Eight-month-old Santiago Mendoza, who weighs 3.1-stone, was flown from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to Bogota on Sunday. Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) stepped in to transport the boy after his mother Eunice Fandiño wrote in asking for help.

Officers from Operation Grange investigating the disappearance of the British toddler from Praia da Luz, bottom right, in Portugal in 2007 issued a new appeal for information today. They are now looking for a tanned, dark-haired man in a burgundy top, inset, who is suspected of breaking in to 12 properties where British families were staying in the Portuguese holiday region between 2004 and 2010. In four of the incidents, which took place between 2004-2006, shortly before Madeleine, top, disappeared, in 2007, young girls were sexually assaulted. Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, top right, have yet to comment on the dramatic breakthrough.

In a bid to offer reassurance and comfort to parents-to-be who find themselves in this position, a heart-warming video featuring people with Down’s syndrome has been released. The video was made for World Down Syndrome Day on Friday and has already been viewed nearly 1.2 million times on YouTube. It features 15 young people with Down's syndrome who aim to tell an expectant mother how able her child could be. The actors include Sarah Gordy (top left) who recently appeared in Call The Midwife.

Marcela Gracova, 30, from Brampton, Cambridgeshire, wanted a way to get rid of her baby weight while spending quality time with her children. A keen runner, the solution was simple - she would take her buggy and two children with her on her gruelling 8 mile runs. Marcella crept up to a size 14 after giving birth to her three children, Ivanna, 8, Isabelle, 5 and Peter, 2.

Marie Johnson, 43, from Walker, Newcastle, had imagined elegant light brown brows would transform her look. But now she says she breaks down in tears every time she looks in the mirror - and she is even considering launching a legal claim over the £120 semi-permanent cosmetic procedure.

Sophie Jones, of Eastham, Merseyside, had suffered crippling stomach pains for over a year before she was initially diagnosed with Crohn's disease, it was claimed. But in November, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer - which may have been picked up had the authorities listened to her pleas for a smear test, her family said. She is pictured (left) in a modelling photoshoot, and (right) in hospital after cancer had taken its toll on her body.

Alek Lisefski (pictured, left with girlfriend Anjali Krystofiak) constructed the space-saving house on a flatbed trailer in Iowa then towed it to Sebastopol in California, where the couple now live. The Tiny Project is a sleek, efficiently designed, sustainable house on wheels with all the necessary features and appliances of a normal house. And without any rent or mortgage to pay, Alek says he can now prioritise his funds on health, leisure and travel. 'I think tiny houses are one way in which the next generation will be able to overcome our country's current economic disparity and ever-rising housing and land costs,' he said.

A property developer paid 12million yuan for the golden-haired one-year-old (pictured left) at a luxury pet fair in the eastern province of Zhejiang yesterday, local media reported reported. 'They have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs,' the dog's breeder Zhang Gengyun told the Qianjiang Evening News, adding that another red-haired canine had sold for 6million yuan. Enormous and sometimes ferocious, with round manes lending them a passing resemblance to lions, Tibetan mastiffs have become a status symbol among China's wealthy.

Hundreds of Ukrainian troops today abandoned their naval base in Crimea after Russian soldiers backed by unarmed volunteers stormed the building in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol this morning. Several hundred so-called Crimea self-defence soldiers - consisting mainly of unarmed volunteers - took down the gate alongside Russian troops and made their way onto the headquarters' premises. They then raised the Russian flag on the square by the headquarters. Three Russian flags were also reported to be flying in front of one of the entrances.

Cherylee Shennan, 40 (pictured right in both images), was stabbed to death in the street (inset) outside her cottage on the Pennine Hills at Rawtenstall in Lancashire. Her boyfriend Paul O'Hara, 41 (pictured centre and left), has been charged with murder and will appear before a judge at Preston Crown Court for a preliminary hearing tomorrow.

Anthony Skipper, of Felthorpe, Norfolk, has amassed a huge collection of vehicles, furniture and gadgets in years as a hoarder. He says his obsession peaked after the breakdown of his marriage. He is now auctioning off around 800 items - including classic American cars and vans - after finding new love and vowing to change his life

Captain Christiaan Mangena told Pretoria's High Court how the first bullet fired by Pistorius caused Reeva Steenkamp to fall backwards on to a magazine holder where she was killed by another bullet to the head. Pistorius, 27, is charged with premeditated murder over Ms Steenkamp's death on February 14 last year and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He says he shot Ms Steenkamp, 29, by mistake through a locked door in his bathroom because he thought she was a dangerous night-time intruder in his home.

Deborah Kelly, 47, from Loughton, was left disfigured after a surgeon convinced her to try the injections in the run-up to her nuptials. Getting married for the first time in her early 40s, Deborah had wanted to look her best for her lavish Sri Lankan nuptials and hoped that the beauty jabs would boost her confidence. Events did not go to plan.

Gemma Murphy was left in tears after being barred from feeding six-week-old Niamh while she waited for a blood test with her husband at the Hospital of St Cross in Rugby, Warwickshire. The 37-year-old mother had phoned the hospital before arriving to confirm she would be allowed to breastfeed - but claimed that nurses told her to feed her daughter in a private room.

Engineer Jonathan Tebbs (centre), 46, plunged a Swiss Army Knife into Kate Dixon's chest nearly 30 times in Streatham, south London, using such force that the blade pierced her heart and lungs. Tebbs became enraged after learning Ms Dixon (left), 41, was in a relationship with Mark Baynes (right), a man she met on Blue Match - an upper crust dating website for Oxbridge graduates. The controlling killer became increasingly possessive after believing that he and Ms Dixon were meant to be together, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Graeme Wharton, 42, and his 41-year-old wife Lisa, from Sunderland, are celebrating winning Slimming World’s Couple of the Year. The couple replaced frozen lasagnes and pies for homemade treats - such as pasta salad and fruit - and lost 10st 4lbs between them after they began spilling out of their tight clothes.

A wooden extension illegally added to the back of Yasmin Restaurant and Shisha Bar (bottom left) in Wealdstone, North London was demolished earlier this morning (right). Council workers removed 30 shisha pipes and bags of sweet-smelling tobacco (top left), before taking down the walls and paring the building back to its legally allowed limits.

Kirstine Hamilton (right) and Neil Trotter (left), who have a ten-year-old daughter together, are said to remain on good terms despite their split several years ago. Mrs Hamilton, who will turn 41 at the weekend, attended Purley High School for Girls in South London, close to where her ex-boyfriend went to school. The couple are believed to have broken up not long after their daughter Annabelle was born, and Mr Trotter has been with his new partner Nicky Ottaway (also left), 33, for eight years.

The ornamental egg is the third of more than 50 Imperial Easter Eggs designed by Carl Faberge for the Russian Royal Family. After the Russian Revolution all the eggs were seized by the Bolsheviks and most were sold to the West. But eight of them are missing, of which only three are believed to have survived the revolution - including this one. The egg contains a Vacheron Constantin watch which was given by Alexander III to his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna (centre) for Easter in 1887.

A tree removal crew in Maine mistook Michael Smith's gun tattoo on his stomach (inset) for an actual weapon. The crew notified police who descended on Smith's home. Smith, of Norridgewock, who works nights, went outside to tell the crew to keep it down around 10am which is when one worker spotted his tattoo.

While today we would consider them cruel and politically incorrect, Victorian circusgoers would queue to see those with unusual abilities or appearance. From 'dog boy', whose rare genetic condition caused him to grow thick hair all over his face, to the 'living doll', which today we would recognise as a woman with achondroplasia, these haunting images give an incredible insight into times gone by. From the late 18th century hundreds of circuses travelled Britain, making the most of the new and expanding railway network to become one of the most popular forms of entertainment by the mid-19th century.

Storms made a small hole in this road in Devon which was passable until the council dug a larger hole to investigate, before saying they can't afford to fix it.

Flexing it's spine and leaning forward, this domestic kitty enjoys a comforting back massage from a young crab-eating macaque clinging onto its back in Indonesia. Looking incredibly easy in each other's company, the two show that friendship knows no bounds when it comes to differences in appearances - and species.

Travelling from London across the USA, China, Russia and back through Europe before returning to the UK's capital, the Great Rail Journeys new Around The World In 53 Days Tour is an explorer's dream.

How do you ensure that you have a soft landing next time you come off your skateboard? Simple. Build a ramp in the middle of the deepest mountain lake in California.

The Russian camel was imported to his home in Sutton-on-the-Forest, north Yorkshire from The Netherlands seven years ago as a 19th birthday present for vet Elizabeth Grant's son Tom. Mrs Grant's husband Simon (pictured), a former jockey and racehorse trainer, has since schooled the camel so he lies down and stands up on demand and can be ridden around their 50-acre property.

The stunning images were captured by photographer George Doupas, who stood just 200 metres away from the Tibetan Seda, in Western Sichuan, China. Looming in the middle of the tiny red hillside houses, the school has caused the surrounding neighbourhood to explode in size.