1The New Zealand Rugby Union has shelved plans to cut back the first division from 14 to 10 teams next season, to the relief of Northland, Counties-Manukau, Manawatu and Tasman who were facing the axe and threatening legal action.

2The father of a man killed by a chunk of concrete thrown off an Auckland motorway bridge says people are still putting lives at risk because the penalties are too lenient. Wayne Curry's son Chris Curry was driving under a motorway over-bridge when a concrete block crashed through his windscreen, hitting his head and killing him instantly.

3Millions of dollars should be poured into poor Maori communities to set up driver's licence camps for teenagers. The editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide says the Government is missing the point raising the driving age and intrducing tougher licensing laws for drivers.

4Business News

5The United States and China have been trading verbal blows at the climate talks in Copenhagen. Beijing says it deserves the lions share of aid funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation. America has said that China is well resourced to deal with its own issues and wants a commitment from Beijing to lower its emissions.

6New safety measures are being brought in to protect cyclists on one of Auckland's most dangerous stretches of road, but there are doubts about whether they will be enough. The Auckland City Council is acting on recommendations from the Tamaki Drive Working Party.

75:30pm News

8An outspoken critic of Fiji's military government and head of the country's Women's Crisis Centre has been given an Amnesty International award for her bravery and courage in the face of intimidation. Shamima Ali has been given the Human Rights Defender Award by Amnesty International's New Zealand office.

9Business owners are being warned to check whether they're on the Google Maps website after a Napier florist was charged with tampering with her competitors' details online. Kendra Drinkwater is accused of changing the addresses, phone numbers and websites of other local florists.

10United States President Barak Obama has defended the right of the US to wage what he calls 'just wars' after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. In his speech he said he would not stand idle in the face of threats to the American people.

11Waatea News

12Negotiators are returning to the mountains on a southern island in the Philippines to try to free more than 50-people taken from a school and surrounding homes by armed tribesmen.

13The Atheist Bus Campaign is looking for donations to run adverts on buses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch next year. The ads will feature the same slogan as the United Kingdom campaign: "There's probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

14Sir Robert Jones has told business leaders of his radical plan to remove all vehicles from Wellington's central city and create a golden mile shopping mall, complete with old fashioned trams and bikes for hire.

156:00pm News

16After five days of climate change talks in Copenhagen the world is not on track to keep global warming to two degrees, let alone the tougher limits small island nations are demanding. Negotiations are being weighed down by discussions over whether the Kyoto Protocol should be extended or whether it should be replace by a wider treaty, including key players the United States and China.

17A radical proposal to keep young Maori drivers safe on New Zealand roads should be for all people on low incomes not just Maori according to the president of the New Zealand Institute of Driver educators.

18Business News

19United States President Barak Obama has defended the right of the US to wage what he calls 'just wars' after accepting the Nobel Peace Prize. In his speech he said he would not stand idle in the face of threats to the American people.

20The government of the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al Maliki is coming under fire, not only for failing to stop attacks but also for downplaying the violence in Iraq. In Bagdad on Tuesday a series of bomb attacks killed over 120-people according to local reports.

216:30pm News

22Focus on Politics: The Government this week made its final decision on the the rises to levies required for continued funding of the Accident Compensation Corporation. Jane Patterson looks at the rise in ACC levies the Government's agreed to following massive protests from motorcyclists. The increase is significantly lower than the recommendations made by the Corporation's board. There are also accusations that the Minister for the ACC Nick Smith has been scaremongering over what increases were required to keep the Corporation solvent.

23Waatea News