1Two men have been charged with assault over the altercation with cricketer Jesse Ryder that left him in Christchurch Hospital's intensive care unit. Ryder is making progress and is now responsive.

2A desperate rescue effort to find a five year old boy who went missing from a family picnic in West Harbour has ended in tragedy when his body was found in mud flats.

3Former All Black Jerry Collins' lawyer says Collins is furious at speculation that drugs and an involvement with organised crime led to his arrest in Japan. Collins says he became the victim of an intimidation campaign by a gang of Brazilians after becoming involved with a woman.

4Three large dogs have been out down after being removed from a Redvale property where a woman was found dead in suspicious circumstances this morning.

5Former South African President Nelson Mandela was admitted to hospital overnight with a recurring lung infection where he is said to be responding well to treatment.

6Murder accused Oscar Pistorius can now travel overseas after a South African judge eased his bail conditions.

7Bethlehem College has released the findings of its internal investigation into the fatal bus crash in Kenya in January. The report confirms that nineteen year old David Fellows was the driver at the time of the crash, which killed four people.

8The Fire Service is appealing for people to take extra care after a scrub fire in Wellington started from a discarded cigarette butt.

9Pope Francis has washed the feet of twelve inmates during Mass at a prison in Rome.

10Banks have opened their doors to queues of desperate people in Cyprus, after being closed for almost a fortnight.

11it is believed a sudden wind gust may have caused a wall collapse that killed two people in Melbourne and critically injured a teenager.

12After more than seventy years of processing film, Park Road Post's film laboratory is closing, with the loss mof twelve jobs.

13The Tongariro Crossing is proven so popular with tourists that trampers are having to get up before dawn to secure a parking space in the park's sole car park.

14One of the Airforce's new state of the art NH90 helicopters will be on display to the public for the first time at the Omaka Airshow tomorrow.

15At least fifteen people have been killed and twenty wounded in a mortar shell attack on an open-air cafeteria at Damascus University.

16The brightest navigation light in Australasia has been switched on at Whangarei's port.

17New stuntman Jody Hooker is the headline act for tomorrow night's Smashfest at Waikaraka Park.