The Iditarod trail sled dog race, in pictures

Seventy-two mushers, ages 20 to 63, are racing across the Alaskan wilderness, 1,000 miles in total, to win the prestigious 2017 Iditarod Trail International Sled Dog Race.

For some of this year's mushers, completing the race means more than taking home the title.

Cindy Abbott takes part in the grueling event as an affirmation of life after she was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease.

Like Abbott, Alan Eischens has a bigger goal than finishing in the top ranks: He races to raise awareness for pediatric diseases. "We do this for kids ... For us, it's about the kids," he told US

US deploys defence system after North's ballistic missile test

The United States started to deploy the first elements of its advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system to South Korea following North Korea's test of four ballistic missiles, U.S. Pacific Command said on Tuesday.

The announcement came as North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had personally supervised Monday's missile launches, stepping up threats against Washington as U.S. troops conduct joint military exercises with South Korea.

"Continued provocative actions by North Korea, to include yesterday's launch of multiple missiles, only confirm the prudence of our alliance decision last year to deploy THAAD to South Korea," U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris said in the statement.

North Korea is 'training for an attack on US bases in Japan': Kim Jong Un is pictured applauding missile launch as Trump warns him of 'dire consequences' and sends anti-missile system to the South

Nuclear-armed North Korea said Tuesday its missile launches were training for a strike on US bases in Japan, as global condemnation of the regime swelled.

Three of the four missiles fired Monday came down provocatively close to US ally Japan, in waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone, representing a challenge to US President Donald Trump.

In a phone call, Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that the threat from North Korea had 'entered a new stage.'

Meanwhile, Washington and Seoul have agreed to deploy a US missile defense system called THAAD to South Korea, which has infuriated China, the North's key diplomatic ally and crucial to efforts to persuade it to change its ways. 

 North Korea news sources showed the country's leader, Kim Jong-Un, smiling and clapping as the nuclear-armed nation launched three missiles in training for a strike on US bases in Japan

Hunger/Diarrhoea: Somalia announces the death of 110 people in two days

Somalia's Prime Minister has announced the deaths of at least 110 people due to hunger and diarrhea in the country. The announcement by Hassan Ali Khaire followed the Somali government's warning last week over drought in the Bay region of the country.

'It is a difficult situation for the pastoralists and their livestock. Some people have been hit by [hunger] and diarrhoea at the same time. In the last 48 hours 110 people died due to [hunger] and diarrhoea in Bay region,' Khaire's office said in a statement. 

'The Somali government will do its best, and we urge all Somalis wherever they are to help and save the dying Somalis, 'said the statement, released after a meeting of a famine response committee.

Several reports, also have it that the drought has led to a spread of acute watery diarrhoea, cholera and measles and nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.  While thousands have streamed into the capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid.

Inside the horror 'rape' 4WD: Pictures show Pajero in which British backpacker, 22, was allegedly 'held hostage and raped for TWO months' before petrol station worker alerted police when victim staggered in with 'black eyes and marks on her throat

Packed with clothes and items for a road trip adventure, these pictures show the white Mitsubishi Pajero at the centre of a British backpacker's horrific months-long hostage ordeal.

The 22-year-old woman was found in the 4WD by police with 'serious' facial injuries and in extreme distress when she was pulled over by officers on the Warrego Highway, in Queensland's west, on Sunday afternoon. 

Police allege the woman was 'repeatedly raped, bashed and held captive' by the accused man, 22, who was found in an alcove in the back of the car. It comes as local service station worker exclusively detailed the harrowing moment the backpacker walked into a nearby petrol station crying and 'shaking uncontrollably' moments before. 

The tourist walked into a nearby petrol station with two black eyes and marks on her throat -  distressed because she couldn't pay for the tank of petrol she had just put into the 4WD. 

'She had two black eyes and marks down the side of her neck,' the worker told Daily Mail Australia. 

This is the white 4WD police stopped in south-west Queensland on Sunday afternoon - finding a 22-year-old woman in extreme distress and a 22-year-old man in a back alcove

One Direction Singer Louis Tomlinson Arrested at Los Angeles Airport after Altercation with Paparazzi

Singer and one-fourth of the popular Britsh boy band, Louis Tomlinson has got arrested last Friday night for an incident that transpired between himself and a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

According to E!, the incident took place while the One Direction star was in the baggage claim area with his girlfriend Eleanor Calder, after they arrived from a flight from Las Vegas. His lawyer, Martin Singer, told the press “The paparazzi provoked and caused the altercation that occurred with Louis.”

Witnesses say Tomlinson pulled the photographer to the floor by his legs, causing the victim to fall and hit his back and head on the floor. The victim is now hospitalized but the extent of his injuries are currently unknown.

One of ‘UK most wanted’ men found behind wardrobe in Bradford

One of the UK’s 'Most Wanted' was on Saturday arrested and deported to his country. According to West Yorkshire Police, the unnamed Slovakian national, who was being sought in connection with multiple serious sexual offences in his native country, was found in Girlington.

Banks race to fix security flaw in contactless cards as it's revealed that thieves can use them for MONTHS after they’ve been reported stolen

Banks have refused to say how many times a card can be used after it has been cancelled, citing security reasons.

Some indicated the cards could only be used for a ‘low number’ of purchases up to the value of £50.

But lawyers say banks’ failure to warn customers about the security risk means they could be breaching industry regulations. Watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority said it was ‘urgently’ working to solve the problem.

A spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘In a limited number of circumstances, it is possible for a cancelled contactless card to be used by fraudsters. While there are controls in place and the overall risk is low, the FCA has been urgently working with card schemes and banks to ensure this issue is fixed.’

The use of contactless cards has soared in recent years and ‘tap and pay’ now makes up one in four of all card payments.

There is a grey area regarding who takes responsibility for money that goes missing from a customer’s account after a contactless card is stolen. In theory, the bank should pick up the transactions and refund the money automatically, but it seems some expect the customer to spot them.

Tanzania jails notorious elephant poacher

Tanzania's most notorious elephant poacher, nicknamed "The Devil", has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Boniface Matthew Maliango was responsible for killing thousands of elephants, a conservation organisation said.

He was arrested in Dar es Salaam in September 2015 after a year-long manhunt.

His crimes were the focus of a Netflix documentary film, The Ivory Game, produced by actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Maliango's nickname, Shetani, means devil in Swahili.

Drunk Ed Sheeran Hit Justin Bieber in the Head With a Golf Club

Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber once took their fun a little too far. While vacationing in Japan, the musicians hit up a dive bar where the British singer imbibed some alcohol while Bieber sipped water all night. Afterwards, they decided to hit up a golf course.

“We were in Japan. We’d been out to a dive bar. He just drank water and I got hammered,” Sheeran shared with The Guardian. “Then we went to a golf course, and he lay on the floor and put a golf ball in his mouth and told me to hit it out of his mouth.”

Woman, 2 children blow selves up in failed suicide bombing

The multiple explosions that rocked Borno State yesterday killed a woman and two children and destroyed three petrol trucks at M Baba filling station,opposite Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Quarters along the NNPC depot on Damboa Road in Maiduguri.

The state’s Police Command confirmed the casualty andand expressed joy that no person was killed aside the three suicide bombers. The state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Damian Chukwu, said: “About seven trucks loaded with petrol were parked in a vicinity while there was also a bus and a Volkswagen saloon car and a coaster.”

He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri that, “three suspected suicide bombers comprising an adult male and two teenage girls laced with explosives sneaked to the place and found their way into the clusters of the vehicles’’. “They detonated their explosives one after the other after attaching themselves each to a truck,” he said.

He said the three trucks exploded with the fuel inside, “and the bombers were roasted to death and the trucks destroyed’’. “The fortunate thing is that only the bombers died, no other person was lost.

Do women REALLY want chaps to last longer? As a scientist invents a spray to prolong male performance, our fearless writers from both sides of the gender divide tackle a delicate question

As the world well knows, it’s a simple matter of biology that the sexes will never be equal. In matters of conjugal relations, the Earth never moves at the same speed.

This week it was announced that scientists have created a new drug designed to prolong men’s sexual performance.

Professor Mike Wyllie, one of the team of scientists who developed Viagra in the Nineties, has created a spray-on medication, called Fortacin, which is said to help men last up to ten times longer in the bedroom

But while some may relish the opportunity for increased enjoyment, others will be turning pale at the thought.

Here, nine unabashed writers ask whether it’s what men — and women — really want?

GO FOR LONGER? NOT WHEN THERE’S LAUNDRY TO DO

Brian Viner, Daily Mail film critic

Apple's redesigned iPhone might not be ready in time for a September launch

Here's the current state of iPhone rumors: Apple is expected to launch three iPhone models this fall. Two are successors to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but one model will be completely redesigned, and could cost over $1,000. 

That last one is the phone Apple fans will probably want — the "10th anniversary" iPhone, with a better "OLED" screen, redesigned fingerprint sensor, and likely other cutting-edge technologies that haven't even been rumored yet.

But it now sounds like it could release later than September. Multiple supply chain watchers in recent weeks have said they believe production on the "OLED iPhone" will not start until September, which suggests the high-end iPhone "8" may not go on sale in September, as has been the case for years.

'Oh my God, our ambassador is not a spy' - 'Angry' Russia reacts to U.S claims in Jeff Sessions controversy

Russia has reacted angrily to claims by U.S intelligence that the Russian Ambassador to the U.S, Sergey Kislyak is one of Russia's top spies and spy-recruiters in Washington.

The allegations were made in a Washington post report on Thursday, claiming that U.S Attorney General, Jeff Sessions had meetings with Kislyak during the  electoral campaign period to discuss electoral matters, an allegation Sessions has since denied (read here )

Russia, through it's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, has angrily reacted to the 'spy recruiting' allegations against Kislyak claiming he is a well 'respected statesman'

'Kislyak is a well-known, world-class diplomat." she told CNN Moscow.

Disgraced former Intercept reporter accused of making at least 8 bomb threats to Jewish community centers

The FBI has arrested former Intercept reporter Juan Thompson in connection with bomb threats made to at least eight Jewish community centers, schools, and the Anti-Defamation League's Manhattan headquarters, authorities said Friday.

Thompson is accused of making some of the threats in the name of an ex-girlfriend as part of a "sustained campaign to harass and intimidate" her, according to a criminal complaint. He has also been charged with one count of cyberstalking.

In the complaint, authorities cited tweets from Thompson that mentioned the ex-girlfriend as well as bomb threats.