurgents have struck in Mosul, Baiji, Tikrit and Kirkuk

The militants also seized the Turkish consulate in the second city and reportedly kidnapped the head of the diplomatic mission and 48 staff members, according to police.

Families have made their way into the Kurdistan region, which has its own military force, the Peshmerga.

One police officer said: "We need a whole army to drive them out of Mosul. They're like ghosts: they appear, strike and disappear in seconds."

People celebrate as ISIL fighters occupy Mosul. Pic: albaraka_news

Ninevah province governor Atheel al Nujaifi said authorities had a plan to restore security.

Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency that would grant him additional powers to tackle the crisis.

He also appealed for help from the international community.

People queue at a border crossing into the Kurdistan region

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Baghdad will co-operate with Kurdish forces to "flush out these foreign fighters".

Influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr has called for the formation of militia units to help defend religious sites.

ISIL has made serious gains in Iraq in the last year, seizing control of the city of Falluja and parts of Ramadi.

Led by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, it was formed after a split with al Qaeda's international leader, Ayman al Zawahiri.

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Strippers 'Drugged And Blackmailed Rich Men'

Four New York strippers have been accused of drugging wealthy clients and running up huge bills on their credit cards at topless clubs.

The women have been arrested in the alleged scheme and a banker and a real estate attorney were among four victims who lost at least $200,000, according to the AP news agency.

The suspects met victims at upscale bars in Manhattan and Long Island, then spiked their drinks with a powerful powder form of ecstasy called Molly, authorities said.

The victims were then taken to two strip clubs, Scores in Manhattan and the Roadhouse in Queens, where tens of thousands of dollars were charged on their credit cards while they were too "wasted" to stop it.

The victims have not been identified.

They reported waking up in their cars or in hotel rooms with little or no memory of the encounters.

If somebody tried to dispute the bills, the strippers blackmailed them by threatening to go public with their transgressions, authorities said.

The clubs allegedly paid the women for the visits, but they were not facing criminal charges.

However, according to the New York Post, a Roadhouse manager was charged with conspiracy, grand larceny and tampering with physical evidence.

The women have been charged with grand larceny, assault and forgery, according to AP.

The suspected ring-leader, Samantha Barbash, appeared in court on Tuesday with two other women. A fourth suspect is expected to make a court appearance today.

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Madeleine McCann Police Search A Third Site

Madeleine: Key Events Timeline

Updated: 7:29am UK, Wednesday 11 June 2014

Here is a timeline of the key events since Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

2007

:: May 3 - Kate and Gerry McCann leave their three children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

Jane Tanner, one of the friends eating with the McCanns, later reports seeing a man carrying a child away earlier that night.

:: May 5 - Portuguese police reveal they believe Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal, and say they have a sketch of a suspect.

:: May 14 - Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese man Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an "arguido", or official suspect.

:: May 25 - Detectives release a description of the man reported by Jane Tanner three weeks earlier after pressure from the McCanns, their legal team and the British Government.

:: May 30 - Mr and Mrs McCann meet the Pope in Rome in the first of a series of trips around Europe and beyond to highlight the search for their daughter.

:: August 6 - A Portuguese newspaper reports that British sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall in the McCanns' holiday apartment.

:: August 11 - Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.

:: September 7 - During further questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both "arguidos" in their daughter's disappearance.

:: September 9 - The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.

:: October 2 - Goncalo Amaral, the detective in charge of the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticising the British police in a Portuguese newspaper interview.

:: October 25 - The McCanns release a new artist's impression drawn by an FBI-trained expert showing the man described by Jane Tanner.

2008

:: March 19 - Mr and Mrs McCann accept £550,000 libel damages and front-page apologies from Express Newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death.

:: April 7 - Three Portuguese detectives, led by Paulo Rebelo, fly to Britain to re-interview the seven friends on holiday with the McCanns when Madeleine vanished.

:: July 17 - Mr Murat receives £600,000 in libel damages from four newspaper groups over "seriously defamatory" articles connecting him with the child's disappearance.

:: July 21 - The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.

:: August 4 - Thousands of pages of evidence from the Portuguese police files in the exhaustive investigation into Madeleine's disappearance are made public.

2009

:: January 13 - Mr McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since coming back to the UK without his daughter.

:: March 24 - The McCanns launch a localised new appeal for information focused on the area in the Algarve where Madeleine disappeared.

:: April 4 - Mr McCann goes back to Portugal to help film a reconstruction of the events on the night his daughter vanished.

:: April 22 - The McCanns fly to the US to record an interview with chat show host Oprah Winfrey to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.

:: June 14 - Dying paedophile Raymond Hewlett says he was in the Algarve when Madeleine disappeared and has an alibi - but has no plans to reveal it.

:: August 6 - Detectives say they are hunting a "Victoria Beckham lookalike" with an Australian or New Zealand accent, reportedly seen in Barcelona three days after the little girl went missing.

2010

:: Feb 18 -  Kate and Gerry McCann say they are "pleased and relieved" at a judge's decision to uphold a ban on a book by former detective Goncalo Amaral.

:: Mar 3 -  A newly-released file from Portugese police on possible sightings is called "gold dust" and could lead to a breakthrough, says a spokesman for the McCanns.

:: May 1 - Kate McCann reveals she had thoughts about being "wiped out" in a motorway crash to end the pain of losing Madeleine - but vows never to give up.

:: November 10 - Madeleine's parents launch an online petition to help force a UK and Portuguese joint review of all evidence in the case.

:: November 15 -  The McCanns sign a deal to write a book about their daughter's disappearance.

2011

:: May 13 - The Prime Minister David Cameron asks London's Metropolitan Police to help investigate the case.

:: November 23 - Kate and Gerry McCann appear at the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics.

They tell how media pressure affected their family life and accuse newspaper editors of hampering the search for their missing daughter.

Kate McCann says she felt "violated" when her diary was published without her permission.

:: December 5 - Scotland Yard detectives spend time in Barcelona as part of their re-examination of the case.

2012

:: March 9 - Portuguese police in Oporto launch a review of the original investigation.

:: April 26 - Scotland Yard says Madeleine McCann may still be alive and release an artist's impression of what she may look like as a nine-year-old.

:: July 6 - British detectives examine a claim that the little girl's body is buried near the apartment from where she vanished. It comes after a self-styled investigator sends police radar scans he claims show a burial site.

2013

:: February 11 - Gerry McCann calls for politicians to implement the conclusions of the Leveson Inquiry in full, backed by legislation.

:: February 13 - Police say the results of DNA tests on a girl in New Zealand who was mistaken for Madeleine reveal that she is not the missing British girl.

:: February 21 - Retired solicitor Tony Bennett who published claims that Madeleine McCann's parents caused her death is given a suspended jail sentence.

:: May 2 - Madeleine McCann's parents tell Sky News a police review into their daughter's disappearance is making "excellent progress" as they mark the sixth anniversary since she went missing.

:: May 17 - Scotland Yard say they have identified a number of "people of interest" they want to speak to. It believes it has found enough evidence to reopen the case but the Portuguese authorities are still resistant. 

:: June 15 - The Home Office agrees to fund a full-scale investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

:: October 13 - UK detectives reviewing the case say key details in the timeline of her disappearance have "significantly changed".

:: October 14 - A fresh appeal is launched in a bid to find a suspect detectives say is of "vital importance", with two new separate e-fits - thought to be of the same man seen on the night Madeleine went missing - released by police.

:: October 17 - Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Scotland Yard team, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, and Mr and Mrs McCann meet officers in Lisbon to be briefed on the Portuguese case.

:: October 23 - Britain's most senior police officer Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe defends the way the Portuguese dealt with the initial investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, saying it would have been "very difficult" to immediately know if they were dealing with a serious crime.

:: October 24 - Detectives in Portugal reopen the investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance after an internal review uncovers new lines of inquiry and witnesses who were never questioned during the original Portuguese investigation.

2014

:: January 3 - A family source says Kate and Gerry McCann have been denied permission to give evidence at a Portuguese libel trial over a book about the case by former local police chief Goncalo Amaral.

:: January 13 - British police investigate three burglars who were in the area when Madeleine disappeared, and whose phones were apparently "red hot" after she went missing. A letter is sent to Portuguese police asking for help to track them down.

:: January 29 - Scotland Yard officers, including the detective leading the case, fly to Portugal to meet police there and discuss the latest developments.

:: March 19 - Officers from Operation Grange launch a search for a man who sexually assaulted five British girls in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.

:: April 23 - Detectives identify five new cases where a lone intruder abused young British girls in holiday apartments in the Algarve.

:: May 1 - Kate and Gerry McCann give an interview to Sky News where they are desperate to find out what happened to Madeleine, even if it is the "worst case scenario" as they back calls for a Child Rescue Alert service similar to the Amber Alert system in the US.

:: May 6 - Scotland Yard plans to dig for evidence in three locations in Praia da Luz are approved, with officers set to use ground penetrating radar.

:: May 8 - British Officers reportedly use a military helicopter to photograph potential excavation sites and hold a four-hour meeting with Portuguese colleagues to agree a timetable for new searches.

:: May 22 - Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation will enter a "substantial phase of operational activity" in Portugal in the coming weeks. 

:: June 2 - Portuguese police seal off an area of scrubland to the west of Praia da Luz as they prepare to examine the potential excavation site.

:: June 11 - Police begin to search an area between Praia da Luz and the town of Lagos behind a water treatment plant. The search of the scrubland site was wound down on June 9.

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Tea Party Ousts Top Republican Eric Cantor

Who Is Dave Brat?

Updated: 4:46pm UK, Wednesday 11 June 2014

By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent

Before June 11, barely anyone outside of Richmond, Virginia, had heard of Dave Brat - but he's now the most famous newcomer in American politics.

Mr Brat is a college professor who teaches Economics. And if you click on his website, you get an insight into what he stands for.

First of all, there are the photographs - the standard happy and smiling All-American family pose with his wife Laura and children Jonathan and Sophia, aged 15 and 11.

But under the title "What We Believe" is a photo of former President Ronald Reagan, and under "Reforming Washington", you get a picture of Eric Cantor chatting amiably to President Barack Obama.

The sub text is clear - Mr Brat is a devotee of a true Republican hero while his opponent is in league with the devil.

The blurb says he is a man of "deep faith" who attends a Catholic Church, and as a "product of the rural Midwest, he learned the value of faith, family, and a strong work ethic at a young age."

It adds: "Dave is running because the political and economic systems are broken. We live in an era of inter-generational theft; we are racking up bills only to hand them off to our children. Dave Brat is committed to getting our fiscal house in order."

On the issues that matter to him, Mr Brat put "Obamacare" at the top of his list followed by "fiscal responsibility". Immigration - widely reported to be a key factor in the his shock election victory ranks third.

On his website he says, "I reject any proposal that grants amnesty and undermines the fundamental rule of law. Adding millions of workers to the labor market will force wages to fall and jobs to be lost."

By contrast, Mr Brat claims that "Eric Cantor was the chief architect behind the 'Kids Act' which would have provided amnesty to most illegal immigrants under the age of 30. Cantor cited immigration reform as a 'top priority' in 2014."

Naturally, Mr Brat also describes himself as a strong supporter of gun rights and laws which protect the sanctity of human life. Bear in mind that Eric Cantor was regarded as one of the most conservative senior Republicans in Washington.

Mr Brat wanted Cantor to be seen as liberal by comparison.

We now know the Republican voters in Virginia's 7th district liked Mr Brat, even if they barely knew him. But what about his economic students?

You can find their comments here.

Mr Brat has now won the right to represent his party in the November midterm election, but will now face a Democrat with a similar background.

Jack Trammell also teaches at Randolph-Macon, and his students seem to like him better.

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