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Respected Portuguese media outlet Expresso has reported the search operation is taking place following a tip from a 'very credible' German police informer, it was claimed today. The informant gave detectives 'details' they took 'very seriously,' it said. Who is Christian Brueckner? The prime Madeleine Mccann suspect The disappearance of Madeleine McCann from the popular holiday resort in Portugal's Algarve has confounded detectives for more than 16 years. No one has ever been charged in connection with the disappearance of Maddie, who would now be almost 20. However, German prosecutors believe they have an answer to the 16-year-old mystery: convicted...

You're John McCain, a fallen hero who wanted to become president so desperately that you sold yourself to Charlie Keating, the wealthy con man who bears such an incredible resemblance to The Joker. Obviously, Keating thought you could make it to the White House, too. He poured $112,000 into your political campaigns. He became your friend. He threw fund raisers in your honor. He even made a sweet shopping-center investment deal for your wife, Cindy. Your father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was cut in on the deal, too. Nothing was too good for you. Why not? Keating saw you as a prime...

Economy May Not Influence Election As It Has in Past Polls Contradict Forecasting Models By Lori Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, August 31, 2008; A12 Home prices are plummeting, food and energy costs are sky high and, for many families, disposable income is stagnant or falling. Economic forecasters say conditions are the worst they've seen in a presidential election year in nearly three decades. That should spell big trouble for the party in control of the White House, and the Democrats should be waltzing to victory, history suggests. But so far it hasn't turned out that way, even though...

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos reports: Democrats' attacks on her family's wealth are unfair and offensive, Cindy McCain said today in an interview airing tomorrow on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." For nearly two weeks, Democrats have repeatedly hit Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for saying he is unaware of how many houses he owns, calling the presumptive Republican presidential nominee out of touch with everyday Americans. In his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention on Thursday, Democratic nominee Barack Obama turned up the heat on McCain, saying he "doesn't know" about the lives of middle-class Americans. "I'm offended by Barack Obama...

[snip] Conservatives say that's not the point. They say Ms. Palin's traditional Christian roots and strong family credentials – she's got five kids, including an infant – will instead make inroads with the suburban "soccer mom" vote, a constituency that now favors Mr. Obama in the polls, and helped in President Bush's re-election four years ago. "Women, particularly those with kids, are all looking for someone who can kind of have it all," said stay-at-home mom Patricia Neerman, 33, whose husband chairs the Dallas County Republican Party. "It will definitely help invigorate women who might have been apathetic or on...

Politics: Barack Obama mocks John McCain for not knowing the number of his residences. Does that include the Hanoi Hilton? At least McCain's real estate broker is not a felon he did favors for.When John McCain, the itinerant Navy son of an itinerant Navy admiral, ran for Congress in 1982, an opponent called him a carpetbagger in one debate. "Listen, pal," McCain replied. "I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As...

Steve Hayes, who created a stir this week with his interview with McCain in which the nominee declined to rule out a pro-choice veep, has some more good insight from his chat in the new issue of The Weekly Standard. McCain, it appears, isn't totally closing the door on dropping his opposition to drilling in ANWR. In an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD aboard his campaign plane last week, McCain made clear he has not ruled out a change in his position — to one that endorses drilling in ANWR. "I continue to examine it," he said. So does his...

Former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani will speak at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., FOX News confirmed Thursday. The former New York City mayor is scheduled to make a primetime address on Sept. 2 — the second night of the convention.

The conventional political wisdom is Sen. John McCain needs a vice presidential running mate like Eric Cantor. Cantor is a young, conservative congressman and one of the leaders of House Republicans. He represents the 7th District, which stretches from Richmond northwest to Page and Rappahannock counties — a mixture of state capital and western Virginia conservatism that will, in all likelihood strongly support McCain in November. McCain’s age and some of his previous stands on issues such as immigration and campaign finance reform have angered the Republican party’s conservative base. Since vice presidential running mates are supposed to be everything...

First the Iraqi government gave Senator Barack Obama a boost by seeming to embrace his proposal for a 16-month timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. But could Senator John McCain, who built his candidacy in large part on his opposition to a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, possibly be following suit? “I think it’s a pretty good timetable,” Mr. McCain said Friday in an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room,’’ before adding that it should be based “on the conditions on the ground.’’ For months Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, has railed against setting timetables for withdrawing from...