CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .

A nine year old girl nearly lost her leg after doctors initially misdiagnosed her bone cancer as a pulled muscle .

A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .

It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .

Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .

With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .

A mum who has hid behind the hair loss condition alopecia for the last 20 years has bravely revealed a secret compulsion to tear out her own hair that has tormented her since she was a child .

THIS is the moment one irritated pelican nearly swallows the entire head of his unlucky competitor .

RESTING his weary head on his flipper, this little seal pup takes a much needed nap after an afternoon of strenuous yoga .

At least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .

AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .

FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .