Shark Bite Doctor Stitches Leg And Goes To Pub

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

A New Zealand doctor who was bitten by a shark, sewed up his own wounds before heading to the pub to celebrate his lucky escape.

Junior doctor James Grant was spearfishing with friends when he was attacked near Cosy Nook on New Zealand's South Island.

The 24-year-old initially thought one of his friends was playing a trick on him when he felt a tug on his leg.

"I looked behind to see who it was and got a bit of a shock," he told Radio New Zealand.

"(I thought) bugger, now I have to try and get this thing off my leg."

The doctor suspects he was attacked by a seven-gill shark

Mr Grant used the knife he had with him to stab at the shark.

"I am not sure how effective it was. I guess it let go so something must have happened, put a few nicks in it."

The doctor then made his way to shore and after taking off his wetsuit saw the puncture wounds in his leg, left by what he believes was a seven-gill shark.

Using a first aid kit in his car he stitched up the bites, which were about 5cm long, and then headed to the pub - before eventually making the trip to hospital.

The bites were about 5cm long - not enough to stop him going for a pint

As well as a drink, the Colac Bay Tavern also served him a bandage because he was dripping blood on the floor.

"We gave him a pint of beer and his mates were kicking around, laughing," Colac Bay Tavern co-owner Warren Bevin told 3 News.

"Then we brought out the big first-aid kit and got a little bandage out. There were a couple of good holes on both sides of his leg."

Barman Warren Bevin served up a bandage as well as a drink

The stitching was finished off when he went to Invercargill Hospital, where he was back at work on Monday.

Shark specialist Clinton Duffy, of New Zealand's Department of Conservation, told Fairfax NZ news he believed the attacker was probably a broad-nosed seven-gill shark.

Seven-gill sharks can grow up to three metres long and New Zealand is one of the few countries where they attack humans.

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Dave Lee Travis: Sex Assault Claims 'Insane'

By Nick Pisa, Southwark Crown Court

Former BBC DJ Dave Lee Travis has admitted there have been times he has cheated on his wife of 42 years - but insisted he had "never had an affair".

Travis, 68, is on trial accused of indecently and sexually assaulting a string of women while in the heyday of his career as a Radio 1 broadcaster.

When asked by defence lawyer Stephen Vullo if during his career he was ever the "object of female attention", he replied: "I don't like the way this is going."

He initially declined to answer the question as to whether he had been unfaithful, "because to my mind it has nothing to do whatsoever with my supposed forcing myself on somebody".

But, pressed at Southwark Crown Court as to whether he had ever "fallen into temptation", Travis admitted he had "once or twice".

"Of course, I'm human," he told jurors.

"Consensual if I might add. I have feelings like anyone else. I suppose in those cases, it was very rare but I suppose I did.

"If these women supposedly are chasing after me because I was the pop star of the day, the question would have to be, why would I go and assault somebody?"

Travis also told the court how the allegations against him were a "load of nonsense" and "belittle real problems women face".

"There are women who really have been attacked, mentally abused by husbands, beaten or really assaulted and this (trial) makes it less likely that these real problems are going to be listened to," he said.

Travis again told the court he "liked women and loved women" but he would never assault a woman, adding he could not understand why the women came forward to make the allegations against him.

He also told the court his fee for Radio 1 road shows "was four pence" and was just "bread and butter" adding that "the real jam was from Top Of The Pops".

Travis was also asked about allegations he had indecently assaulted a woman during a recording of Top Of The Pops in 1978.

Describing the claim as "insane" he added: "If I had been caught doing that I would have had the book thrown at me. If I'd been caught I would have been out of the BBC."

Travis also denied any suggestion he had pulled strings to have the video edited saying he was the "lowest of the low" at the BBC when it came to production.

During further questioning, Travis described as "out and out lies" claims from a former BBC employee that he had indecently assaulted her in his studio.

He said that "people had sat on my knee" in the studio but he had never "danced with anyone", as she had earlier told the court.

When asked what would have happened if the indecent assault allegation was true, Travis said: "That would have been me gone. Nobody is bigger than the station, ever."

Earlier he also dismissed again allegations that he had indecently assaulted a female reporter at his home.

He told the court: "It's more than possible I put my hand on her shoulder but not slide it down her back."

Travis went on: "After all this I will never have an interview with a female again without somebody with me. It just breaks my heart."

He denies 13 charges of indecent assault between 1976 and 2003 and a charge of sexual assault in 2008.

Travis is on trial under his real name David Griffin and the case continues.

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Crocodile Attacks Boy: 'Human Remains Found'

Human remains have reportedly been found in the search for a boy who was snatched by a saltwater crocodile near a waterhole in Australia.

The 12-year-old was taken by the reptile as he was swimming with friends in Mudginberri Billabong in Kakadu National Park, west of Jabiru.

Acting Commander Michael White, of the Northern Command, said: "Search teams have now located evidence within the search area which strongly indicates the boy has died from the crocodile attack.

"Further DNA testing will be conducted to confirm the identification.

"No specifics will be given in relation to the trauma or type of evidence located out of respect for the family."

Local media reports said the "evidence" referred to by Mr White was human remains.

One of the boy's friends was bitten on the arm as he tried to fight the creature off on Sunday.

But the crocodile then turned on the 12-year-old.

The attack took place in the Kakadu National Park

The discovery comes after two of the animals were shot and had their stomachs cut open as the search operation continued.

No human remains were found inside them.

Flooding caused by the local monsoon season has complicated the search - causing the 200m waterway where the attack took place to expand to more than a kilometre (0.62 miles) wide.

A spokesman for the park said the area was well signposted as a danger zone for crocodiles.

He said: "We have big croc warning signs with croc jaws and a big thing saying 'croc risk; do not swim here, do not enter'."

Saltwater crocodiles can grow to be up to seven metres and weigh more than a ton. They are a common feature in the tropical north of Australia.

Their population has increased steadily since the introduction of laws protecting them in 1971. Government estimates put their numbers at between 75,000 and 100,000.

The most recent fatality was in August last year, when 27-year-old Darwin man Sean Cole was taken by a 4.7m croc as he swam across the Mary River.

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Royal Estate Overspend Leaves £50m Repair Bill

By Rachel Younger, Sky News Correspondent

Financial mismanagement within the Royal household is putting the future of some of our finest buildings at risk, according to the parliamentary watchdog responsible for scrutinising Royal finances.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) believes over a third of the Royal estate, which includes both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is in disrepair and has put the cost of fixing it at around £50m.

Margaret Hodge MP, who chairs the committee, told Sky News: "Forty per cent of it needs something doing to it.

"The boilers at Buckingham Palace haven't been replaced for 60 years.

"Windsor Castle has problems with the bedrooms and the Royal Picture Gallery has buckets to catch the water coming through."

It is the first time that Parliament has scrutinised the Sovereign Grant given to the Queen to support her public duties.

Windsor Castle needs repairs to its bedrooms

Since the Civil List was abolished in 2013, the Royal household has been given a percentage of revenue from the Crown Estate and is meant to be more accountable to the taxpayer.

But the committee has criticised the household for spending over its means.

According to the committee report, in 2012/13 it received £31m from the taxpayer, but spent £33.3m, raiding its reserves.

That has left a contingency of only £1m - a historic low - with no plan drawn up to pay for the backlog of repairs.

The report demands that the household "must get a much firmer grip on how it plans to address its maintenance backlog", adding "it has not even costed the repair work".

It also calls on the Palace to do more with less.

In a financial climate where many public institutions have had to make dramatic cuts the Royal household has only managed to reduce its expenditure by 5% in the last six years.

The Queen receives the Sovereign Grant to support her public duties

The committee believes there is scope to generate more income and reduce costs - possibly by opening Buckingham Palace to the public for more than just one month a year.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Royal household was charged by the PAC in 2009 to generate more income to supplement the funding it receives from Government.

"This has been done successfully. In 2012-13 the household generated £11.6m in comparison with £6.7m in 2007-8. Work on income generation continues.

"A significant financial priority for the Royal household is to reduce the backlog in essential maintenance across the occupied Royal palaces.

"Recent examples of work include the renewal of a lead roof over the royal library at Windsor and the removal of asbestos from the basement of Buckingham Palace."

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Tarantino Sues Over The Hateful Eight Script Leak

Quentin Tarantino is seeking at least $2 million in damages after the script for one of his films was leaked online.

The Oscar-winning director shelved The Hateful Eight after the 146-page screenplay was made public earlier this month.

The man behind Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained filed two claims for copyright infringement in Los Angeles district court on Monday.

The first is a claim of contributory copyright infringement against the gossip website Gawker for linking to the leaked script.

AnonFiles.com, where the script was available, is the subject of the second claim for direct infringement. The website allows users to upload and download files anonymously.

The lawsuit said: "This action is necessitated by Gawker Media's and the other defendants' blatant copyright infringement by their promotion and dissemination of unauthorised downloadable copies of the leaked unreleased complete screenplay.

"Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people's rights to make a buck. This time they went too far."

Tarantino's last western, Django Unchained, earned him an Oscar

Editor John Cook denied the website had infringed copyright.

Gawker did not leak the script and only published a link to a website where the script could be downloaded, he claimed. The original Gawker story remains live.

He added Gawker had nothing to do with the appearance of the script and said it did not know who had uploaded it to AnonFiles.com.

Tarantino told the website Deadline he had given copies of the script to just six people, including a number of actors he has worked with previously.

But agents soon began calling hoping to get their clients roles in the film and the script then appeared online.

Tarantino said this left him feeling "betrayed" and "very, very depressed".

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Paediatrician On Trial For 'Waterboarding' Girl

A former Delaware paediatrician faces trial for allegedly waterboarding his 11-year-old stepdaughter by holding her face under a faucet.

Melvin Morse, 60, has pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and assault charges.

A nationally recognised paediatrician, Morse has authored several books on paranormal science and near-death experiences involving children.

He has also appeared on shows including Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his research.

Morse was arrested in 2012 after the girl told investigators he had disciplined her with the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding. Several times, he held her face under running water, the girl said.

Police said at the time that he brought her to "a possible near-death state". 

Waterboarding  - which critics say amounts to torture - has been used in the past by US interrogators on terror suspects.

Morse's trial opened with the selection of the jury, when eight women and four men were chosen.

Witness testimony begins today.

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Missing Megan Roberts: Police Search River

Police looking for a missing university student in York are focusing their search on the river that runs through the city - and CCTV footage that shows the last time she was seen.

Megan Roberts disappeared in the early hours of Thursday morning during a night out, but friends and family only realised on Monday that she was missing.

Officers are scouring the bank of the River Ouse in York.

Police have said there is "nothing to suggest" there is anything suspicious is behind her disappearance.

Officers searching the River Ouse near where Megan was last seen

CCTV footage shows the York St John University student with a group of friends on one side of the river - but absent from the group when they are on the other.

The 20-year-old was reported missing by her mother on Monday morning after a friend raised concerns.

A North Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said she was last seen at around 2am on Thursday in the Popworld bar in George Hudson Street, after a night out with friends on Wednesday evening.

Police say they are concerned for Megan's welfare

Miss Roberts was seen in the CCTV with a group of people on the corner of Rougier Street near Lendal Bridge at around 2.20am. But when the group was picked up on camera a short time later at the other side of the bridge, on Museum Street, the student was not with them.

While police are searching the riverbank in the city centre, an underwater search unit has also been deployed.

Superintendent Phil Cain, speaking to Sky News, said there was no suggestion of criminality, despite comments on Twitter earlier in January that suggested she had been followed by a man.

"There were some Twitter comments on Megan's account but we've explored those with family and friends and at this stage there's nothing to suggest there is any criminality involved in relation to Megan's disappearance," he said.

He added that police had since begun interviews with Miss Roberts' friends to establish her last-known movements.

"There's nothing to indicate Megan was anything other than a bright young student," he said.

Megan had been on a night out at the Popworld nightclub

Supt Cain had previously said: "We are very concerned for Megan's welfare and are urging the public to help us establish her movements in the early hours of Thursday 23 January 2014.

"As with all missing persons inquiries we are doing everything we can to locate Megan and make sure she is safe and well.

"Her disappearance and the fact that she has not had any contact with her family and friends for almost five days now is extremely unlike her and adds to our concern.

"Megan's family are understandably very distressed by her disappearance and I would appeal for anyone who has any information at all about where she might be to get in touch with the police as soon as possible."

Miss Roberts is described as around 5ft 6in and of medium build with long dark brown hair. When last seen she was wearing a cream knee-length dress which had large brown and orange flowers on it and black plimsolls-type shoes.

Police said that specially trained officers are supporting the missing student's family.

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Andy Coulson 'Listened To Hacked Voicemail'

The Prime Minister's former head of communications knew about the illegal phone hacking and was played a voicemail left by actress Sienna Miller for Daniel Craig, a court has heard.

An ex-reporter at the News Of The World told the court that former editor Andy Coulson told him to make it look like tapes of the message had been dropped off anonymously at their offices.

Dan Evans said Coulson and other senior figures at the paper were played a recording of the message back in 2005, which he said revealed the pair were having an affair.

He told the court: "Andy came over wanting to hear the tape. I played the tape a couple of times and they listened to it. Andy became very animated, (he was saying) 'brilliant'."

Another journalist said to him: "You are a company man now."

Former News of the World reporter Dan Evans

The message contained a female voice saying "Hi it's me, I can't speak, I'm at the Groucho (club) with Jude (Law, her boyfriend at the time). I love you", the Old Bailey heard. Evans said he checked the number on his database and found it was Sienna Miller's.

Evans claims that after he made a copy of the message on Coulson's orders, he was told to put it in a Jiffy bag and take it to reception so it would look like it had been dropped off anonymously.

Another journalist then picked it up with "mock surprise", saying "look what I've found".

James Bond star Craig denied the story when he was confronted by Evans at his home, and publication was delayed for more work to be done on the story. It was published a week later after Law's public relations executive approved it.

Later, Evans listened to an apparently angry voicemail to Craig from Law, which said: "Thanks mate. I hope Saski (his girlfriend Satsuki Mitchell) doesn't find out."

Another story he picked up from Craig's voicemail was the news Eva Green would become a Bond girl. Evans also admitted hacking the voicemail of actor Shane Ritchie and Formula One driver Jenson Button.

The final edition of the News Of The World

Evans told the court "everybody was on tenterhooks" in August 2006 when journalist Clive Goodman and investigator Glenn Mulcaire were arrested. "There was a lot of fear and anxiety around. A lot of people were preparing to cover their tracks."

He added a senior member of staff told him "it goes without saying no more hooky stuff" in reference to hacking. Evans then started getting rid of notebooks and tapes of recorded voicemails, he told the court.

The court was told Evans was suspended and put on paid gardening leave after being caught accessing the messages of designer Kelly Hoppen for a story involving footballer Sol Campbell.

A security alert on her phone led back to Evans' company mobile, the jury heard.

He was made redundant when the paper closed in 2011 and received the same payout as everyone else.

Evans was asked by prosecution QC Andrew Edis who at the News Of The World knew about hacking. He gave 10 names, including Coulson's.

Coulson denies conspiring to hack phones and commit misconduct in a public office. All seven defendants in the trial, including former Sun and News Of The World editor Rebekah Brooks, deny all of the charges against them.

The trial continues.

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Corrie's William Roache: I Did Not Abuse Girls

By Mike McCarthy, North Of England Correspondent

Coronation Street star William Roache has flatly denied raping or indecently assaulting girls.

The actor also told jurors at his trial that he did not know any of the five alleged victims who have accused him of the offences.

As soon as he went into the witness box on the first day of his defence case, his barrister Louise Blackwell QC asked him: "Have you committed any of the offences with which you are charged?"

The actor replied: "No. I have not."

The lawyer continued: "Do you have any memory of being in the company of any of these people who have made the allegations against you?"

Roache: "No. Not one of them."

He went on to say that he had an interest in things "beyond the norm and spiritual matters".

The celebrity told the jury that he was hard of hearing because of a mortar bomb explosion he had witnessed while in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

Roache arrived at court with his family

He said he had wanted to follow his father into the medical profession but found he performed better in arts subjects.

He was asked about his life in the 60s, which he said was dominated by the pressures of rehearsing and filming for Coronation Street.

Speaking from a glass witness box in an assured voice he said that autograph hunters would gather outside Granada studios in Manchester where the programme was filmed.

"I would always stop," he said. "People had been waiting there all day so I liked to give autographs.

"You would wind down your window in the car, you would sign them and then on you go."

He denied ever inviting young fans into his dressing room or onto the Coronation Street set during filming.

"It was an extremely difficult and dangerous thing to do.  Basically no - other than occasionally very close family," he said.

Roache's children Verity, James and Linus, have been in the public gallery every day of the trial so far.

The actor denies four charges of indecently assaulting girls and two charges of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1967.

The trial continues.

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Economy Grows At Fastest Rate Since Crash

The British gross domestic product (GDP) figure for the fourth quarter of 2013 stood at 0.7%, with growth for the full year reaching 1.9%.

Output for 2013 reached its fastest annual rate of growth for six years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figures were in keeping with forecasts made by economists.

The preliminary result shows the important service sector - which accounts for around three-quarters of the economy - was up 0.8%.

The ONS said construction was 0.3% down on the previous three months, due to weak figures being recorded in November.

Agriculture was up 0.5% in the October to December period, while production was up 0.7% in the same three months.

Manufacturing was up 0.9% in the quarter, which was its biggest quarter-on-quarter rise since Q3 in 2010.

ONS chief economist Joe Grice said the service sector is now above the pre-recession levels, but both production and construction are still below that level overall.

Mr Grice said: "We have now seen four successive quarters of significant growth and the economy does seem to be improving more consistently.

"Today's estimate suggests over four-fifths of the fall in GDP during the recession has been recovered, although it still remains 1.3% below the pre-recession peak."

The latest figures have given a boost to the Chancellor and come just weeks after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did a U-turn on its forecast for the UK economy.

George Osborne told Sky News: "I think these numbers represent a real boost to the economic security of hard-working families.

"And the good news is the recovery is broadly balanced with manufacturing growing the fastest of any sector, so there's evidence that our long-term economic plan is working, but I am the first to say the job isn't done and the biggest risk to the recovery would be to come off that economic plan, and that would damage job creation and mean we don't have such bright economic prospects."

He added: "Where I have had the opportunity I have focussed the effort on those on low and middle incomes.

"That's my priority, that's where my tax-cutting priorities lie becaue I want to help those hard-working families who have got more economic security because jobs are being created, but of course have had a very dififcult time because our country went through such a terrible economic period."

The IMF now forecasts growth in 2014 of 2.4%, a figure which is in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Bank of England's current forecast is for growth of 2.8% in 2014.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls told Sky News: "This is not yet the strong and balanced recovery we need.

"It's not a recovery driven by business investment - that's still very flat - or by exports - they've been weak -  what's going on at the moment is consumers are saving less and consumer spending is picking up somewhat.

"That's happening because housing demand and house prices are going up.

"We're not building the houses we need to match that that's why construction output is still falling. There's a lot more to do."

Mr Balls added: "For working people facing a cost-of-living crisis this is still no recovery at all."

Robert Johnson, managing director of Craftsman Tools, an engineering firm in Otley, West Yorkshire told Sky News: "I think the growth is real.

"We have seen a 10% growth last year and we are predicting growth of 30% over the next three years."

But one of the biggest problems his firm faced was getting skilled workers.

Mr Johnson said: "We feel we have got to invest in advanced machinery and equipment which we can do, but getting skilled people is the hardest thing.

"We have had to start our own apprentice school two years ago, and we are training our own apprentices to fill the skills gap."

And a skills shortage risked holding the economy back, he warned.

"It's a mixture of skilled people and advanced machinery that will help us go forward," said Mr Johnson.

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