1The Minister of Finance Bill English, has today painted a bleak picture of the economy and more public servants are likely to lose their jobs as the Government continues to clamp down on its spending.

2The New Zealand Rugby Union has recorded its largest ever financial loss. It's blaming the $16-million defecit on the recession, not on the fact that people have realised that rugby is a waste of time and money.

3The Government is dismissing Nga Puhi's attempt to use the United Nations declaration on indigenous rights to claim the Treaty grounds in the Bay of Islands.

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5Power is being restored to homes and businesses across Wellington after an accident at a substation caused a city-wide blackout.

6The last stretch of gravel road on State Highway One has finally been sealed today - in the Far North.

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8More public servants are likely to lose their jobs as the Government continues to clamp down on its spending.

9Education New Zealand says the annual value of the international student industry is on track to exceed $3-billion by the end of next year.

10A hoax bomb caused major disruption at Dunedin International Airport today, closing the airport for five hours.

11A volcano in Vanuatu which has been erupting ash since last September is damaging crops and polluting water supplies.

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13A former Labour Cabinet Minister, Environment Court Judge and head of Federated Farmers are among those replacing the sacked Canterbury Regional councillors.

14The Health Ministry says there have been four confirmed cases of swine flu in the country since the beginning of the year, but there are no signs yet of the expected second wave of the virus.

15The debt collecting agency Baycorp says baby boomers are finding it harder to shake off the effects of the recession.

16Some Auckland bars and restaurants are unhappy with the $23-million development for Rugby World Cup supporters on Queens Wharf.

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18The volcanic ash cloud which closed the skies above Europe for almost a week has cost the airline industry billions of dollars and the British Government in particular has been accused of mishandling the crisis.

19In New Zealand, Scott Barnard from Canterbury University has been studying what effect a massive volcanic ashfall would have on this country's infrastructure - including its airports and aircraft.

20The police investigating an attack on an officer in the Waikato town of Ngaruawahia last night have taken a man in for questioning.

21A Law Commission report on alcohol is expected to recommend a substantial increase in excise duty to help combat the misuse of liquor.

22The Children's Commissioner and Barnardoes are calling for the Government to change the way child witnesses are dealt with in the criminal justice system.

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24Despite the intervention of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last month, Greece's debt crisis is getting worse.

25Police in Victoria, in Australia, have set up a special taskforce to investigate the circumstances that may have led to the death of convicted killer, Carl Williams.

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27The Australian Government has confirmed it won't be reviving its controversial $2.5-billion home insulation scheme.

28Belgium may become the first country in Europe to ban full face veils. A bill is on its way to the parliament that would ban wearing the burka in public spaces.

29The United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates wants an overhaul of the licensing process for defence hardware.

30The American space agency, NASA, has compelling new pictures of explosions and convulsions on the Sun.

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32A workshop in Fiji has heard that almost half of the country's population lives in poverty.

33As airports across Europe reopen six days after an ash cloud from forced them to close, the costs to airlines and economies is said to be enormous.

34Scientists have shown for the first time that a modest amount of weight loss can reverse many of the damaging changes in immune cells caused by obesity.