1A Whangarei court has heard that a Kerikeri schoolgirl was bashed and strangled by a 14-year-old boy and left to drown in a stream. The boy who is now 16 is on trial at the High Court in Whangarei and is accused of indecently assaulting and murdering Liberty Templeman.

2More jail time and fewer reasons for being able to carry a knife in public could be on the cards as the Minister of Justice Simon Power reviews the current knife laws.

3A jury has been told a man and woman who were caring for an intellectually disabled woman assaulted and left her to die in their bathroom before dumping her body in a river. Joseph Proudeand Here Teinakirai arew charged with the manslaughter of Patricia Joseph in 2008.

4A huge search and rescue operation is underway in the US state of Connecticut after a massive explosion ripped through a power plant - killing at least five people and injuring at least 12.

5Business News

6District Health Boards are being accused of interviewing housebound elderly people by stealth as they re-assess how much home help a person may need.

75:30pm News

8The Government is preparing for strong opposition as it moves to overhaul the aquaculture industry. 223-submissions have been made on law reforms that the Minister of Fisheries says will unlock the potential of a $1-billion industry.

9The High Court in Napier has heard that a 23-year-old gang associate admits killing a man in central Hawke's Bay last year, but denies that it was murder. Hulio Ataria is charged with murdering Mark McCutcheon outside an Ongaonga pub in January last year.

10In another sign the economic gloom is abating the Government is to review its guarantee to banks borrowing on the money markets. The review follows the decision by the Australian government on the weekend to withdraw its wholesale bank funding guarantee.

11Waatea News

12An estimated 600-homes have been destroyed in French Polynesia as a result of Cyclone Oli which mainly hit the Austral islands.

13A doctors' union says government pressure on Wellington's health board is forcing it to consider cutting 18-management jobs, including some held by doctors and nurses. Up to 50-staff at the Capital and Coast District Health Board are waiting to hear if they'll keep their jobs.

14Sarah Palin has reminded Americans she is still a political force, with her appearance at the national gathering of the tea party activists in Nashville.

156:00pm News

16A large search and rescue operation is underway in the US state of Connecticut after a massive explosion in a power plant killed five people and injured at least 12.

17The aid effort continues in Haiti after the devastating magnitude 7.0 quake which struck in mid-January, killing more than 200-thousand people. At least 1-million are still in need of aid.

18The finger's being pointed at deer hunters or someone who has a gripe with the Department of Conservation, for six suspected arsons on the West Coast of the South Island.

19Business News

20Greenpeace says it's outraged at comments by member of the European Parliament Godfrey Bloom congratulating the French for bombing the Rainbow Warrior, in Auckland Harbour in 1985.

21The finance company Marac, whose chief risk officer Grant Atkinson disappeared for four days last week, is writing down $2.5-million after an investigation revealed an unauthorised loan.

22Male moa were hard done by according to new research from Canterbury University which shows females outnumbered males by five to one.

236:30pm News

24News from the United Kingdom, including: Godfrey Bloom congratulating French for bombing the Rainbow Warrior; third runway for Heathrow airport; more than 5-percent of university funding to be cut;

25Waatea News

26Iran says it will begin enriching uranium to a higher grade, prompting objections from several western governments who say it could eventually lead to the production of a nuclear bomb.

27Preparations are underway in Afghanistan for one of the biggest counter insurgency operations since the conflict began in 2001.