1As Cyclone Rene bears down on the Tongan capital of Nukualofa, residents are being warned it could be the most destructive storm to hit in decades. Further north on the Vava'u group of islands the cyclone has torn roofs of houses and ripped out banana plantations.

2A man who killed a woman by deliberately driving his car into hers will, spend at least 14-years in jail. Tony Warrell was twice the legal limit when he plowed head on in to Katie Powell's vehicle on a rural highway.

3The canyoning guide who was with a group of school students swept to their deaths in 2008 has described the moment she realised they may die. Jody Sullivan has been giving evidence to the inquest investigating the deaths of six Elam Christian College students and their teacher in the Mangatepopo Gorge.

4Police divers are continuing to scour an area of Wellington Harbour in their search for a missing teenager. 15-year-old Olivia Rutherford was last seen by friends in Central Wellington on Friday.

5Business News

6Years of bitter legal action over sailing's America's Cup has ended with San Francisco's BMW Oracle team this morning winning the cup in waters off Valencia Spain.

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8The Prime Minister John Key says the Whanau Ora policy, aimed a needy families, will be for all, not just for Maori. The Maori Party has challenged National to back the new policy as being for Maori only, but instead he has said that families of all races will be able to access the programme.

9A businessman involved in the failed finance company Bridgecorp has conceded there is a case for him to answer after it was left owing almost half a billion dollars to more than 14-thousand small investors.

10A Bay of Plenty woman caring for three great-grandchildren has described the stress of trying to make ends meet while only receiving social security payments for two children.

11The eighty-nine year old British crime novelist Dick Francis who died overnight was rare in that he combined two quite brilliant careers.

12Waatea News

13Five Sydney men have today been sentenced for terrorism after one of the longest trial's in Australia's history. They were found guilty last year to conspiring to commit terrorist acts.

14The man the police say is a person of interest in the Vanessa Pickering murder investigation has lost an appeal to have his name suppressed. Malcolm Chaston has been named by the police as he is believed to be the last person with her when she was last seen.

15Wellington's train network ground to a sudden halt this morning when an electrical wire fell on a passenger train during the commuter rush hour.

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17Tonga's main island is bracing itself for the worst of Cyclone Rene, which caused extensive damage to the outer island Vava'u earlier today.

18The latest now on train problems in Wellington with some commuters experiencing delays of 20-minutes this evening, this follows long delays this morning after an electric wire fell on to a passenger train during rush hour.

19A man who killed a woman by deliberately driving his car into hers will, spend at least 14-years in jail. Tony Warrell was twice the legal limit when he plowed head on in to Katie Powell's vehicle on a rural highway.

20A bitter and very public fight over a music school in Christchurch is now before two Commissioners who are hearing the application for a resource consent for the controversial building.

21Two Japanese Greenpeace activists have pleaded not guilty to trespass and the theft of whale meat during an investigation into the country's whaling industry.

22Business News

23The Crown Prosecutor has told a High Court jury in Napier to reject a claim by a 23-year-old gang prospect that he acted in self defence, when he fatally stabbed a Central Hawke's Bay's agricultural contractor. Hulio Ataria is charged with murdering Mark McCutcheon outside an Ongaonga pub in January last year.

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25America's vice president Joe Biden and his predecessor Dick Cheney have been trading blows over President Obama's counter-terrorism strategy. In a televised interview, Mr. Cheney heavily criticised the Obama government's handling of national security.

26To South America where authorities in Brazil are cracking down on revellers at the huge Carnival festivals, locking up those who drink too much, urinate in public or play the wrong kind of music.

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28NATO has confirmed that two rockets fired at militants during their latest offensive in south Afghanistan, missed their target and killed a dozen civilians.