Riders were left fearing they may fall out of an Alton Towers rollercoaster today after being left hanging 65ft high in the air for half an hour when it abruptly came to a halt in front of busy Bank Holiday crowds. A total of 28 people were left hanging face-down on the £12million Air Galactica ride when it ground to a sudden halt in 'absolutely torrential' rain at the top of the first loop of the track at around 2pm. The halt came less than a year after two women lost a leg when a carriage on a ride crashed into a stationary car, with one rider involved in today's incident telling how he feared his seatbelt would 'release' and he would plunge to the ground below as he dangled in mid-air. Others said riders were 'screaming and crying' during the drama with one claiming the ride broke down after being besieged by floodwater following heavy downpours.

Police closed the motorway for nearly three hours while responding to 'an incident on an over bridge' at Junction 4 yesterday afternoon. Desperate holidaymakers caught in the tailback (left) were seen dragging their suitcases towards the airport, fearful they would miss their flights. Meanwhile other passengers clambered up an embankment on the side of the road (bottom right) and helped each other over a fence towards a footpath (top right).

Over the past year the youngest royal has been lavished with gifts and letters from 64 countries around the world, including (pictured clockwise from top left) an embroidered coat from Bhutan, a blanket made from Tasmanian merino wool from Australia, a copy of Hans Christian Anderson's Fairy Tales from David Cameron, a 'Bo' puzzle featuring the Obamas dog, a dress from Israel and a Canada Goose snowsuit from Canada.

An international team of researchers used a telescope in Chile to spot the planetary system, and claim it may be the best bet for life beyond our solar system. The scientists believe that at least one of these 'three bears' planets may be 'just right' for life to get going. An artist's impression of the view of the star from two of the planets is shown left and top right. One of the planets and the star is illustrated bottom right.

Residents in the 550-room 11-storey tower in north London, including Eric Vonk, 44, pictured left, pay £1,100 a month for a 'twodio' - a 100sq ft private room with a kitchen shared between two people. In return they get no bills and a cleaner, linen changes, and access to a roof-top terrace, library, games room, spa, sauna, cinema and other shared attractions in Willesden, north London. Staff are summoned to carry out menial tasks like changing lightbulbs by text and management will even donate £50 towards parties in communal areas as long as management are shown what the cash is spent on and it benefits the development's other residents. Items like film projectors, music equipment and TVs in communal areas are there on trust - meaning that if they are stolen or broken they will not be replaced unless the culprit is caught. One resident told MailOnline that all people need to get for themselves is 'food and toilet roll' - others say they are interested to see if everyone will get along when sharing so much space. Joanna Bucur, 30, right, a resident and community manager, insists that people living in the development get good value for money.

A 36-year-old man was shot dead during a pre-planned operation last night involving armed police in Goudhurst, Kent, linked to the murder of a 73-year-old man in Biddenden on March 21. Pensioner Roy Blackman (inset bottom right) was found bludgeoned to death at his remote home last month and this gun (inset left) was stolen during the incident. Kent Police said the dead man, who was named locally as William Smith (inset top right), had been arrested in connection with the investigation into Mr Blackman's murder and was on bail at the time of the incident. (Pictured left and centre: Forensics officers recover a weapon from the scene of the shooting today.)

Annette Street School, inset, is pleading for cash to help teach its Roma, Eastern European and Asian children, who don't speak English as a first language. Overall, 181 of the school's 222 pupils, left, are from Romania or Slovakia. Headteacher Shirley Taylor said this causes problems because all of the school's teachers speak only English. Youngsters who have been in Scotland the longest often act as unofficial interpreters for other pupils. Headteacher Shirley Taylor, right, said this causes problems because all of the school's teachers speak only English.

There are days when nothing goes your way. But these hilarious pictures prove that there are plenty of people having a far worse time of it than you - and luckily for us they've captured it all on camera. Clockwise from top left: A coffee-lover's excitement turns to anguish after spilling their Dunkin Donuts drink in the car; a woman's tan lines reveal exactly what she was doing in the sun; a photo shows what happens when you throw a beer can at the TV; a woman trashes her car when she hears the buzzing of a bee; a DIY-er gets trapped after painting the basement stairs first; and a Snapchatter comes across a car with a life-changing message scrawled on the windshield.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump's faces are hidden among a bunch of playing cards. The puzzle, illustrated by Michael Rogalski exclusively for Daily Mail Online, paints the Democratic frontrunner as a queen and the Republican candidate as a king, hidden among a bunch of lookalike cards. The puzzle plays off the popular internet trend that started back in December, when Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás posted the first Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás - which hid a panda among a sea of snowmen.

The incident, caught on camera, showed the 34-year-old man being confronted by his victim and other women after he allegedly showed her his genitals on the bus in north-western Turkey. As the blows grew more and more frequent, he was forced to try and climb off the bus when the doors opened. But he was then grabbed by another passenger. Eyewitnesses said when the woman realised what the man was showing her, she screamed and started hitting him, and then the other women joined in.

From the charming Cotswolds village of Bibury, England (top left), to the Austrian village of Hallstatt (top right), which is so pretty a replica was built in China, these are the breathtaking destinations that look like they're from the pages of a storybook. If isolation is your thing, the Gasadalur (bottom right) in the Faroe Islands has a population of less than 20. Rothenburg (bottom left) is a quintessential German town with half-timbered buildings and narrow cobblestone streets, while the dramatic stone village of Bagnone, Italy (inset), is yet another reason to explore Tuscany.

The former Manchester United player is said to have showered PR girl Kate Greville (right) with lavish gifts including flowers and designer handbags after she helped him with his hotel venture. Friends of 32-year-old Ms Greville say Giggs struck up a flirty friendship with her after his marriage fell apart. He is now facing one of the largest sporting divorce payouts in British history - after his wife finally ran out of patience with his womanising ways. Stacey Giggs (pictured left with her husband), 37, stood by the man who is now United's assistant manager even after he had an affair with his brother's wife Natasha (inset left) and Welsh TV star Imogen Thomas (inset right). But allegedly the final straw came three months ago when Mrs Giggs heard her husband had flirted with waitresses at a restaurant he owns close to his £6million mansion in Worsley, near Manchester.

Five of Prince's six surviving siblings appeared in Minnesota court on Monday for the first hearing to sort out the legend's estate. The 57-year-old music legend unexpectedly died late last month, and it appears he did not leave behind a will. His estate is estimated to be in the millions. Judge Kevin Eide has appointed Bremer Trust to handle splitting Prince's estate between his family and the state. Prince's siblings pictured clockwise, starting left: Tyka Nelson (his only full sibling), Norrine Nelson, Omarr Baker, Sharon Nelson and Alfred Jackson.

Thousands of travellers queued for hours and some missed their flights amid tighter security checks at the newly reopened departure hall at Brussels airport following the terror attacks in March. Angry passengers took to social media to complain of three-hour waits due to increased security screening at Brussels Zaventem Airport, which reopened yesterday. One traveller Jan Drahokoupil tweeted: 'Over 2h wait to get into the reopened @BrusselsAirport. A big fail for passengers and Bxl business.'

Family bloggers Dan and Elle Lindquist, from near Toronto, Canada, videoed the birth of their second son Cohen who was born in a water bath. Elle, pictured top left and top right during contractions at home and bottom left and right in labor in hospital, claims she did not take medication. She was filmed during her entire labor from early contractions to giving birth in a water bath in hospital.

A mother who lost five members of her family when their car plunged off a pier has run a marathon in memory of her son just weeks after the tragedy. Crossing the line at the Belfast Marathon, Louise James (inset) said her eight-year-old son Evan would have been proud of them all. Ms James' partner Sean McGrotty, 46, died alongside Evan, her other son Mark, 12, (left) her mother Ruth Daniels, 57, and her sister 14-year-old Jodie Lee Daniels when their SUV sank after sliding off a slipway in Buncrana, Ireland, in March. Ms James, from Derry, had been away for the weekend when the accident happened. Davitt Walsh (right), who saved her four-month-old daughter Rionaghac-Ann - the sole survivor of the tragedy - was among those who completed the marathon to raise funds for Muscular Dystrophy UK.

A total of 60 people worked for 900 hours at the home of Claire Sykes in Penistone, South Yorkshire. The work of the kind-hearted community was worth around £40,000. Darren Sykes died alongside Paul, nine, and Jack, 12 (pictured together, top right), after setting a fire in his home and locking himself and the boys in the attic in October 2014. Ms Sykes (bottom right), 44, later discovered that her ex-husband had cancelled the home insurance for their house. She had no money to repair the gutted semi-detached home and told her local vicar that she felt suicidal. Family friend Ged Brealey arranged for a group of volunteers in the community to rewire, plaster and decorate the damaged home.

Kate Smith, 34, from Liverpool, was on holiday in Walt Disney World, Florida, in August last year with her husband Gerard, 34, son Louie, ten, and two-year-old daughter Tia (together, left) when she started feeling nauseous. Ms Smith initially thought she was unwell because she had gone on too many fairground rides at the US theme park. But when her sickness persisted, the mother-of-two (inset) decided to take a pregnancy test - and discovered she was five weeks' pregnant. She has now given birth to her healthy triplets: Dolly, Annie and Gerard (right).

This was the sad scene as fire engulfed a £1million thatched cottage described as the owners' 'life and soul'. Flames leapt 30ft from the roof and gutted the picturesque four-bedroom home. David and Cheryl Walder, who have lived there for 30 years, were eating dinner at 8pm on Sunday when a passer-by knocked at the door and told them the house was on fire (shown top left and top right). Around 50 firemen battled the blaze in the village of Langrish, near Petersfield, Hampshire. Neighbours said Mr Walder, 62, a technical sales manager and director, went back into the cottage while it was burning to retrieve his laptop. Mr Walder and his wife, 61, who have two children, were taken to hospital to be checked for carbon monoxide poisoning but were released shortly after. Fire fighters remained on scene battling the blaze until the morning hours (pictured bottom left), after which the brother's owner was seen surveying the damage (bottom right).

Prince Harry, 31, and Justin Trudeau, 44, set pulses racing on both sides of the Atlantic when they met in Toronto to announce the arrival of the Invictus Games in the city in 2017 (left). Justin had an emotional moment listening to Invictus Games players (right) and both were clearly affected by what the former soldiers had to say, while Harry also showed his sensitive side speaking passionately to a sledge hockey player taking part in the games (inset).

The lorry had been competing in the Zoloto Kagana rally in south-western Russia's Astrakhan Oblast region when the driver suddenly appears to lose control of the vehicle. Video coverage shows it hurtling towards a group of spectators who frantically try to get out of its way as it careers over sand dunes. But one man slowed by the fact he was taking pictures is not quite fast enough. He loses his footing right in front of the huge vehicle and goes under the wheels.

If you have a fear of going to the dentist then you should look away now. In what's perhaps the most extreme eating challenge out there, a man from China has managed to eat a whole corn on the cob in just 10 seconds. But his incredible speed eating is aided by a working drill.

A baby has been born with a total of 31 fingers and toes to shocked parents who say there were no indications of his deformities on pre-natal scans. The three-month-old boy, nicknamed Honghong, has 15 fingers and 16 toes (pictured). Incredibly, he also has two palms on each hand, with no thumbs. His parents are now desperate to find medical treatment for him as doctors at their local hospital in Hunan, central China, tells them surgery will be extremely difficult.

The children at a nursery in Istanbul, Turkey all grouped around one small boy who seemed distressed and anxious before they start poking and prodding him. The teacher appears to have merely observed without making any attempt to stop them, and even walked away from the brawl to open a window. The little boy then tried to escape his attackers by moving across the classroom but, surrounded, he fell to the floor. He got up and tried to run away before another teacher stepped in and spoke to him and the group while kneeling down to be face-to-face with the children.