The friends known as the Tapas Seven, who were on holiday with Kate and Gerry McCann when daughter Madeleine vanished, have accepted £375,000 (€480,000) libel damages from Express Newspapers.

Seven friends who were on holiday with Kate and Gerry McCann when their daughter Madeleine vanished are to receive a “substantial” libel payout from a newspaper group, a source said today.

Kate and Gerry McCann want a specialist European policy centre to help find missing children like their daughter Madeleine, an MEP in the UK said today.

Portuguese detectives continue to sit in on interviews with friends of Kate and Gerry McCann, police confirmed today.

Portuguese detectives will today start questioning the friends of Kate and Gerry McCann who were with them the night their daughter Madeleine disappeared.

PORTUGUESE police are set to fly to Britain on April 7 as part of a last-gasp attempt to solve the Madeleine McCann mystery.

British and Portuguese police have met to discuss re-interviewing the friends who dined with Madeleine McCann's parents on the day she disappeared.

The family of missing Madeleine McCann issued an appeal for information today after an image of the face of a man they believe could be involved in her disappearance was released to the public.

The family of missing toddler Madeleine McCann today called for an international search to trace a man they believe may have been involved in their daughter's disappearance.

THE parents of Madeleine McCann have met the seven friends they dined with on the day their daughter disappeared, their spokesman said yesterday.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have met the seven friends they dined with on the day their daughter disappeared, their spokesman said today.

A woman who insists she saw Madeleine McCann being carried away has spoken of her guilt at failing to stop the abductor.

A close friend of the McCann family spoke for the first time today of how she is convinced she saw Madeleine being carried away by her abductor.

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann will today be hoping that an artist’s impression of the man they believe abducted their daughter may help identify the potential suspect.

A waiter from the restaurant where the McCanns ate on the evening their daughter Madeleine disappeared has described how a normal night “became madness”, according to reports today.

Friends who dined with the McCanns on the night Madeleine vanished said today they were “totally appalled” at any suggestion that Kate McCann was involved in her daughter’s disappearance.

A senior Portuguese police officer said detectives investigating Madeleine McCann’s disappearance had a “positive feeling” about the inquiry as they await key DNA test results.