Backpacker: Brit Teen Drank Urine To Survive

A British backpacker missing in the scorching Australian outback for three days drank his own urine and contact lens solution to survive, his mother has said.

Sam Woodhead, 18, became lost after he set out for a jog from the remote Queensland cattle station where he had worked for less than two weeks.

But the chance discovery of packets of lenses in his rucksack - put there by his father, Peter - helped to keep him going for 72 hours in blistering temperatures of around 40C (104F).

Sam Woodhead was a keen long distance runner

The former Brighton College student, from Richmond upon Thames, London, was found about three miles away from the ranch by rescuers in a helicopter.

His mother, Claire Derry, has visited him in hospital in Longreach, about 50 miles away from where he was discovered. She said he had lost weight and his kidneys were not working properly due to dehydration.

She added: "He looks fantastic, he's suntanned, his mouth isn't blistered, he looks great, he's thinner and questionably a lot thinner than when I last saw him.

"The only concern is that his kidneys are not quite functioning normally and his blood's not normal. But that, the doctor says, is completely typical of somebody who's been completely dehydrated."

Ms Derry went on: "He  tried to drink his own urine. He said he'd run out of the contact lens fluid and the contact lens capsules said they were 69% water. But they'd all gone so the urine had become very, very concentrated.

"So he said he couldn't stomach it, so he had nothing, he had nothing to keep him going, by the time the helicopter crew got to him."

Mr Woodhead with his mother and sister Rebacca before the ordeal

She told Sky News: "Sam is an amazingly cool guy and he said 'hi mum' and I said 'Sam I didn't think I would be holding you in my arms again frankly'.

"But he didn't cry and didn't show very much emotion at all. He just said I'm really happy to see you."

Mr Woodhead, who is set on joining the Armed Forces and is a keen long distance runner, is expected to leave hospital on Sunday.

Mike Curtin from Queensland State Police said: "He was quite disorientated but, you know, his body seemed to bounce back fairly quickly once he knew that obviously he was located and so forth and he was quite happy of the fact that someone had found him."

Mr Curtin warned of the harsh Australian climate and called on young people to be careful when travelling or working in the remote Australian Outback.

He said: "It's one of those things and I think there's a lesson to be learned here from any of these young fellows who do take, or young boys and girls, who take jobs in areas like this isolated part of the state, to be careful, to be safe, and prepare.

"And never take the harshest Australian environment and our climatic conditions here for granted."

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Child Killer's Neck Broken In Jail Attack

Two serving prisoners have appeared in court charged with murdering a convicted child killer, who died in jail after his neck was broken.

Gary David Smith, 47, and Lee William Newell, 44, are accused of killing Subhan Anwar, who was found dead by prison officers on Thursday evening.

The defendants are inmates at Long Lartin jail near Evesham in Worcestershire, where Anwar was serving a minimum of 23 years for murdering a two-year-old girl.

Smith and Newell appeared before Worcester Magistrates and were remanded in custody to appear at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday February 19.

Following Anwar's death, the pair were arrested at the scene and taken into police custody. They were later charged.

A post-mortem found that Anwar's neck had been broken.

Sanam Navsarka was killed by Subhan Anwar

The 25-year-old prisoner was in jail for the torture and murder of his partner's daughter in 2009.

Two-year-old Sanam Navsarka suffered 107 injuries at his hands during weeks of torture.

Anwar's partner Zahbeena Navsarka was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years in jail.

Sentencing the couple in 2009, Judge Peter Thornton QC condemned their cruel and selfish treatment of Sanam and added that "humanity had let her down".

The pair, both from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, tried to claim the little girl had stopped breathing after they left her alone in the bath for 10 minutes.

However, the child's hand prints and bloodstains were found inside cupboards at the couple's home in Huddersfield and at a former property in Batley, West Yorkshire.

Anwar also put Sanam in a tumble dryer, and dumped her in the bin as her mother looked on.

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Footballer Nani In Crash With Police Car

Manchester United star Nani has been involved in a car crash with an unmarked police car.

The Premier League player's Bentley Continental was in collision with a police Ford Mondeo which was responding to an emergency call on Friday night in Stockport, Cheshire.

Neither of the drivers was hurt but the passenger in the police car, a special constable, received minor injuries, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

In line with normal procedure after an accident the police driver has been suspended until an investigation is carried out.

The force said only minor damage was caused to the police car and Nani's Bentley - which cost up to £180,000.

The midfielder, a Portuguese international signed by Manchester United in 2007 for £25.5m, was reportedly still in his training kit and returning home when the collision happened.

A spokeswoman for GMP said: "An unmarked police car responding to an emergency call was travelling along Gatley Road at the junction with Kingsway, Stockport.

"As the police car entered the junction it collided with a Bentley Continental.

"The passenger in the police car received minor injuries and only minor damage was caused to both vehicles.

"The police driver has been suspended from driving duties in line with normal procedure.

"Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 4741."

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Horsemeat: Three Arrested Released On Bail

Three men who were arrested by police investigating the horsemeat scandal have been released on bail, as political pressure mounts over the speed of the Government's response.

Dafydd Raw-Rees, 64, the owner of Farmbox Meats near Aberystwyth, a 42-year-old man from Wales and a 63-year-old man from the Peter Boddy Slaughterhouse in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, have been released from custody pending further inquiries.

All were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of offences under the Fraud Act and have been told they will answer police bail at a later date.

The time it has taken for all the meat considered at risk of being contaminated with horse DNA to be tested as led to criticism of the Government's response.

Ed Miliband told Sky News that the Government had not been as 'sure footed' as it could have been.

He said: "I think they've been too slow to get a grip on this situation ... we want this resolved quickly."

FSA tests have so far found around 1% of all products checked around the country contained a significant amount of horse meat.

Environment Secretary Owen Patterson said he wants all other tests to be completed by the end of next week.

"It's up to the food businesses to carry out the tests, to organise their businesses and to provide quality products," Mr Patterson told Sky News.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it has passed on evidence from two premises in north London and one in Yorkshire to Europol - the European Union's law enforcement agency - after it emerged they were raided on Thursday.

Dinos & Sons Continental Foods was raided in Tottenham it has emerged.

The two sites in Tottenham, North London, and one in Hull, Yorkshire, were searched by Food Standards Agency officials, who removed computer equipment and took away meat samples to be analysed.

The FSA has conceded it is unlikely the exact number of people in the UK who have unwittingly eaten horse meat will ever be known.

Farmers, meanwhile, have advertised in national newspapers urging people to buy British.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has taken out adverts in 10 national newspapers, saying it is championing British produce as a direct response to the contamination and mislabelling of some beef products.

According to NFU President, Peter Kendall, British farmers feel let down.

"Farmers are very proud of what they produce and are, quite rightly, furious about this current situation. They feel let down by what looks like a criminal element in an isolated part of the food chain," he said.

One of the businesses being investigated by the FSA in Tottenh am is Dinos & Sons Continental Foods.

The company released a statement saying it is co-operating with officials, adding: "At no time has Dinos & Sons produced or manufactured anything that is under investigation or is the subject of any possible contamination or mislabelling."

The arrests of the men in Wales and Todmorden took place after plants were inspected on Tuesday by the FSA.

The problem has gone beyond supermarket bought burgers and lasagnes - hotels, restaurants and pubs have also been affected after confirmation from Whitbread, which owns Premier Inn, Beefeater Grill and Brewers Fayre, that horse DNA has been found in its food.

Cottage pie served to children at 47 schools in Lancashire has also tested positive and has now been removed from menus.

Tesco and other retailers have gone on the defensive this weekend by placing adverts in national newspapers and placing videos on Youtube in an attempt to tell consumers what they are doing to tackle the issue.

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More IVF For Gay Couples And Older Women

By Siobhan Robbins, Sky News Reporter

Older women and more gay couples may get greater access to IVF treatment on the NHS under new guidelines.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is expected to make the recommendations in its report next week.

Currently, women over 40 years old are not eligible to NHS funded fertility treatment and have to pay privately, which can cost between £6,000 and £8,000 per cycle.

Figures from the Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority show one in seven couples in the UK struggle to conceive and every year around 48,000 women have IVF.

The possibility that gay couples may get greater access to treatment is being welcomed by James Taylor from campaign group, Stonewall.

He told Sky News: "In the last ten years we've seen greater legal protections for same sex couples, which Stonewall fought hard to achieve, and we hope they're reflected in the new guidelines.

"We've seen a greater number of lesbians go through IVF treatment and start families and we hope the new NICE guidance really recognises the different families that do exist at the moment."

But, Anthony Ozimic from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children expressed his organisation's opposition.

He said: "This decision ignores biology in the face of politically correct social engineering.

"Same sex couples do not have fertility problems, they have chosen a naturally non-fertile lifestyle, and we shouldn't be spending millions of pounds of taxpayers money on fertility procedures for people who do not have fertility problems."

NICE has not confirmed whether these changes will definitely be included in the updated guidelines to be be released on Wednesday.

The recommendations are influenced by medical advances and changing social attitudes but do not have to consider the NHS's need to save billions of pounds.

If the guidelines do change, it will be local NHS trusts that decide whether to fund them.

However, a spokesperson from The Department of Health said: "We believe that all PCTs - and in the future, Clinical Commissioning Groups - should take account of National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for fertility treatment."

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Meteor: Rescue Teams Rally To Recovery Effort

A major recovery effort is under way to replace thousands of windows shattered by the shockwave from a meteor that exploded over Russia, as some 24,000 workers began arriving in the Chelyabinsk region to help relief efforts.

The shockwave blew out glass in more than 4,000 buildings in the region and injured about 1,200 people, largely with cuts from the flying debris.

Forty of those injured remained in hospital on Saturday, two of them in serious condition, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Regional governor Mikhail Yurevich said the damage from the high-altitude explosion -  which was estimated to have been as powerful as 20 Hiroshima bombs - is estimated at 1bn rubles (£21m).

A man repairs the window of a damaged sports hall in Chelyabinsk

He promised to have the 200,000 square metres worth of broken windows replaced within a week.

Rescuers are also scouring the bottom of a lake for the remains of the meteor, which plunged to Earth in a fireball on Friday.

Part of the space rock, which was the size of a bus and blazed across western Siberia, is believed to have landed in the frozen Lake Chebarkul.

Curious onlookers gathered nearby were stopped from venturing out on to the lake by police as the search continued.

More than 24,000 rescuers and recovery workers have already been dispatched to the region around Chelyabinsk to help residents.

Workers in Chelyabinsk examine the damage to a large building

The workers will gather warm clothes and food, cover windows, and make other relief efforts. Crews from glass companies in adjacent regions have also begun to arrive.

Experts are also examining major buildings in case they have been structurally damaged by the blast.

Residents who had poured into the streets to watch the light show after spotting the initial flash were wounded by glass shattered by the subsequent sonic boom.

Experts said the meteor strike was the largest recorded in more than a century.

The meteor burned brightly in the sky as it plunged to Earth

As the recovery mission begins in earnest, the emergencies ministry said six divers would be inspecting the lake for any pieces of meteorite.

Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov added: "We have a special team working ... that is now assessing the seismic stability of buildings. We will be especially careful about switching the gas back on."

Scientists will be desperate to examine the rock for any clues about the cosmos but Mr Puchkov said no fragments had yet been discovered.

The explosion appears to have been one of the most stunning cosmic events over Russia since 1908 when an asteroid was blamed for a massive blast in Siberia.

Nasa estimated that the amount of energy released when the meteor crashed into the Earth's atmosphere was about 20 times more than the force of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb.                 

The meteor hit in the Urals on Friday morning

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of Nasa's Near-Earth Object Programme Office.

The drama happened just hours before an asteroid whizzed safely past the Earth at an unprecedented distance of 17,200 miles.

This is closer than some distant satellites and set alarm bells ringing in some Russian circles about the need for joint global action to protect Earth from space.

Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee chief Alexei Pushkov wrote on Twitter: "Instead of fighting on Earth, people should be creating a joint system of asteroid defence."

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Scotland Car Rally Crash: Woman Dies

A 50-year-old woman has died after a car collided with spectators during a rally in the Scottish Highlands, police say.

An eight-year-old boy was hurt in the collision and is being treated at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. His condition was not believed to be life-threatening.

A third person was also injured as a result of the collision. The person was not seriously injured, and was described as "walking wounded" by Northern Constabulary.

Neither the driver nor the co-driver of the vehicle was injured, and no other spectators were hurt, Northern Constabulary said.

The collision took place during the first stage of the Highland Car Club Snowman Rally.

The event, in Glenurquhart Forest, near Loch Ness, has now been abandoned.

Officers will carry out a full road collision investigation and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.

The race is the opening round of the 2013 Scottish Rally Championship (SRC).

Dave Robson, chairman of the championship, said: "The management committee, competitors and officials of the SRC extend their condolences to the families of those involved in today's incident on Special Stage One of the Snowman Rally.

"We offer our committed support to Highland Car Club and all those affected at this difficult time."

A statement from Highland Car Club said: "The club extends its sympathies to the families of those involved."

Northern Constabulary said: "Following an earlier collision between a rally car and spectators during Stage One of the Highland Car Club Snowman Rally, police can confirm that a 50-year-old woman has sustained fatal injuries and an eight-year-old boy has been taken to Raigmore Hospital for treatment.

"The boy's condition is not believed to be life-threatening. Neither the driver or the co-driver of the vehicle was injured as a result of the incident. No other spectators were injured."

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Pistorius: Girlfriend's TV Show Goes Ahead

Producers are to broadcast a reality TV show featuring the dead girlfriend of athlete Oscar Pistorius later today, saying they have the backing of her family.

Tropika Island of Treasure, showing Reeva Steenkamp on location in Jamaica, will be broadcast despite her shocking death on St Valentine's Day.

Miss Steenkamp, who had been going out with Pistorius since November, was shot four times at his house in a heavily guarded complex in Pretoria on Thursday.

Local media have reported that she was shot through a bathroom door. A 9mm pistol was found at the scene.

Pistorius broke down in court at the mention of premeditated murder

The decision to air the show emerged as Pistorius' uncle said the athlete was "numb with shock, as well as grief" as he remained in custody facing charges of premeditated murder.

In the family's first public comments since the shooting, Arnold Pistorius said they were "in total shock" by what he called an "unimaginable human tragedy".

Tropika Island of Treasure producers said Miss Steenkamp's family wanted her appearance on the reality show for South Africa's national broadcaster to be aired as a tribute.

An excerpt of the programme has been released showing Miss Steenkamp swimming with dolphins and smiling broadly as she floats down a jungle-flanked river on a raft.

Pistorius (right) after his arrest on Thursday

It also featured a poignant pre-recorded interview with the 29-year-old in which she talked about the importance of leaving a positive mark in life.

"The way that you go out and make your exit is so important, you have either made an impact in a positive way or a negative way," she said.

Tropika Island of Treasure sees celebrities paired with contestants and put through a series of challenges as they compete for a cash prize.

Executive producer Samantha Moon said: "This is how they want to remember her. This is what she would have wanted. She was happy, healthy, beautiful and vibrant and that's the way she should be remembered."

Spokesman for broadcaster SABA, Kaizer Kganyago, said: "The mother agreed that we should go ahead and we are free to go ahead. We are working on how to pay tribute to her."

Miss Steenkamp's cousin, Sharon Steenkamp, said she "was proud of being in the show".

"Her last words to us personally was that she wants us to watch it," she said.

Production company Stimulii said it was "devastated" by the model's death and described her as a "wonderful human being" with a "zest for life".

Reeva Steenkamp, 29, with Pistorius last November

Pistorius, who made history by competing in both the Olympics and Paralympics last year, sobbed through his first court appearance on Friday.

He is being held in a police cell ahead of a new hearing on February 19, when prosecutors are set to oppose any request for bail.

The chief magistrate delayed the bail hearing until next week at the request of the defence who asked for more time.

A statement issued by Pistorius' family and management following the initial hearing said: "The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms."

And in Saturday's statement, Arnold Pistorius insisted there was "no substance" to the allegation of premeditated murder "or indeed any murder at all" as he spoke of his nephew's happiness with the model and rising star.

"They had plans together and Oscar was happier in his private life than he had been for a long time," he told the Associated Press.

"Words cannot adequately describe our feelings. The lives of our entire family have been turned upside down forever by this unimaginable human tragedy and Reeva's family have suffered a terrible loss.

"As a family we are trying to be strong and supportive to Oscar as any close family would be in these dreadful circumstances.

"We deeply regret the allegation of premeditated murder. We have no doubt there is no substance to the allegation and that the State's own case, including its own forensic evidence, strongly refutes any possibility of a premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all."

Premeditated murder carries a mandatory life sentence in South Africa. If found guilty, Pistorius would not be eligible for parole for 25 years.

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North Korea: Kim Watches Given To Top Brass

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has handed out wrist watches with the name of his dead father on them as awards to party members.

Footage shown on the communist country's state TV station showed soldiers, officials and scientists being presented with boxes containing the watches in a ceremony.

The awards took place in honour of the birthday of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, a national holiday known as the "Day of the Shining Star".

As part of the celebrations on Friday, Kim gave watches to people who were deemed to have done something extraordinary for the government.

The leader made sure service personnel, scientists, technicians and labour innovators who have performed "brilliant feats in defence of the country" were awarded watches, said North Korea's official news agency KCNA.

It is the first time watches have been presented with the name of Kim Jong-Il on them.

Kim Jong-Un is known to like luxury Swiss goods

In the past, watches featuring the name of the first Korean dictator, Jong-Il's father Kim Il-Sung, were handed out.

In 1972 and every year thereafter, Kim Jong-Il presented Swiss Omega watches with the name of his father engraved on them on the birthday of Kim Il-Sung. Kim Jong-Il died in 2011.

Sanctions against the regime over its nuclear policy started to affect North Korea's ability to import Swiss watches in 2010.

It is not known whether the latest watches are from Switzerland.

Kim Jong-Un is known to like luxury Swiss goods. He was spotted sporting a luxury Swiss watch believed to be a Patek Philippe worth £50,000 at a ceremony in October 2010 celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Workers Party.

Earlier this week, North Korea conducted its third nuclear test, drawing global condemnation and a stern warning from the United States that it was a threat and a provocation.

North Korea has also told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the US into diplomatic talks, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.

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Hugh Grant Reveals Son's Birth On Twitter

Hugh Grant has had a second child with his girlfriend, announcing on Twitter that his daughter now has a baby brother to play with.

The 52-year-old actor tweeted to his 77,000 followers: "In answer to some journos. Am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

Tabitha, his daughter with Tinglan Hong, was born in September 2011.

Grant joined Twitter as HackedOffHugh in November, ahead of the publication of the Leveson Inquiry, saying that "it was a chance in a lifetime".

It is not the first time he has used Twitter to talk about his private life.

In December he tweeted that he was a "pain in the a**" during an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The actor turned campaigner over the phone hacking scandal and joined the board of Hacked Off, a group lobbying for "a free and accountable press".

Grant was awarded a "substantial" sum in damages by now defunct paper News Of The World after settling a phone hacking claim. The undisclosed amount was donated to the Hacked Off campaign.

Grant dated Elizabeth Hurley for 13 years before they split in 2000, five years after he was caught cheating with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown.

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