The prime suspect in the high-profile case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance has been released from prison in Germany, where he has been serving a sentence for an unrelated offence.

Christian Brückner was driven out of jail by his lawyer. He wasn't visible in the car but police confirmed he left Sehnde Prison.

He had been convicted of raping an elderly woman in Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2005 and will be fitted with an ankle tag after his release from Sehnde Prison near Hanover.

The German national, 48, has never been charged with any crime in relation to the McCann case. He denies any involvement.

Madeleine vanished in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007. She and her siblings had been left sleeping in a holiday apartment while her parents, Kate and Gerry, went to a nearby restaurant.

Madeleine's disappearance has become one of the highest-profile unsolved missing person cases in the world.

German prosecutors have pointed to evidence - including mobile phone data - indicating Brückner may have been in the area when she vanished, and have consistently insisted that they think he is responsible.

However, they have not found strong enough evidence to bring charges.

Brückner, who spent many years in the Algarve, was a drifter, a petty criminal and a convicted sex offender. He has several previous convictions, including for sexually abusing children in 1994 and 2016.

Portuguese and German police conducted a fresh search between where the McCanns had been staying and addresses linked to Brückner in June this year, but this yielded no breakthroughs.

In 2023, investigators carried out searches near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.

Brückner spent time in the Praia da Luz area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

In October last year, Brückner was cleared of unrelated sexual offences by a German court, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Due to differences in legal systems, German authorities suspect Brückner of murder in relation to Madeleine McCann, while British police continue to treat her disappearance as a missing persons case.

The funding given to the Met's investigation, Operation Grange, has totalled more than £13.2m since 2011. A further £108,000 was secured from the government in April.

Microsoft says its new $30bn (£22bn) investment in the UK's AI sector – its largest outside of the US - should significantly boost Britain's economy in the next few years.

Its package forms a major part of a $31billion agreement made between the UK government and various other US tech giants, including Nvidia and Google, to invest in British-based infrastructure to support AI technology, largely in the form of data centres.

Microsoft will also now be involved in the creation of a powerful new supercomputer in Loughton, Essex.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the BBC of the tech's potential impact on economic growth."

"It may happen faster, so our hope is not ten years but maybe five".

"Whenever anyone gets excited about AI, I want to see it ultimately in the economic growth and the GDP growth."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the US-UK deal marked "a generational step change in our relationship with the US".

He added that the agreement was "creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people's pockets and ensuring this partnership benefits every corner of the United Kingdom."

The UK economy has remained stubbornly sluggish in recent months.

Nadella compared the economic benefits of the meteoric rise of AI with the impact of the personal computer when it became common in the workplace, about ten years after it first started scaling in the 1990s.

But there are also growing mutterings that AI is a very lucrative bubble that is about to burst. Nadella conceded that "all tech things are about booms and busts and bubbles" and warned that AI should not be over-hyped or under-hyped but also said the newborn tech would still bring about new products, new systems and new infrastructure.

He acknowledged that its energy consumption remains "very high" but argued that its potential benefits, especially in the fields of healthcare, public services, and business productivity, were worthwhile. He added that investing in data centres was "effectively" also investing in modernising the power grid but did not say that money would be shared directly with the UK's power supplier, the National Grid.

The campaign group Foxglove has warned that the UK could end up "footing the bill for the colossal amounts of power the giants need".

The supercomputer, to be built in Loughton, Essex, was already announced by the government in January, but Microsoft has now come on board to the project.

Big tech comes to town

Mr Nadella, revealed the investment as Donald Trump has arrived in the UK on a three-day state visit

The UK and US have signed a "Tech Prosperity Deal" as part of the visit, with an aim of strengthening ties on AI, quantum computing and nuclear power.

Google has promised £5bn for AI research and infrastructure over the next two years.

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves opened a £735m data centre as part of the investment on Tuesday in Hertfordshire.

There are some concerns that accepting so much money from US investors will mean the UK relies too much on foreign technology.

In July, Trump made clear his intentions were for the US to win global the AI race.

One of the ways it stated it would do this was to "export American AI to allies and partners."

The UK government has signed number of deals with US technology companies, including an agreement to use OpenAI services in the public sector and a £400m contract to use Google Cloud services in the Ministry of Defence.

Satya Nadella said he thought the agreement defined "the next phase of globalisation" and argued that having access to foreign tech services leveraged digital sovereignty rather than threatened it.

On the growing issue of AI taking over jobs, Nadella said Microsoft also had to "change with the changes in technology", having laid off thousands of staff this year despite record sales and profits. He described it as "the hard process of renewal".

AI growth zone in north-east England

The government also said there was "potential for more than 5,000 jobs and billions in private investment" in north-east England, which has been designated as a new "AI growth zone".

Last year, the government announced a £10bn investment into a data centre to be built near Blyth, Northumberland.

It has now announced another data centre project dubbed Stargate UK from OpenAI, chipmaker Nvidia, semiconductor company Arm and AI infrastructure firm Nscale.

That will be based at Cobalt Park in Northumberland.

OpenAI boss Sam Altman said Stargate UK would "help accelerate scientific breakthroughs, improve productivity, and drive economic growth."

However the UK version is a fraction of the firm's US-based Stargate project, which OpenAI launched in January with a commitment to invest $500 billion over the next four years building new AI infrastructure for itself.

So far, reaction to the agreement has been broadly positive, but its clear that there are many challenges ahead for the UK if it is to fulfil its intended potential.

The Tony Blair Institute described the news as a "breakthrough moment" but added that Britain had some work to do: "reforming planning rules, accelerating the delivery of clean energy projects, and building the necessary digital infrastructure for powering the country's tech-enabled growth agenda," said Dr Keegan McBride, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change's emerging tech and geopolitics expert.

Matthew Sinclair, UK director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, hailed the agreement as "a powerful demonstration of the scale of the AI opportunity for the UK economy."

But the Conservative Party highlighted that other big international companies such as the pharmaceutical giant Merck have recently cancelled or delayed their UK expansion plans.

Satya Nadella spoke to the BBC News in between board meetings, shortly before jumping on a flight to join Donald Trump as he arrives in the UK on a three-day state visit. Nadella will be among other tech leaders, including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang, attending the Royal state banquet on Wednesday.

He said he would use Microsoft's AI tool Copilot to help him decide what to wear.

"I was very surprised that there was a very different dress protocol, which I'm really not sure that I'm ready for," he said.

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Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield has left the ice cream maker after almost half a century at the firm, deepening a dispute with parent company Unilever.

In a letter shared on social media by fellow co-founder Ben Cohen, Mr Greenfield said the Cherry Garcia maker had lost its independence after Unilever put a halt to its social activism.

His exit marks the latest episode in a row that started in 2021 when Ben & Jerry's said it would stop selling its ice cream in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is being spun off from Unilever, said it was grateful to Mr Greenfield but disagreed with his stance.

In his letter Mr Greenfield said leaving the firm was "one of the hardest and most painful decisions" he had ever made but he could no longer "in good conscience" work for a business that had been "silenced" by Unilever.

This was despite an agreement that protected the brand's social mission when it merged with the consumer goods giant 25 years ago, he said.

A spokesperson for The Magnum Ice Cream Company said the firm had been in dialogue with the two founders before Mr Greenfield's decision to leave.

"We disagree with his perspective and have sought to engage both co-founders in a constructive conversation on how to strengthen Ben & Jerry's powerful values-based position in the world," they said.

Ben & Jerry's has long been known for taking a public stance on social issues since it was founded in 1978, often backing campaigns on issues like LGBTQ+ rights and climate change.

In March this year, Ben & Jerry's said its chief executive, David Stever, was being removed by Unilever.

The allegation was part of a legal case filed in a US court by Ben & Jerry's that said Unilever violated a merger agreement by trying to silence its "social mission".

It came a month after Ben & Jerry's accused Unilever of demanding that it stop publicly criticising US President Donald Trump.

A Unilever spokesperson said it was "disappointed that the confidentiality of an employee career conversation has been made public".

In May, Mr Cohen was arrested during a protest in the US Senate over military aid to Israel and humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Protesters disrupted the hearing while Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was testifying.

Mr Cohen was charged with a misdemeanour offence, while another six demonstrators were also arrested and face a number of more serious charges, US Capitol Police told BBC News.

Four men have been arrested after images of Donald Trump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected on to Windsor Castle on Tuesday, as the US president arrived in the UK for a state visit.

They were arrested on suspicion of "malicious communications following a public stunt in Windsor" and remained in custody, Thames Valley Police said.

Those arrested were a 60-year-old from East Sussex, a 36-year-old and a 50-year-old from London, and a 37-year-old from Kent.

The force said officers responded "swiftly" to stop the projection, and an investigation was under way.

Trump is set to meet King Charles in Windsor Castle during the first full day of his state visit on Wednesday.

He arrived in London late on Tuesday and stayed at the US ambassador's residence in the city overnight.

Some protesters gathered in Windsor ahead of the visit and a significant police operation is in place in the town.

Trump was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s. The president has never been officially accused of wrongdoing in connection with the deceased paedophile financier.

Trump's visit comes a week after the prime minister sacked the UK's ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, over his relationship with Epstein.

The prime suspect in the high-profile case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance has been released from prison in Germany, where he has been serving a sentence for an unrelated offence.

Christian Brückner was driven out of jail by his lawyer. He wasn't visible in the car but police confirmed he left Sehnde Prison.

He had been convicted of raping an elderly woman in Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2005 and will be fitted with an ankle tag after his release from Sehnde Prison near Hanover.

The German national, 48, has never been charged with any crime in relation to the McCann case. He denies any involvement.

Madeleine vanished in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007. She and her siblings had been left sleeping in a holiday apartment while her parents, Kate and Gerry, went to a nearby restaurant.

Madeleine's disappearance has become one of the highest-profile unsolved missing person cases in the world.

German prosecutors have pointed to evidence - including mobile phone data - indicating Brückner may have been in the area when she vanished, and have consistently insisted that they think he is responsible.

However, they have not found strong enough evidence to bring charges.

Brückner, who spent many years in the Algarve, was a drifter, a petty criminal and a convicted sex offender. He has several previous convictions, including for sexually abusing children in 1994 and 2016.

Portuguese and German police conducted a fresh search between where the McCanns had been staying and addresses linked to Brückner in June this year, but this yielded no breakthroughs.

In 2023, investigators carried out searches near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.

Brückner spent time in the Praia da Luz area between 2000 and 2017 and had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

In October last year, Brückner was cleared of unrelated sexual offences by a German court, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Due to differences in legal systems, German authorities suspect Brückner of murder in relation to Madeleine McCann, while British police continue to treat her disappearance as a missing persons case.

The funding given to the Met's investigation, Operation Grange, has totalled more than £13.2m since 2011. A further £108,000 was secured from the government in April.

No migrant return flights will take place on Tuesday under the new pilot scheme agreed between the UK and France, the BBC has learned.

The first returns of migrants who reached the UK on small boats via the English Channel from France were expected to begin from as early as Tuesday.

Downing Street has insisted that the removals will begin "imminently" - although initial plans for a flight to Paris today were put back.

On Tuesday, a 25-year-old Eritrean man who arrived on a small boat in August launched a last-minute legal claim at the High Court to stop his removal on a 9am flight to France on Wednesday.

The 'one in, one out' scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in July this year. Dozens of migrants have been detained since.

On Tuesday, No 10 said the government was "confident in the legal basis for this pilot" and is "prepared to respond to any legal scrutiny that occurs".

Over the last fortnight, some migrants being held in immigration removal centres, having crossed the Channel in dinghies, were told they could be returned to France as early as Tuesday.

Some individuals received letters that said they would be put on a scheduled Air France flight departing from Heathrow Airport for Paris at 9am this morning.

However, a number of sources told the BBC that some of the potential passengers had been told their departure would be deferred as further representations about their cases were made.

It is not unusual for immigration removals to be delayed if officials are warned by lawyers that the individual has not had a full or fair opportunity to present their case.

On Tuesday, the first legal challenge against the 'one in one out' agreement was launched in the High Court in London, where lawyers argued against the removal of their unnamed Eritrean client.

Sonali Naik KC said a decision was pending under the national referral mechanism decision - which identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking.

Under the new treaty, France agreed to take back adults or accompanied children who make a journey to the UK by small boat, once any asylum claim is withdrawn or declared inadmissible.

For each person sent back to France, the UK will accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee, who has not tried to cross the English Channel and can pass security and eligibility criteria.

The BBC understands that migrants living in the Calais region who have applied to the scheme have been rejected - but asylum seekers in the Paris region have been accepted.

The government has not confirmed how many people a week will be returned or relocated under the scheme, but former home secretary Yvette Cooper stressed that it was operating on a trial basis.

Other factors that may have played a part in the delay include whether France is ready to receive returnees, and on the UK side, the state of security checks of any potential genuine refugees.

The Home Office began detaining some small boat migrants on 6 August on the basis that they were ineligible for asylum because they had spent time in a safe third country.

Under the scheme, officials in London refer each potential return case to French officials. The French authorities then have two weeks to respond - before beginning the process of proposing who should come to the UK in their place.

The scheme is one of a number of measures unveiled by the government which aim to tackle small boat crossings.

However, the Conservatives have argued it will not see enough migrants deported to act as a significant deterrent.

Ministers have not put a figure on how many people will be returned to France under the pilot.

More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.

It is the earliest point in a calendar year this figure has been passed since data on crossings was first reported in 2018.