Madeleine McCann: British Police Identify New Leads in Case of Missing British Girl

Madeleine McCann: British Police Identify New Leads in Case of Missing British Girl (ABC News)

Police in Great Britain said they have identified new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who went missing in Portugal six years ago at the age of three.

Several persons of interest, as well as "both investigative and forensic opportunities" in the case, have been identified by Scotland Yard, authorities said.

Metropolitan Police said they were working with Portuguese police to determine the next steps, even though the missing girl's case is closed in the country.

"Our investigative review is ongoing and we are encouraged by the progress we are making," Metropolitan Police said in a statement, according to the BBC. "We are reviewing a significant number of documents and continue to identify potential lines of inquiry."

McCann was 3 years old when she vanished on vacation with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The girl's parents say they found Madeleine missing after having left the children in the home unsupervised while having dinner less than 500 feet away.

The review into the McCann case was opened last year after Prime Minister David Cameronresponded to a plea from the girl's parents.

Kate and Gerry McCann have maintained a website and a 24-hour tipline to keep their daughter's case in the public eye.

On May 3, 2013, six years after Madeleine went missing, Kate McCann posted on the "Find Madeleine" website that the family was there "for the long haul."

"We still worry about her, we miss her as much as we ever did," McCann wrote. "We remain as determined as ever to find her and to know what has happened."

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Dan Pfeiffer Explains the IRS Scandal

White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer did a tour of the sunday shows to try and calm everyone down about this whole IRS targeting Tea Party groups scandal. He was the one tasked with assuring the masses that the White House knew nothing, that things will change in the future, and that heads will roll. On Fox News Sunday, Pfeiffer promised the administration would make sure "everyone who did anything wrong here is held accountable" before the dust settles. The IRS's next goal is to "fix the problem, make sure it never happens again and restore the public trust," Pfeiffer said. On CBS's Face the Nation, Pfeiffer defended the President's relative naiveté about the scandal. "What would be an actual real scandal in Washington would be if the president had been involved or had interfered in an IRS investigation," Pfeiffer said. "You do nothing to interfere with an independent investigation and you do nothing to offer the appearance of interfering with investigations," he added. Only the administration did learn the facts, only then did they decide to respond. On ABC'sThis Week, Pfeiffer said the law was "irrelevant" to the fact that the activity was "outrageous and inexcusable." He explained: "What I mean is, whether it’s legal or illegal is not important to the fact that the conduct doesn’t matter. The Department of Justice has said they’re looking into the legality of this. The president is not going to wait for that. We have to make sure it doesn’t happen again, regardless of how that turns out." On NBC's Meet the Press, Pfeiffer finally went on the offensive and attacked Republicans for trying to make the IRS scandal into the biggest deal possible. He acknowledged the scandal as a "very real problem at the IRS," before launching into a scathing bit about Republican strategy. "We’ve seen this playbook from the Republicans before," Pfeiffer said. "What they want to do when they’re lacking a positive agenda is try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped-up hearings and false allegations. We’re not going to let that happen. The president’s got business to do for the American people."

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Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan was promising to continue the crusade against the IRS on Fox News Sunday. "Look, people have no trust that their government is being impartial," the Wisconsinite told Chris Matthews. "This is arrogance of power, abuse of power, to the nth degree, and we're going to get to the bottom of this." Ryan argued there was "credible evidence that donors were targeted, that the IRS leaked private information to the public, which served political purposes." There's something nefarious afoot at the IRS, Ryan thinks, and it all roads lead to Obamacare. Becasue, wait, what? "So there's so much more that we have just uncovered that we do not know the root causes of. And so to suggest that this is some bureaucratic snafu, that's been disproven, Chris," Ryan said. "The other point I'd say, as bad as this is, the person in charge of this bureaucratic snafu has now been put in charge of Obamacare." The former head of the tax exempt division, Sarah Hall Ingram, is now moving to head the IRS's implementation of Obamacare. This is "rotten to the core," according to Ryan. "This is big government cronyism," he argues. "And this is not what hard-working taxpayers deserve. People deserve a government they can trust, that's honest, that's impartial, equality before the law, and that is not what we're getting here. And so to try to suggest that this is just bureaucratic snafus, we already know that's not true.”

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn accused the Obama White House of practicing a "culture of cover-ups," on CBS's Face the Nation. He inquired in 2010 and 2011 for his constituents about whether or not they were being unfairly targeted. If the President somehow didn't know about the IRS overreach, it was "willful ignorance," Cornyn said. He said he wants to hold more hearings about the IRS scandal in the future. "We need to have a fair and respectful process and not put the cart before the horse," he said.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told Meet the Press's David Gregory there is "a culture of intimidation throughout the administration." He called the IRS "the most recent example." It's all part of an overall "nanny state" being run by the White House, he said. There's "an attitude that the government knows best: The nanny state is here to tell us all what to do. And if we start criticizing, you get targeted." McConnell signaled there could be more hearings on the way, too, when he claimed the investigation was just beginning. "I don't think we know what the facts are," he said. "... I'm not going to reach a conclusion about what we may find. But what we do know happened is they were targeting tea party groups. We know that."

On the other scandal front, Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz wants even more documents about Benghazi from the White House. This guy makes Lindsey Graham look modest. "People deserve the truth and the families deserve the truth," Chaffetz said on Face the Nation. "I can't imagine that this administration would say those same things about what happened in Boston where we had four people killed by a terrorist." (Yes, that comment is as head scratching as it looks. Chaffetz blamed a cover up for keeping the answers from the American people. "We weren't able to investigate," he said. "We still have terrorists that committed these attacks that are out there. They are on the loose. We don't know where they are."

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said Hillary Clinton should have resigned as Secretary of State over what happened in Benghazi on CNN's State of the Union. "[Clinton] should have resigned and accepted blame for it," Paul said. He explained that he's not so worried about the Benghazi talking points anymore, but that the outpost wasn't given more security. That was a "tragic mistake," he said. "We need to treat it more like Baghdad, that's an error of judgment the president and secretary of state made," Paul said.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Wide-ranging sentences handed down in the yearslong federal investigation into recruiting and financing for the terrorist group al-Shabab have kindled a mix of outrage, confusion and relief among members of Minnesota's large Somali community.

Some say the 10- and 20-year prison sentences for two Minnesota women who sent money to the group were too harsh, especially since two men who traveled to Somalia and joined al-Shabab got three years. The attorney for one man sentenced to 20 years in prison has already filed a notice of appeal; more are expected.

But others say justice has been served, and authorities said the nine penalties doled out last week show that those who support terrorism will be held accountable.

"This misguided conduct is unacceptable," U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones said in a statement. "It will continue to be prosecuted vigorously."

Prosecutors have said the men and women were part of a "deadly pipeline," sending money and men to al-Shabab, which the U.S. government has designated a terrorist organization for its links to al-Qaida and its tactics that include suicide bombings and assassinations. At least 22 men left Minnesota for Somalia since 2007 in what has been called one of the largest efforts to recruit U.S. fighters for a foreign terrorist organization.

Authorities say the conspiracy began in 2007, when small groups of Somali men began holding secret meetings about returning to their homeland to wage jihad against Ethiopians. Ethiopian troops had been brought into Somalia a year earlier by its U.N.-backed government, but many Somalis viewed them as invaders.

That sentiment came up often during the hearings, as Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis gave each defendant unlimited time to say whatever he or she wanted. Davis also asked family and community members to speak, and asked defendants about their time in Somalia and refugee camps.

Hassan Mohamud, the imam at a St. Paul mosque, commended Davis for that approach.

But Mohamud was among several people outraged after two women — Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan — received sentences of 20 and 10 years. Ali and Hassan had gone door-to-door, saying they were raising money for charity; they were convicted of funneling funds to al-Shabab.

"They didn't go back home. They didn't kill anyone. They just helped with the poor people," said Abdiwali Warsame, a St. Paul Somali who was interviewed outside the courthouse. He called the women's sentences an "injustice."

Three men who traveled to Somalia and pleaded guilty to terror-related charges received lower sentences after cooperating with authorities. Two received three-year prison stints; a third who stayed and fought alongside al-Shabab then lied to the FBI got 10 years. One man who admitted helping recruits obtain plane tickets — but was later characterized as a leader in recruitment efforts — received 12 years.

Last week's sentences are in line with other al-Shabab-related cases. In New Jersey, two men arrested while trying to board flights to Somalia for a jihad were sentenced to 22 and 20 years in prison. A southern California woman received eight years for sending money to Minnesota men in Somalia, while a Missouri man received more than 11 years for funding al-Shabab.

The penalties are serious to deter terror-related activity, said Evan Kohlmann, a terror consultant who has assisted government investigations into al-Shabab recruiting. Laws against fundraising are strict because money from the West is the "lifeblood" of groups like al-Shabab, he said.

Abdirizak Bihi, the uncle of a teen killed while fighting in Somalia, said the sentences are the beginning of justice. The man accused of helping young Burhan Hassan and others with their trips was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

"I think it was justice, for Burhan, to see the recruiter, the person who took him to his death, being ... prosecuted here — right here — about a mile from home," Bihi said. "It was really great to go to your neighborhood and see justice happening."

Others raised concerns about potential bias after Davis questioned Ali and Hassan about whether they supported suicide bombings and Sharia law, and asked Hassan about her traditional dress. That led some Somalis to say Islam was under attack.

It also prompted the Council on American-Islamic Relations to announce Friday that it will file a complaint against Davis, for allegedly linking mainstream Islamic principles with terrorism. Davis does not speak about court cases. His office referred The Associated Press to the court record.

Davis said in court that he struggles to understand what would make young men choose to return to violence in war-torn Somalia, and he wants to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's a theme echoed by authorities.

Chris Warrener, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Minneapolis, said the agency continues to investigate, and is reaching out in hopes of deterring terroristic activities. Among other things, the FBI has partnered with a youth group to form the Somali American Youth Action Committee with the goal of educating Somalis about the FBI and vice versa.

"I think we're off to a good start," Warrener said, adding that a regular dialogue is essential. "I feel in my gut that someday there will be a payoff if we keep at this and we do it right."

But Omar Jamal, first secretary for the Somali mission to the United Nations, feared the sentences would only embolden al-Shabab.

"All these kids are manipulated, brainwashed," he said. "The big guys, I think, will laugh at this and if anything else, it will encourage them to look for more victims, more kids, to go through the pipe."

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Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti

This photo provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Michael Solid. Police announced Sunday, May 19, 2013 that 18-year-old Jacob Dismont and 21-year-old Michael Solid were booked into the Clark County jail on charges on open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery for the killing of a teenage boy over an iPad in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Two men have been arrested in the killing of a teenage boy over aniPad in Las Vegas, police said Sunday.

Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were booked Saturday into the Clark County jail on charges of open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

According to investigators, Marcos Arenas, 15, was walking down a street with the iPad on Thursday when a passenger got out of a vehicle and tried to steal the device from him.

Dismont is accused of trying to wrest the tablet away and dragging Arenas toward the SUV when the youth wouldn't let go of the device. After Dismont re-entered the vehicle and Solid sped away, the teen was dragged until he fell. The vehicle ran over Arenas and he died at a hospital.

"I think both the public and police department share the same sentiment that this was a senseless act of violence," police spokesman Bill Cassell told The Associated Press.

The suspects succeeded in making off with the device, officers said, but it was not immediately recovered.

Ivan Arenas said he bought the iPad for his son less than two months ago. The family has never had a lot, the father said, and his son valued everything he had.

"For him to lose his life over an iPad, it's just not fair," Ivan Arenas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Never in my life would I imagine that me buying my kid an iPad for his birthday would end up with him getting run over."

Similar thefts of iPads, IPhones and other Apple devices have become so widespread nationwide that the crime has earned the nickname, "Apple picking," Cassell said.

"This is a nationwide phenomenon where thieves are targeting individuals who are carrying them," he said.

Police urge victims of such crimes to always let go of the devices.

According to investigators, Solid has an arrest record of possession of a stolen vehicle, petty larceny, robbery and assault. Dismont does not have any prior adult arrests.

Arenas family spokeswoman Tabitha Guertler said family members are relieved by the arrests and grateful for the quick response by police and the public.

"We are very, very relieved and grateful that these men have been apprehended and can't hurt anyone else," she said. "We're traumatized. Marcos' loss is something that will be with us forever. He was such an incredible person."

The oldest of 10 children in the family, the teen was a student at Bonanza High School. The attack occurred in the late afternoon about a half-mile from the school.