PORTUGAL:Kate and Gerry McCann will today mark 100 days since their daughter Madeleine disappeared from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, southern Portugal.
They will attend a special church mass before spending the rest of the day with their family.
But if the anniversary will be a sombre and muted day for the couple, police in Portugal say the search has taken a new direction, indicating that they are increasingly confident about a breakthrough.
Until recently, the couple have been briefed weekly on developments by police at the British consulate in nearby Portimao, but they have not been given details of the new lines of inquiry. This week they met investigators in a more formal meeting at the judicial police headquarters.
"It has been 14 weeks and it is pretty apparent that there has been a shift in the investigation," Mr McCann said on Thursday. "We are not privy to why that is."
It was reported yesterday that Portuguese officers are examining a car that was rented in Faro, about 50 miles from the resort, by a British man on April 28th, the day the McCanns arrived in Portugal, and was returned a week later, the same day they should have returned to the UK.
According to the local Jornal de Noticias newspaper, the car, an Opel Corsa, is being examined by police. None of the party of friends accompanying the McCanns on their holiday rented a car that week.
Meanwhile, two police spaniels, trained to detect traces of blood and human remains, are understood to have returned yesterday to the UK. The dogs have been working alongside three British officers who have been assisting the investigation.
A sample of blood found in the apartment in which the McCanns were staying is being examined in Birmingham, England, by the forensic science service. -