SOS Madeleine McCann: Money leads the McCanns to Oprah Winfrey.

In the news this week, we hear that Kate and Gerry McCann have accepted an invitation to appear on the American Oprah Winfrey show. It seems that the coffers of the Madeleine fund are in need of a top-up and Oprah pays well!
That fund seems to have served the McCann family well, what with making a couple of payments on the McCanns' mortgage and providing John McCann with a full-time job. It may just be me, but I thought it quite odd that John McCann gave up his job so soon after Madeleine's disappearance to work for the campaign to find her. Bit of a risk, really, since an abducted child could turn up at any time, within days maybe, but John must have been thinking of this as a long-term job to give up his previous secure position. I do wonder what led him to think of this as a long-term prospect.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

Kate et Gerry McCann projettent leur participation dans le talk-show d’Oprah Winfrey, un des plus importants des États-Unis, en échange d’une substantielle contribution financière destinée, selon leur porte-parole, à alimenter le fonds Madeleine.

Déjà en janvier cette possibilité avait été prise en considération par les parents de Madeleine, mais leur porte-parole avait écarté leur participation aux shows d’Oprah Winfrey et Barbara Walters affirmant, à l’époque, que “Gerry et Kate ne vont pas donner d’entrevues tant qu’ils continueront à être suspects (arguidos).”

Kate and Gerry McCann are planning their participation in the Oprah Winfrey show, one of the most important in the United States, in exchange for a substantial financial contribution to augment the Madeleine Fund, according to their spokesman.

This possibility was already being considered in January by Madeleine's parents, but their spokesman had ruled out their participation in the Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters shows at the time, because, "Gerry and Kate are not going to give interviews while they are still suspects." (arguidos)

L’information est pourtant confirmée par un responsable du producteur de l’émission aux États-Unis qu’affirme que les McCann sont réceptifs à une offre d’Oprah, sans toutefois préciser le montant que serait versé aux parents de Madeleine.

Selon Clarence Mitchell, le fonds à encore en caisse la somme de 500,000 £, soit moins de la moitié de la somme originale donnée par le public, une somme jugé insuffisante pour continuer les recherches de Madeleine.

The information is confirmed by a senior producer of the show in the United States, who affirms that the McCanns are receptive to an offer from Oprah, without specifying the amount that would be paid to Madeleine's parents.

According to Clarence Mitchell, the fund still has the sum of £500,000 in the bank, which is less than half the amount donated by the public, a sum judged to be insufficient to continue the search for Madeleine.

Récemment, Kate et Gerry McCann ont montré leur inquiétude avec la diminution des dons du public. Le couple a d’ailleurs décidé de renouveler leur appel aux dons.

Selon les responsables du fonds Madeleine, la plupart des dépenses ont été effectuées avec les détectives privés (Metodo 3 et autres) et les campagnes d’affichage au Portugal et en Espagne. L’argent du fond destiné à la recherche de Madeleine a également été utilisé pour payer l’hypothèque de la maison des McCann à Rothley à plusieurs reprises (officiellement deux fois) et une part des frais de justice engagés dans la défense du couple.

Kate and Gerry McCann have recently shown their concern about the decline in public donations. The couple, therefore, decided to renew their appeal for donations.

According to the trustees of the Madeleine Fund, most of the expenses were incurred with private detectives (Metodo 3 and others) and the poster campaigns in Portugal and Spain. The money designated for the search for Madeleine was also used to pay the mortgage on the McCanns' house several times (offically twice) and part of the costs of the legal defence hired by the couple.

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

11/07/08

The incredible shrinking distance...tapas bar to apartment!

Well, here it is folks! I found a good photo of the route from the McCanns' holiday apartment to the tapas bar.

First of all, Gerry's blog!

"She was taken from our holiday apartment where she was sleeping with her younger brother and sister whilst we were dining 50 yards away."

http://www.findmadeleine.com/


And the Daily Mail 10th August, 2007




"The pictures show the McCanns had to walk about 120 metres to get to the apartment where their children slept."

So, maybe 50 yards, as the crow flies, but rather more than 50 yards to walk!

There are a few more photos on the Daily Mail page, one showing the view from the tapas bar to the apartment. You can see the top of the patio doors maybe, but the rest seems to be hidden by trees.

So, why am I posting this now? Well, as a follow-on to my post about the links with the Mari Luz case, where Mari was said to have been, "unsupervised," and Madeleine was said to be asleep with her younger brother and sister while her parents were dining 50 yards away! Looking at that photo, I think we could say that the McCanns' children were, "unsupervised," because that tapas bar was not like dining in one's own garden and the apartment's door was clearly not visible from the tapas bar.

Is there a class thing operating here? Mari Luz, child of a gypsy family was, "unsupervised," but the middle-class doctors were, "dining." The focus is rather different here. The mother of Mari Luz was lying on the sofa, feeling unwell, while her daughter was, "unsupervised," but the McCanns were dining. Irene Suarez was a lazy so-and-so lying on her sofa, while her daughter was out there in the dangerous world, but Madeleine's parents were dining! Much more civilised, don't you think?

SOS Madeleine McCann: parents threaten the Express newspaper group with legal action?

http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/

"McCann veulent des actions en justice pour renflouer les caisses du Fonds Madeleine"

"Les avocats du couple McCann ont entamé des contacts avec plusieurs médias britanniques les menacent des poursuites en justice pour leur couverture dans le cadre de disparition de leur fille Madeleine et de leur constitution comme arguidos par les autorités portugaises."

The McCanns want legal action to replenish the coffers of the Madeline Fund.

The lawyers for the McCann couple have initiated contacts with several British media, threatening them with legal action for their coverage in the case of the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine and their constitution as arguidos by the Portuguese authorities.

"Le groupe Express est, pour le moment, le principal visé par les McCann qui voudraient obtenir un règlement à l'amiable qui passerait pas le versement d’une compensation financière."

The Express group is, for the moment, the main target of the McCanns, who would like to obtain an amicable settlement, which would not rule out the payment of financial compensation.

"Récemment, le Daily Express, principal publication du groupe, a retiré de son site internet tous les articles publiés à propos de la disparition de Madeleine McCann. Le Groupe Express publie également le Sunday Express, le Daily Star et le Daily Star Sunday."

Recently, the Daily Express, the main publication of the group, has withdrawn from its internet site all published articles about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The Express Group also publishes the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Star on Sunday.

"Clarence Mitchell, ancien journaliste du Daily Express et actuel responsable en relations publiques de Gerry et Kate McCann, s’est dit "extrêmement insatisfait de la couverture du Groupe Express," rajoutant qu’il s’agit "du plus mauvais parmi tous les tabloïds"

Clarence Mitchell, former journalist with the Daily Express and currently public relations spokesman for Gerry and Kate, said he was, "extremely dissatisfied with the Express Group's coverage," adding that this is, "the worst among the tabloids."

"En vertu de la loi britannique, les avocats de Kate et Gerry McCann ont une année, après la publication d'un article, pour décider s'ils souhaitent entamer des poursuites en justice contre son contenu."

Under British law, the lawyers for Kate and Gerry McCann have one year after the publication of an article to decide if they wish to initiate legal action against its contents.

"Clarence Mitchell à confirmé que l’argent récolté par une possible action en justice servirait à renflouer les caisses du Fonds Madeleine, pratiquement vides après la chute du nombre de donations."

Clarence Mitchell stated that the money raised by a possible legal action would serve to replenish the coffers of the Madeleine fund, virtually empty after the fall in the number of donations.

"Le Fonds Madeleine à été utilisé jusqu’à présent pour rembourser deux mensualités de l’emprunt que les McCann ont contracté pour l’achat de leur maison, pour financer les campagnes d’affiches et une partie des versements mensuels à l’agence de détectives Metodo 3."

The Madeleine Fund has been used, up to now, to make two monthly payments on the mortgage which the McCanns took out to buy their house, to fund the poster campaigns and a portion of the monthly payments to the detective agency Metodo 3.