1Child Youth and Family is defending its role in placing an abused child with a caregiver who is now also charged with assaulting the youngster. The child's abuser has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent to injure and failure to provide the necessaries of life.

2Hopes for a breakthrough in the Auckland bus drivers' industrial dispute have been dashed and major disruption for 80-thousand passengers looks inevitable. Over 800 drivers met today and overwhelmingly rejected a 10.5-percent pay rise of three years.

3Senior police officer Detective Sergeant John Gualter who was caught driving after drinking heavily at the police college bar in Wellington has been convicted and fined. He was more than two times the legal alcohol limit when he was stopped November 2008.

4Police in Jamaica are investigating a deadly attack on a New Zealander who was Britain's honorary consul in Montego Bay. 65-year-old John Terry was found strangled and beaten in the bedroom of his Montego Bay home.

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6The United States Open quarter-final battle between the world number three Rafael Nadal and the 11th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez has been delayed by rain.

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8The Auckland Regional Council is going into battle with the Government over plans to downsize the super city. The Auckland Governance Select Committee wants to move the two extremes of the region out of the Auckland Council's control - a move that the Auckland Regional Council is strongly against.

9Phil Goff has arrived at the Labour Party conference on a borrowed Triumph motorcycle, ready to admit that they made mistakes while in Government.

10The Christchurch man accused of murdering his wife and his neighbour can now be identified, following his second appearance in court. 33-year-old Jason Somerville has been charged with the murders of Tisha Lowry, and his wife Rebecca. Their bodies were discovered under the floor of their home a week ago.

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12The Prime Minister has fronted up to about 60 fire fighters protesting outside the opening of a new station in Auckland. The fire fighters union says 1800-firemen have been taking industrial action after the State Services Commission rejected a 2.5-percent pay rise.

13The green light's been given to Auckland's controversial Waterview motorway connection - but opponents are vowing to fight on. The 1.4-billion project is due to begin in 2011.

14A major milestone's been reached by New Zealand's fledgling bio-fuel industry, with the first large-scale commercial deal in the country. The deal is between Explore NZ and Environ Fuel.

15If you're having trouble with your broadband connection you might consider carrier pigeons instead. A South African IT company frustrated with broadband speed sent some data over the internet and simultaneously dispatched an 11-month-old carrier pigeon named Winston with a memory stick attached to its leg.

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17Toughening up the tax laws for property speculators won't prevent New Zealanders from putting their money in housing - that's according to some business and property groups. The Reserve Bank Governor has said something should to be done to reduce the tax advantages of investing in housing over business.

18Indonesia's President is warning that ties with Australia may be harmed by a war crimes inquiry into five journalists' deaths in East Timor, including that of New Zealander Gary Cunningham.

19The United States President has accepted an apology from a Republican congressman who called him a liar. Joe Wilson called out "You Lie!" during Barak Obama's speech to Congress on healthcare reform.

20The Minister of Transport has bowed to public pressure and instructed the Transport Agency to add a third option to develop State Highway 1 through the Kapiti Coast.

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22A controversial claim that Maori have a "warrior gene" which makes them violent has been disproved in a new review.

23People living in the Christchurch suburb of Linwood have vowed to fight a cut back in services and possible closure of their local PostShop. It follows the controversial proposed closure of a store in Redwood.

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25Focus on Politics: The Labour Party is holding its annual conference in Rotorua over the weekend, just 10 months after being thrown out of office by voters. Labour MPs say the conference is going to focus on the next election rather than last year's loss, but there will be some debate about what went wrong for the party last year.

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27An Australian newspaper claims gender tests on women's 800 metres champion Caster Semenya reveal she's a hermaphrodite.