Drug lord Joaquin Guzman (left) has staged a prison escape so humiliating to the authorities that it may yet bring the Mexican government to its knees, writes TOM LEONARD. For Guzman was the prisoner Mexico had vowed would never get away. He had already managed to get out of another of the country's maximum security prisons in 2001, and it took them 13 years to recapture him. Under his cunning and brutal leadership, the Sinaloa established itself as the first cartel to have a truly global reach, boasting distribution networks that U.S. officials say extend to the UK, France and the Netherlands. El Chapo is the world's most dangerous criminal and his disappearance - via a covert tunnel (inset) - possibly history's most damaging prison escape. Mexico's 'most secure' prison managed to keep hold of its worst criminal for just a year and a half. He could now be reunited with his beauty-queen bride Emma Coronel (right).

Autumn Veatch, 16, of Bellingham, Washington, pictured left, emerged from woods Okanogan County, Washington, following a plane crash also involving her step-grandparents, Leland and Sharon Bowman, of Marion, Montana. Crews had been searching for the the small, private plane carrying three passengers after it failed to reach its destination in Lynden, Washington, on Saturday.

A new info-graphic compiled by Vashi Diamonds reveals the top 100 most iconic wedding dress designs, and features a variety of different styles, colors and designs. From mini dresses to one-shoulder statement pieces, there is no shortage of innovation and originality among the dresses featured, however the classic-style gown favored by the likes of Kate Middleton and Grace Kelly, still reigns supreme.

Prosecutors have arrested the son of a Boston police captain in a plot to commit terrorist acts on behalf of the Islamic State group. Alexander Ciccolo (left) is accused in a criminal complaint unsealed Monday of receiving four guns July 4 from a person cooperating with the Western Massachusetts Joint Terrorism Task Force. Ciccolo's father is Boston police Captain Robert Ciccolo (pictured in inset left), a veteran commander who was one of the first responders to the 2013 Marathon bombing . 

Cheshire-born brunette Dr Gemma Mullen (right), who bears a striking resemblance to the Duchess of Cambridge, will fly rescue missions with Prince William. Both 33, they will make a formidable team. The Duke (pictured on his first day back on the job yesterday) was formerly an RAF search and rescue pilot, while Dr Mullen is an experienced medic who previously flew on the London Air Ambulance. Starting work at 7am sharp at Cambridge Airport yesterday, William confessed: 'It's my first day and I'm feeling the nerves.' But he added that he was 'fantastically excited' and looking forward to working with a 'very professional bunch of guys and girls'. The prince, who is known as Captain William Wales in his role as an air ambulance pilot, is paid a salary for the job, all of which is donated to charity.

California-based photographer Wenxin Zhang moved to San Francisco in 2011 and fell in with a group of people forced to find alternative means of accommodation due to the skryocketing cost of living in the city. She decided to document the experiences of these people and their living conditions and called the project Goodnight Stories. 'Some of them suffer from bankruptcy, poverty, health problems or depression,' she told Feature Shoot. 'Sometimes being different from the majority can be very hard.' Some people live in sailboats (top left) or in a second-hand van (main) or are homeless (bottom left).

UPDATED President Barack Obama cut the prison sentences of 46 non-violent drug offenders on Monday. Among them was Katrina Smith, the mother of Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Obama also wrote individual letters to each of the individuals. Their sentences all now expire on November 10, 2015.

A new biography reveals how Marilyn Monroe and Bobby Kennedy 'carried on' for months before her death - and Ethel was furious. But RFK was equally obsessed with putting Jimmy Hoffa in jail.. As Attorney General during his brother's presidency, RFK created a 'Get Hoffa' squad at the Department of Justice. A union associate recalled Hoffa fuming about assault charges Hoffa was facing: 'That son of a bitch Bobby Kennedy - he has to go!.' Hoffa asked where to procure plastic explosives, 'as powerful and able to explode without leaving without a trace.'. Three years after Bobby was assassinated, Hoffa was pardoned by President Nixon but disappeared without a trace four years later.

Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson filed for chapter 22 bankruptcy protection on Monday just three days after he was ordered to pay $5 million to the mother of Rick Ross's child. In 2009, the rapper intentionally released a sex tape featuring Lastonia Leviston in an attempt to embarrass his rap rival, Ross.

NEW Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt grabbed sandwiches to-go for the family before a low-key birthday party to help twins Knox and Vivienne celebrate turning seven. The couple hit a Subway sandwich shop on Friday in Glendale, California as they went toy shopping along with their 13-year-old son Maddox and nine-year-old daughter Shiloh. According to photographs obtained by TMZ, the couple were seen stopping at the fast food franchise where they picked up sandwiches and sodas for their brood to enjoy. 

Former Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans receiver JaJuan Dawson (pictured), 37, fell overboard into Lavon Lake (inset) outside of Dallas on Sunday while on a rented boat with his two daughters, wife, and one other adult and child. Collin County Sheriff's Office said Dawson wasn't wearing a lifejacket at the time and that alcohol isn't considered a factor. Dawson spent the 2000 and 2001 seasons with the Cleveland Browns and 2002 with the Houston Texans.

It isn't always easy to be kind about ex partners so when London-based lifestyle blogger, 24-year-old Stina Sanders, decided to track down her former flames on email and ask them what they really thought of her, she was prepared for a mixed bag of responses...and that's exactly what she got. (Pictured from left: Stina Sanders with two of her ex boyfriends and right, relaxing on holiday)

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT. Briton Carolyn Dunford, 23, captured the bloody drama in Kruger National Park, South Africa, along with wide-eyed nature-lovers - some of who risked their lives watching the spectacle through open car windows. 'The kudu burst from the bushes and the lions chased it into the cars,' she said. 'The first lion grabbed onto its back and the second came in and grabbed its throat (pictured main). They both tackled it.' Her photographs also show the beasts tear apart their catch as tourists look on (inset).

Scientology and Tom Cruise plan to take on the major movie studios and TV networks with the creation of Scientology Media Productions. The five-acre studio lot has two sound stages and 150,000 square feet of production facilities and is costing millions. But Sea Org workers are earning just a few dollars a day to help renovate the Sunset Blvd site. A new set of audition tapes for the woman who will replace Katie Holmes will be held at the facility. Scientology boasts its new network will 'reach everyone on Earth.'

A family member has shared a touching and poignant video tribute to can't Buy Me Love star Amanda Peterson who died last week at the age of 43. The actress' brother Jim Peterson, the pastor of a Baptist church in Michigan, posted the five-minute long photo and video montage on Facebook saying it was the tribute played at her memorial on Saturday. The video opened with her name, the dates of her birth and death, and the message: 'Precious child of God, now home & free!'

A new video reveals the audition tapes of the hits show's actors. The short clip sees some of the series most-loved characters reading lines from the popular medieval fantasy. It was debuted at this year's Comic Con in San Diego and has received almost four million views on YouTube. Pictured top and bottom left: Natalie Dormer who plays Margery Tyrell. Top and bottom centre: Rose Leslie who plays Ygritte. Top and bottom right: Nathalie Emmanuel who stars as Missandei.

More than 550 items from the late actresses' time in Hollywood traveled to museums across the country before reaching Kansas City, Missouri, where they will hit the auction block. Highly-coveted memorabilia including the polka dot dress from her 1934 film Stand Up and Cheer and a children's racing car gifted to her by tap dancer Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, have suggested prices of  $20,000 and $10,000, respectively.

The world's oldest working supermodel, 87-year-old Daphne Selfe has spoken out about the controversial thigh gap debate, claiming supermodels these days are thinner than when she started out in the industry over 60 years ago (left). Despite her impressive age, the mother-of-three has no plans to retire and has just visited Australia for the first time as past of a new campaign with OPSM (inset) which encourages women of any age to dress with style.

Dana Bishop, 36, from England says her five-year-old son Morgan suffers such severe eczema he can barely walk was in such pain he begged his mother to let him die (he is pictured, left, during a flare up). The family are at breaking point, having tried almost every treatment available on the NHS - including a form of chemotherapy (Morgan is pictured in hospital, right and inset). The skin on his feet and legs become so sore he cannot walk and must use a mobility scooter to move around during a flare-up. And as the eczema stops him from sleeping, he can only attend school for half days at a time and is rarely able to play with his friends. Now, the family are fundraising to take him to a clinic in France for treatment. Mrs Bishop, 36, said: 'People don't recognise skin conditions as debilitating. They hear eczema and just think it's a bit of dry skin, but the reality can be much, much worse.'

Actress Loretta Young (pictured left with her daughter Judy) was 23 when she met Clark Gable, then 34, on the set of 1935's Call of the Wild. The two were widely rumoured to have had an affair at the time and nine months later, Young gave birth to Judy in secret. Now it has emerged that far from being the product of an affair, the little girl was conceived after her mother was 'date raped' by Gable (pictured right with Young on the set of Call of the Wild). The claim was made by Linda Lewis, Young's daughter-in-law.

An anonymous man was photographed over the weekend sitting alongside his son on the subway in New York, while wearing a full Minions costume. The image was posted to Reddit on Sunday where it has since received a huge amount of attention, with many other parents praising this unknown dad's dedication to his son's enjoyment.

The first images of two warships which sank off the Western Australian coast after a gun battle in 1941 have emerged. The pictures, taken on the ocean floor 2.5km beneath the surface, show the remains of the German warship, Kormoran (inset) and the Australia ship, the HMAS Sydney. The pictures show the German ship's gun nicknamed 'Linda' featuring a skull and cross bones (left) as well as it's grim tally of 11 ships sunk (top right). Also pictured is a lifeboat from the HMAS Sydney (bottom right). These never-before-seen pictures are part of a set of more than 700,000 taken on an undersea expedition by Curtin University and the Western Australian Museum.

The slide, located at Action Park in Vernon, New Jersey, can reach speeds of 35 to 40 miles per hour and uses 1,000 gallons of water every hour. It runs down the ski trials of Mountain Creek Resort, where the park is located. The first test rides by park employees were 'successful' but the slide still needs state approval and might not be open to the public until 2016.

Michelle Thomas, 30, from London, England, publicly scolded a Tinder date for saying she wasn't his type. But author Peter Lloyd says she is in denial that women are just as bad. If not worse. Pictured left, Michelle Thomas, Peter Lloyd, right and inset, the Dear John written by the unnamed man.

Noah Thrift, 15, was fishing in Fernandina, Florida, when he noticed his rod had fallen into the water - after being weighed down by a whopping eight-foot, 250 pound shark. After pulling for 30 minutes and with the help of a fellow fisherman who came to his aid, Noah managed to get his incredible catch on to dry land, before he released it back into the water. Noah, who had caught a stingray while fishing the day before, said about his shark catch: 'I was surprised that they were down there that big.'