1Police have shot a man in the stomach who they say he threatened them with a meat cleaver and two knives in the Auckland suburb of Point Chevalier. Officers were called by a worried neighbour shortly after midday.

2The government is poised to decide whether to deploy combat troops to Afghanistan. John Key has been questioned extensively at his post-cabinet media conference at parliament this afternoon.

3Small towns may be overjoyed but Labour says the National Cycleway projects announced today by the Prime Minister are a gimmick as far as jobs go. $9-million will be spent on building the cycleway.

4A former rest home worker has been sentenced to 75-hours community work for taping an elderly resident's mouth shut because she was too noisy.

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6The avalanche danger in the Alps around Queenstown is the worst its been in 25 years and the Mountain Safety Council is warning skiers in the back country to be on high alert.

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8A newly-released report into Australia's health services has fallen short of recommending the central government take over public hospitals across the country.

9Lawyers for Taito Phillip Field say he is naive and clumsy, but a kind and humane person who never set out to take advantage of people working at his properties.

10Former United States Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is now the former governor of Alaska. Mrs Palin raised eyebrows announcing she was going to stand-down, seventeen months before the next elections.

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12The Oamaru District Court has heard details of a high speed police pursuit and a shot being fired towards police officers, which led to an Armed Offenders Squad callout in Palmerston in Otago in February.

13The Auckland Harbour Bridge has been excluded from a list detailing plans to strengthen 300 bridges throughout the country.

14In the Australian state of New South Wales, police have decided to stop issuing fines to the delight of local drivers because of an escalating pay row with the state government.

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16A new report says many New Zealanders will have spent all their retirement savings well before they die. The findings are from investment company Mercer and they're calling for action from the government, including increasing the retirement age to 67 years.

17The Wellington District Court has heard that the former head of the Immigration Service told police she didn't hold a PhD - despite claiming on her CV that she did.

18Almost 8 years after the September the 11th attacks on the United States, terrorists are still being recruited and trained from places like Baghdad and Kabul.

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20The Mountain Safety Council says avalanche warnings are 'falling on deaf ears' and putting rescuers lives at risk despite danger levels being at their worst in 25 years. It follows two avalanches in the past two days.

21Taking control of what you're spending, not keeping up with the Joneses and putting a stop to impulse buying could slash the number of people struggling with debt by 20-percent. That's according to new research from the Families Commission which will release a final report in September.

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23The government is poised to decide whether to deploy combat troops to Afghanistan. John Key has been questioned extensively at his post-cabinet media conference at parliament this afternoon. Cabinet is due to receive advice from the military in September, which may involve redeploying the SAS to Afghanistan.

24News from the United Kingdom, including: 30-percent of pensioners in UK living in poverty, highest in EU; preparations for the Olympic Games in London;

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26Talks in Jerusalem this week between Israel and the United States could make or break efforts to revive the long stalled middle east peace talks.

27As Cuba celebrates its 1953 year since the revolution Cuba's President Ra�l Castro has warned greater efforts must be made for the nation to feed itself as it faces tough economic times and that it must work harder to overcome the United States trade embargo.

28She's the British actor who championed the cause of Nepalese Ghurkha soldiers who served in the British Army and now Joanna Lumley has arrived in Nepal to a chaotic but enthusiastic welcome at Kathmandu airport.