1A former police officer is tonight behind bars after being sentenced for corrupt actions that a judge said had brought the police into disrepute. Nathan Connolly has been found guilty with one charge of bribery, and two of coercing a prostitute to have sex with him.

2The Chief District Court Judge, Russell Johnson, has come to the defence of lawyers at the Manukau District Court.

3A church billboard which has been described as shocking by some and funny by others has been vandalised just five hours after it was erected. The hoarding outside Auckland's St. Matthew-in-the-City church shows Mary and Joseph in bed together with the caption "Poor Joseph, God was a had act to follow."

4The crown institute AgResearch is rejecting claims New Zealand should be trying to make money out of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The Labour party is warning that an international alliance could lead to a loss of intellectual property to other countries.

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6The government has revealed a new approach to reducing crime, but there will be no extra money or any new programmes.

7The Coroner in Wellington says the death of a 49-year-old container forklift driver at the Napier port was preventable, and he's surprised the Department of Labour didn't prosecute the port company.

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9A computer virus has hit the entire Waikato District Health Board's computer system forcing hospitals to ask all non-urgent patients to stay away. 3000-computers across the all the regions hospitals have been crippled by the overnight attack.

10Michael Swan - the man who orchestrated the country's largest employee fraud - has admitted accepting more than three quarters of a million dollars in kickback payments during his time as the Otago District Health Board's IT Manager.

11Health authorities in Auckland and Christchurch are rushing to contact more than sixty passengers exposed to measles while on flights into the two cities.

12Documents obtained under the Official Information Act, have revealed that New Zealand was asked to buy the Tongan ferry, MV Princess Ashika, just months before it sank killing 74-people.

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14The case of an Age Concern volunteer who was kicked out of a function arranged in his honour, because he was wearing a turban has been taken to the Human Rights Commission. Karnail Singh was being recognised for his services to the community at the Manurewa Cosmopolitan Club, though he wasn't allowed in as the Club rules prohibited headwear.

15Anti-violence campaigners are calling for urgent action after the deaths of four women at the hands of their partners in just the last two months.

16Celebrations have begun in the western Romanian city of Timisoara to mark the twentieth anniversary of the start of the outbreak of the revolution that overthrew the dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu.

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18A church billboard described as shocking and distasteful by some - but considered funny by others - has been vandalised just five hours after it was put up. The hoarding outside Auckland's St. Matthew-in-the-City church shows Mary and Joseph in bed together with the caption "Poor Joseph, God was a had act to follow."

19A former police officer who was today jailed for two years has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence. Nathan Connolly has been found guilty with one charge of bribery, and two of coercing a prostitute to have sex with him, though he maintains his innocence.

20Australia and New Zealand have been accused of bullying small Pacific Island states at the United Nations climate change conference. The accusation follows the strong stance from smaller island nations who fear for their future now that it appears that the conference will not end with a legally binding agreement.

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22The suicide rate has dropped 30-percent in the past decade. The latest report from the Ministry of Health says there were 483 deaths from suicide in 2007, or 11 deaths per 100-thousand people.

23The United States and Russia should slash their nuclear arsenal by 90-percent over the next 15-years to help head off the risk of a nuclear catastrophe.

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25Lawyers for the Education Minister say Aorangi School demanded an unrealistic amount of information in its fight to stay open.

26A senior leader of the Free Papua Movement or OPM, in Indonesia, has died after being shot by security forces in Papua province.

27It's been a day of frustration at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. Outside the venue police used tear gas and batons to disperse thousands of demonstrators angry about lack of progress, and access.

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29The Pakistani Supreme Court has ruled that an amnesty law which has protected senior members of government from prosecution is unconstitutional.