1The Labour MP, Chris Carter, has escaped any further punishment from his leader, Phil Goff, after he apologised this afternoon for travelling too much as a minister. Mr Carter was sent on leave from Parliament last week because of his botched handling of the row over ministerial credit card spending which saw him being pursued by reporters after he refused to say sorry for his spending.

2International interest in the All Whites players and coaches is building, following New Zealand's undefeated run at the football World Cup in South Africa.

3The Government's national standards in reading, writing and maths suffered a serious blow today. The Auckland Primary Principals' Association, the country's largest regional principals' association, says its members should not attend any more training in the standards, and descrbes the standards as irreconcilably flawed, confused and unworkable.

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5New Zealand is considering legal action against Japan to try to stop its whaling in the Southern Ocean, following the collapse of negotiations at this week's International Whaling Commission talks in Morocco.

6The largest public demonstration South Canterbury has seen since the controversial Springbok tour in 1981 hit the streets of Timaru today, with about 500 people gathering to support the local businessman Allan Hubbard. In a move that has shocked South Canterbury, Mr Hubbard's investment firm, Aorangi Securities, is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

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8It has been a busy first full day in office for Australia's new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. She has wasted no time in holding her first cabinet meeting, at which the ousted leader Kevin Rudd was noticeably absent.

9The right of a de facto couple to adopt a child has been upheld by the High Court in a judgment just released.

10A survey indicates most early childhood centres affected by next year's government funding cuts will raise their fees and sack teachers.

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12New Zealand continues to slide further behind Australia according to a long-term study of this country's productivity.

13The Ministry of Social Development has been consulting with Pacific Islanders around the country to find practical ways to stem violence in the community. The process has revealed that Auckland's Pacific island communities want more control over the rehabilitation of violent offenders, and how violent crime is being dealt with.

14Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. An estimated 3.5 million people lost their lives, but the three-year military conflict is often now referred to as the Forgotten War.

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16The Labour MP, Chris Carter, has escaped any further punishment from his leader, Phil Goff, after he admitted excessive travelling at the taxpayers' expense as a minister.

17The reigning champions, Italy, have made a disastrous exit from the football World Cup, leaving their supporters flabbergasted.

18Speculation is growing about the job prospects of the All Whites players and coaches, now that the team has dipped out of the Football World Cup.

19The country's largest regional principals' association has today dealt a serious blow to the Government's national standards for primary school children. In a letter to its members, the Auckland Primary Principals' Association has instructed its members to avoid attending any more training in the benchmarks for reading, writing and maths.

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21Rodney Hide, the minister of local government, says he is shocked at plans for expensive council send-offs prior to the Auckland super-city amalgamation.

22There has been a series of police raids on buildings belonging to the Catholic Church in Belgium, with prosecutors said to be looking for material relating to allegations of paedophilia.

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24Focus on Politics: last week the Green Party co-leader, Russel Norman, got into a scuffle with security guards protecting the visiting Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping. Debate over the fracas dragged on throughout this week as government figures blamed Dr Norman for the incident, but he in turn accuses the Government of putting trade ahead of human rights and free speech.

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26The horticulture industry is claiming that it is being severely undercut in the labour market by prison labour used to produce seedlings, at the expense of commercial plant nurseries.