Due to the live nature of Tonight, we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. On the hunt for precious medals ` Mark Todd leads the Kiwi equestrian team on a ride into history. Flooding hits parts of South Canterbury, wreaking havoc and making roads impassable. And when punk gets political ` the Russian women on trial for taking aim at the Kremlin. And the heavy rain continues for some. Details coming up. Kia ora, good evening. The Kiwi equestrian team is aiming to ride into the history books tonight. Joining us now live from London is Simon Dallow with the very latest on the team's medal hunt. Yes, Mark Todd has been leading the medal charge, the two-time Olympic champion poised to add to his medal collection. The 56-year-old's comeback is showing age is no barrier. We're in with a chance of winning a medal, which is what it's all about. As we go to air, the final round of showjumping is underway. NZ starts the day in fourth place overall, Kiwi Janelle Richards first away and finishing, while Mark Todd is third in the individual standings. An extra medal round for the top riders is just a few hours away. Our rowers have been back in action this morning at Eton Dorney, and first up were the men's four in their repechage. Chris Harris, Sean O'Neill, Jade Uru and Tyson Williams needed a top four finish to keep their finals hopes alive, which they did, improving through the race for second, behind the Serbian four. Lightweight scullers Louise Ayling and Julia Edward were up next, chasing the Dutch crew all the way to also qualify in second place. And then it was Mahe Drysdale's turn in his semifinal, pulling away at the halfway stage. Closed the door on him. There's no doubt about that. These two just bringing it home now. So well done, Mahe Drysdale. That was what was required today. The time's 6.54. He is of course the owner of the world's best time. And later tonight Emma Twigg rows in her semi-final, along with double scullers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan, who set a new Games best time in the heats. Back in the pool, swimmer Glen Snyders had set a NZ record in the heats of the 100m breastroke at the weekend, but missed out on a place in the final. Just over half an hour ago in the 200 heats, Snyder finished strongly to take fourth place behind Hungarian Daniel Gurta. And the men's 4 by 200m freestyle relay team of Dylan Dunlop-Barrett, Steven Kent, Andy McMillan and Matthew Stanley were no match for a class field, finishing eighth in their heat. And that's it from the team in London for now. Fingers crossed for Toddy and the team to get among the medals. Back to you, Miri. Back here, Civil Defence is on alert tonight in South Canterbury as heavy rain hits the region. Rivers are bursting, washing out roads and bridges and drowning livestock. Renee Graham has the latest. Casualties of the flooding near Albrey in South Canterbury caught out after more than 24 hours of heavy rain. I haven't seen it like this for a long time, put it that way, so there's a lot of debris there, which shows the river hasn't been this high for a long time. Civil Defence says between 120mm to 189mm of rain has fallen. South Canterbury foothill rivers and catchments are flowing at a 10 to 20 year high. Some farmers have already lost new-season lambs. Up against it. I'm just shifting them out, because tonight's gonna get flooded out over here. So I'm just taking them up home to a bit more higher ground. Flooding washing out roads and bridges. It's just washed up underneath the bridge above it, and it's just taken away the side of the bridge. I don't actually hold much hope for it overnight. State Highway 8 from Fairlie to Tekapo is closed. Because of the flooding back a wee bit further, it's just too dangerous for the vehicles to try and get through. But some motorists choose to ignore the warnings. Renee Graham, ONE News. A contracting company which lost three workers in the Pike River explosion has now admitted failing to ensure their safety. The youngest to die, Joseph Dunbar (17), was only inside the mine on that day doing work experience. Here's Lisa Davies with more from the Greymouth District Court. Joshua Ufer,... Ben Rockhouse,... Joseph Dunbar ` three young men who went to work for VLI Drilling deep in the heart of the Pike River Mine, never to return. Today, their Sydney-based employer accepted it had failed to have the procedures in place to ensure their safety. There are three charges against VLI Drilling. VLI pleads guilty to each of the three. One of those charges relates directly to the safety of Joseph Dunbar, the youngest miner killed that day. He was only 17. This first admission of guilt was commended by Neville Rockhouse for his son Ben and the other 28 who perished at Pike. There are certain parties that haven't acknowledged anything each step of the way, and that's disappointing. VLI is liable for a maximum fine of $250,000 on each charge. How do you put a value on 29 lives? Pike River Coal Ltd faces nine charges. Receivers have decided not to enter a plea and won't fight the charges. That's angered Bernie Monk. As soon as that second explosion happened, they walked away from us. So they'll never be forgiven by the families, ever. The third party facing charges, former Pike CEO Peter Whittall, was excused from appearing in court today. His legal team was granted yet another adjournment before he must plead on 12 charges relating to worker safety in the mine. There would have to be some exceptionally good reason for pleas not to be entered on that date. I understand that, Your Honour. > Whittall's lawyers were reluctant to elaborate outside court, families dismayed by yet another delay. I'm over Peter Whittall, and I'm going to let the courts, the Commission and everyone else deal with him. The families now have to wait until October to see Peter Whittall before the court and hear his plea. Lisa Davies, ONE News. The man acquitted of murdering Feilding farmer Scott Guy has been back in court, but we still can't reveal some of the charges he's facing. Ewen Macdonald was remanded until September. A date will then be set for his sentencing for vandalising and burning down property on the Guy family farm, and for poaching deer on neighbouring land. Details of the other three charges remain suppressed. Macdonald's parents were at Palmerston North District Court for his brief appearance. No one from the Guy family was there. Australian police have made one of their biggest-ever drug busts, seizing more than half a tonne of heroin and crystal methamphetamine worth more than half a billion dollars. After a tip-off from US authorities, customs officials and police tracked two suspect cargo consignments from Thailand. Container X-rays revealed a massive haul packed in 100 terracotta pots. This seizure included an AFP record of 306kg of ice and 252kg of heroin. Four Hong Kong nationals are among seven people who have been arrested over the seizure. The dispute between environmentalist Pete Bethune and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has ended up in a US court. A former activist with Sea Shepherd, Mr Bethune is seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the anti-whaling group from the sale of his boat, the Ady Gil. The boat sunk after colliding with a Japanese whaling ship more than two years ago in the Southern Ocean. Mr Bethune then spent five months in a Japanese prison. The engineer responsible for designing the CTV building has admitted to the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission that the project was well beyond his level of competence. Mike Thorpe has been at the inquiry. If David Harding's opening day of evidence was painful, today was excruciating. They found no intact beam column joints. Were you aware of that? No. He described the connections to the north core as 'very remarkable' ` and that was not put in a positive way, I can assure you ` were you aware he'd said that? No. The connections of the diaphragm to the north core were non code compliant. Were you aware of that? No. Each part of the engineer's involvement with the CTV building design ` his first high-rise project ` meticulously examined. Then an admission that there was also a question of competence. You were working well outside your level of competence in what you were doing here? I would not have taken this job on if I was acting on my own behalf. So, Mr Harding, is the answer to Mr Mills' question yes? Yes. David Harding did find one person willing to champion his engineering ability ` the man that assigned him the job in the first place. READS: Mr Harding was a qualified, experienced and capable engineer and would have taken responsibility for the project. He was employed in a role where he wanted to and was expected to take on projects such as the CTV building without supervision. Just why such an inexperienced engineer was assigned to the CTV building will be put to Dr Alan Reay when he continues to give his evidence tomorrow morning. Mike Thorpe, ONE News. John Banks faced more heat in Parliament today over anonymous donations to his 2010 Auckland mayoralty campaign. While police say there's insufficient evidence to charge the ACT leader, Opposition MPs are refusing to back down on the issue. This from political editor Corin Dann. John Banks was last week avoiding the media after the release of the police report, but going into the House today, there was nowhere to hide... We've had an extensive police inquiry, and I have been cleared. ...and no avoiding the jibes. Will the curriculum in charter schools include a unit on ethics? Labour's Trevor Mallard used Mr Banks' position as Associate Education Minister to have a go. Will the curriculum in charter schools include a unit in reading and comprehension, so that individuals who sign documents and declare them to be true and accurate understand their obligation for that to be the case? The Honourable John Banks. The curriculum could include teaching kids how to spell words like vexatious and exonerated. While police cleared Mr Banks of breaking the local body electoral laws, they did say he took donations from Kim Dotcom and SkyCity which were later listed as anonymous. Prime Minister John Key today admitted the Local Government Act was an 'ass' and is likely to be changed. No one's arguing that the law isn't substandard. I think, arguably, it is. It's just a question of getting around to having the time to change it. John Banks also agrees the local government electoral law should be changed. Corin Dann, ONE News. Just ahead ` the desperate battle for Aleppo. Syrian government forces ramp up their attacks on rebel fighters. And raising a riot in Russia ` why these anti-Putin punk rockers could get jail time for a church performance. In Syria, there are fresh reports tonight of attacks by helicopter gunships as government forces ramp up their campaign to drive rebels out of Aleppo. Earlier, anti-government fighters vowed to turn the economically important city into the regime's grave. BBC correspondent Ian Pannell got trapped in the fierce fighting while filming this report, which contains graphic images. GUNFIRE The battle for Aleppo is raging, which means the ranks of the dead and the wounded are growing. Mohamed (8) is peppered with shrapnel wounds from a government shell. Those who can get out of the city are ` desperate to escape the shelling that doesn't discriminate between soldier and civilian. But notice how many of them are women and children. The men have stayed to fight. MEN SPEAK ARABIC For those left behind, daily life is a tale of survival. The bakery has just opened for the first time in days. It's now the only place to get food here. In Aleppo, it's the weakest that suffer the most. And yet this battle has only just begun. The rebels get ready. They've had news government soldiers are heading this way. The fighters move along empty streets to defend the area. Well, the rebels have now moved up, because the government's... GUNSHOTS ...been trying to push into this area. It's a very confused situation. We know there are snipers all around here. And because it's an urban area, the sounds ring out. And what you can't tell is which direction they're actually coming from. GUNSHOTS As you can see, the rebels are incredibly tense. One of the commanders has been shot. He's laying in the gutter, bleeding to death. A truck braves sniper fire to try and get him out. But the group's attacked, and they have to pull back. By the time the man was hauled up, it was too late. GUNFIRE Three commanders from the same base died that day. It's impossible to predict who'll win this war, but it'll shape the destiny of Syria and this region. And in another blow for the Syrian regime, its senior official in London has quit, saying he can no longer support President Bashar al-Assad. To the trial of a NZ fishing company in a US court now. American prosecutors say a Sanford Fisheries vessel repeatedly dumped oil waste into the ocean near American Samoa, then tried to cover it up. Here's our US correspondent, Jack Tame. The San Nikunau is Sanford Fisheries' biggest tuna boat. It fishes skipjack tuna in the central and western Pacific Ocean. But thousands of kilometres away in a Washington courtroom, Sanford lawyers are defending charges that could cost the company up to $30m in fines. Sanford Ltd will vigorously defend the seven charges, which include... Our cameras weren't allowed in court today as legal teams selected a jury, but the case stems from a US coastguard investigation in Pago Pago, American Samoa, a year ago. In US waters, when a fishing vessel needs to discharge oily waste water, it must first pass the liquid through an oil and water separator. US coastguard investigators say the crew of the San Nikunau skipped the separator and dumped polluted liquid, then falsified the ship's documents to cover their tracks. The ship's engineer has already pleaded guilty to charges of falsifying the vessel's oil log book. Prosecutors here say he routinely ordered other crew members to dump oily waste. But as part of his plea deal, he's agreed to come back to the United States to give evidence for the prosecution case. The San Nikunau has been in the headlines before. In 2010 the ship's crew rescued these three Tokelauan teenagers, who'd spent 50 days drifting at sea. For now, the ship's been released back to Sanford, but if found guilty, the company may lose it for good. Jack Tame, ONE News, Washington DC. The man accused of the Colorado cinema massacre has been back in court charged with 140 counts of murder and attempted murder. A subdued James Holmes only spoke once to answer yes to a judge's question. Some of the 58 people he injured earlier this month attended court. 12 people died in the shooting during a Batman premiere. Holmes was remanded to appear again in September. Three women members of a Russian punk band have gone on trial in Moscow for protesting against Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The trio from the band Pussy Riot face seven years' jail after they performed in Moscow's main cathedral. The BBC's Daniel Sandford has the story. Locked behind bulletproof glass in a Moscow courtroom, the three young women at the centre of a trial that mixes high politics with high religion. Today they denied desecrating Moscow's main cathedral with an angry protest song. The women have been held in prison for five months ahead of today's trial despite the fact that two of them are mothers of young children. WOMEN SING IN RUSSIAN This is their own video of the performance, which savages both President Putin and the church hierarchy. PUNK ROCK MUSIC PLAYS, WOMEN SING IN RUSSIAN In court, one of the women told us she apologised for any offence caused to worshippers. Russia is divided over the case, but at St Nicholas' in central Moscow, we found some worshippers who were generally outraged by Pussy Riot's actions. PEOPLE CHEER, YELL The case is being heard against a background of political upheaval in Moscow. The Kremlin has started making life difficult for the opposition, even raiding their homes and businesses. Today the post prominent opposition activist, Alexei Navalny, was summoned to the Russian equivalent of the FBI. The opposition claim the Kremlin controls the criminal justice system, so Pussy Riot's supporters believe their fate won't be decided by the judge, but by Vladimir Putin himself. Amnesty International is calling for the women to be released immediately and says the prison terms they face if convicted are out of all proportion. Just ahead ` a treat for fans of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies. And I'll be back with a warning as a rain-bearing front heads south. Returning to the Olympic rowing now, it's been sculler Emma Twigg's turn on the Eton Dorney course. Racing within herself in her semi-final a short time ago, she did what was needed. I think that once they're out front, they'll not be too concerned about getting into a one-on-one battle. Twigg kept tabs on, but was unable to pressure the winner, Australian Kim Crow. Both are through to the semis. In hockey, the women's Black Sticks are up against South Africa, ranked five places behind them at 12th in the world. NZ, hoping to match their victory over the South Africans in a warm-up match last month, were first to score. Out to the top, Sharland. Into the goal. It's in! NZ score within the first four minutes. What a brilliant start, Sharland. And the scoring continued. A short time ago, NZ were ahead 3-0. Weather time now with Renee. Hi, everyone. Heavy rain continuing about the eastern hills of Marlborough and Canterbury through to tomorrow afternoon. Take care of you are intending to travel over Porters Pass. Expecting some snow flurries about the summit. And the moist easterly delivering now above about 1000m in Canterbury is expected to continue until tomorrow or Thursday. The low finally begins to weaken tomorrow. Even so, it'll still manage to fling these troughs at the North Island. This front hangs around over eastern parts of the North Island. We can see this ridge stretching out to the south of the South Island. That'll keep this strong easterly flow going. For weather, see onenews.co.nz For weather, see onenews.co.nz NZ UP TO 3RD IN OLYMPIC EQUESTRIAN. Captions by Sam Bradford and Desney Thorogood.