Our world champion double scullers are on a hunt for gold at Eton Dorney. We cross live to London. A ticking time bomb ` what Kylee Guy's sister had to say about Ewen Macdonald after revelations of his offending. And Vertigo races to the top, knocking off Citizen Kane ` another gong for the master of suspense. And there's more rain with heavy falls in the forecast. Coming up, I'll tell you if that rain is set to hang around into the weekend. Kia ora, good evening. Kiwi rowers Nathan Cohen from Invercargill and Joseph Sullivan from Picton are just minutes away from competing in the men's double scull final at Eton Dorney. Joining us now from London is Simon Dallow with the very latest. Hi, Miri. Yes, it's another big day on the water here. The conditions and the weather are looking good for the moment. Hopes are high for Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan. The pair won at the world champs in Slovenia. Now they're chasing Olympic gold. We'll have their race shortly, but first, other rowers have been trying to secure their place in the rowing finals. A short time ago, the men's four took the water in their semi. After a typically slow start, they wound up and looked good, but it just wasn't enough, finishing fourth behind the US, Greece and Germany. It wasn't any better for lightweight double scullers Louise Ayling and Julia Edward, rowing hard, but just not fast enough, finishing fifth. Their male counterparts, Storm Uru and Peter Taylor, faired better in their semi, finishing second behind Denmark to book a place in the final. And perhaps using the boy's performance as inspiration, single sculler Emma Twigg has qualified for her final, finishing a strong third. Now looking back to our first rowing medal of the Games, the women's pair say their bronze medal was achieved in the toughest race they've ever rowed. Here's Olympic rowing reporter Craig Stanaway. The bronze-medal-winning women's pair were being treated like champions by the British at Eton Dorney this morning. We're just satisfied with the fact that we went out and did the best race that we felt we could do today. The race plan was executed perfectly ` get a fast start, stay as close as possible to the British, who were hot favourites, and hold on. But in the last 250m, it got a little too close for comfort. We could feel everybody coming, and Juliette was yelling at me, saying, you know, 'Here they come.' So we just tried to do whatever we could towards the end. I think, when I crossed the line, you know, I put my head down, because I thought, 'I don't actually know if we've won a medal, 'but that's me ` that's... I've done my best today.' Britain claimed Team GB's first gold. The difference between silver, bronze and no medal at all was barely half a second. It's a fantastic result for a crew which has been struggling to rediscover their mojo all year. I always thought that the girls deserved a medal, and it would have been a bit of a travesty if they hadn't got one. The women's pair's success should be the start of a very fruitful 48 hours for NZ rowing. Already, four crews have qualified for the final, and a further three could qualify tonight. It sets a very good platform for the rest of the team to follow. Three, two, one. I hope that we've got the ball rolling, and we're really excited for the other crews. There's so many crews that have a real... a real chance, and that's gonna be so exciting. And nerve-racking, if this morning's race is anything to go by. The Olympic badminton scandal has claimed a top scalp, with one of the Chinese players vowing she'll never pick up a racket again. Yu Yang is one of eight top women players to be disqualified from the tournament over throwing matches. The ABC's Bill Weir explains. This is the way elite badminton usually looks. CROWD CHEERS But this is the way that America's arch-rival, the Chinese top seeds, played ` deliberately serving into the net again and again. Eight times, despite a chorus of boos and warning from officials. Then, watch this ` China lets it drop, and South Korea follows up by serving way outside the line. An Indonesian team followed suit by tanking. And the South Korean coach admitted, 'The Chinese started this, so we did the same.' Remember, this is not backyard-barbecue badminton. This is the fastest racquet sport in the world, where the shuttlecock can travel over 200mph ` 50mph faster than Andy Roddick's serve. Lightning-quick shuttlers wear each other down with cunning and finesse. And in Britain, every town has a club. Devotion is second only to soccer and cricket. It's very unsportsmanlike. That would never happen in your club team? I don't think the British team would behave like that. But she's not above teaching a clumsy American in socks to respect this game. And the Australian team is dealing with their own scandal after one of their rowing team was arrested by police. Men's rowing eight crewman Josh Booth was detained by police for damaging a shopfront but fainted while in custody and was taken to hospital. He was later released without charge, but must report back to British police while investigations continue. LAUREN BOYLE CAME IN SECOND IN HER HEAT QUALIFED 5TH FASTEST FOR FINAL That's our coverage for now, but we'll be back shortly as rowers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan battle for their golden moment on the water. To the rest of the day's news now, and the reaction to revelations about Ewen Macdonald's other crimes. He's been called a 'ticking time bomb' by the sister of Kylee Guy, the woman whose husband Ewen Macdonald was acquitted of murdering. Renee Graham's been looking into the issue. Kylee Guy fled the High Court in Wellington, yelling, 'He killed my husband,' after Ewen Macdonald was found not guilty of murdering Scott Guy. Now, as first reported by ONE News, we know the details of three other charges he's pleaded guilty to. These charges were not related to Macdonald's murder trial. Previously supressed, they state Macdonald slaughtered a herd of calves with a hammer like this; he destroyed more than 10,000 litres of milk; and he burned down a duckshooter's hut. While the offences are not connected with Scott Guy's murder, his widow's sister says it shows the nature of the man. Most NZers would think the justice system is about open and honesty. So you would have thought all the charges would have been out in the public arena so the jury could make their decision. The judge suppressed the charges to avoid prejudicing Macdonald's trial for Scott Guy's murder. The emotive reaction is so strong that we're actually likely to give it more importance than it actually ought to have in the case. But here at the High Court in Wellington, the jury were allowed to know about the three other charges Macdonald had pleaded guilty to. One expert says that's because they were directly relevant to the case. The charges relate to poaching deer at night, setting fire to a Guy family home and vandalising Scott and Kylee Guy's new home. The object of the wilful damage and arson was Kylee and Scott Guy. So its value was much much more than merely showing that he's not a nice person. Macdonald is in custody waiting to be sentenced on the poaching, property damage and animal slaughter charges. Renee Graham, ONE News. Untrained and unregistered teachers could soon be teaching in NZ classrooms under the Government's charter school system. And while some are praising the plan, others say it's a failed experiment. Ruth Wynn-Williams reports. Meditating on an alternative approach to mainstream education. The children practise transcendental meditation when they first arrive at school, and they practise transcendental meditation when they leave at the end of the day. Schools like this could be possible with the introduction of charter schools. Now the government's released more details. Renamed 'partnership schools', they'll be privately owned, but state-funded. They'll operate their own curriculums, approved and assessed according to national standards. They will be able to set their own length of school day and school year. They will be able to negotiate the percentage of registered teachers that they employ. They'll be able to employ teaching staff after little more than a police check and without any formal qualifications. I think they're just trying to dissolve themselves of responsibility. We had an experiment in the early 1990s when registration was made voluntary. That proved to be an unmitigated disaster. It's all part of a move to reach the one in five students the government says is being failed by the current system. It says a number of community and iwi groups have already expressed interest. Among them, Destiny Church. Destiny Church already has around 190 students enrolled in its own school. A representative told ONE News it's checking facts about the charter school scheme. The government will be open calls for applications next year. Under the new scheme, schools could make a profit. It is an experiment ` an experiment that has failed overseas. The first partnership school will open in 2014. Ruth Wynn-Williams, ONE News. Just ahead ` we'll return to the rowing for the double sculls final with a Kiwi pair in contention. Accusations of war crimes in Syria as more disturbing images emerge. And the 6-year-old getting the chance to blow up a building. Syria's president is urging his troops to intensify their efforts against the rebels. Bashar al-Assad hasn't been seen for two weeks, since a bomb attack killed four of his inner circle, including his brother-in-law. Now he's released a written statement declaring his army has 'a steely resolve and conscience' as 'the trustees of the people's values.' The 46-year-old's words come as a new video appears to show rebels shooting prisoners in Aleppo. Human rights groups condemn the attacks as a war crime. A warning ` this report from the BBC's James Robbins contains disturbing images. These pictures apparently show a group of more than a dozen prisoners captured by opposition rebels in the battle for Aleppo. Each is asked his name. This man says he's Zeno Berri. He's said to be a leading figure in the Shabiha militia loyal to President Assad's government. They are blamed for torturing and murdering civilians over many years. The prisoners are led out into a courtyard. MAN: Allahu Akbar! There are shouts of 'God is Great'. Some call for no immediate shooting, but then this happens. GUNSHOTS The rest of the pictures are too shocking to show, but they include a pile of apparently dead bodies. We showed the entire video this afternoon to Human Rights Watch and their senior legal adviser. What do you think we've just seen? It looks like what we've seen is execution of prisoners, and that will be a war crime. Who has done it, we don't know. Um, elements of the armed opposition, which have all gone by the name of FSA, have certainly been committing some abuses over the last few months. We've documented that, but there seem to be many different groups involved. We've also, of course, documented many extensive abuses by the government and its forces for over a year now. In a separate video, this local commander of the opposition Free Syrian Army appears to give his version of events. TRANSLATOR: Our forces were passing through here as the Shabiha were in this place and then they started to fire on us, which led to the matyrdom of 15 of our men. And later in this video, the commander seems to confirm the prisoners they took were killed. As the ferocious battle for Aleppo and possibly for control of all Syria goes on, there is growing evidence of apparent atrocities on all sides. And activists say Syrian troops have now killed at least 35 people, mostly unarmed citizens, in a suburb of Damascus. Now joining us back in London is Simon Dallow with the latest from Eaton Dorney. WELCOME BACK TO LONDON, WHERE THERE IS BREAKING NEWS FROM OUT ON THE ROWING COURSE. MEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS CREW OF NATHAN COHEN AND JOSEPH SULLIVAN HAVE JUST WON GOLD IN THE MEN'S DOUBLE SCULLS. WE ARE ON THE MEDAL BOARD WITH GOLD. THEY CAME FROM BEHING. SITTING IN 5TH FOR MOST BUT BLITZED THROUGH IN LAST 500M HAVE A LOOK AT THIS ACTION. THERE YOU HAVE IT. A MAGNIFICENT RACE. MOST PEOPLE WERE ASKING IF THEY COULD COME THROUGH. THEY'RE RENOWNED FOR SPRINT FINISHES. MORE PROSPECTS OF MEDALS TO COME. FOR NOW, CELEBRATION. Now, if you've ever wondered what separates a champion Olympian from those of us on the couch, it could all be in the DNA. New research shows people with high levels of a particular gene reach higher levels of fitness. The ABC's Sophie Scott has this story. Scientists at RMIT's exercise and nutrition research group put healthy volunteers through a vigorous exercise programme. They put the men through a series of performance tests and measured levels of a gene called PGC1A, which is triggered by exercise. We measured some muscle and blood genes and looked at the response of these genes in response to this standardised exercise. The gene operates as a so-called master switch for energy metabolism. Amazingly, they found a link between the levels of the gene and how well the volunteers responded to exercise. For example, some individuals hardly showed any increase in the gene, whereas others had up to a 12-fold increase. Those with high levels of the gene benefitted most from exercise, while those with those levels could train and never become a champion. Basically, those genes accounted for maybe up to a third of the change we saw in their exercise performance. So we think that that's quite substantial. Genetics sets the ceiling for how good an athlete will eventually be, and training, nutrition and other factors determine how close we actually come to that ceiling. The next challenge is to find an easy way to identify the athlete genes. For athletic performance, this is a way that we can be more precise. We can get young adults into exercise programmes or sports programmes that might accelerate their potential. The scientists are now working on a simple blood test to find those young athletes who could be the champions of tomorrow. Ever wanted to blow up a building? Well, that's just what Jayden Halliwell (6) will soon be doing. Ever wanted to blow up a building? Well, that's just what Jayden Halliwell (6) will soon be doing. He was chosen by the winners of an internet auction to push the button on Christchurch's 14-storey Radio Network house. Why? To cheer up a wee boy recently diagnosed with cancer. Lorelei Mason has more. It's many a small ` and not so small ` boy's dream: That's the one you've got to push, mate. push a button and blow up a building. BOOM! His brothers will be jealous. Jayden Halliwell can sum it up in one word. Cool. Jayden was diagnosed with cancer four weeks ago, and it's been a rough ride. Chemotherapy and then, um, an operation in another week or two to remove his kidney. So rough, the winners of the Trade Me auction to bring down Radio Network House felt he deserved a break. Yeah, we're just happy to do this. Give a little bit back to the community. And we're really looking forward to seeing Jayden push the button. Eight NZ demolition companies joined forces to place the winning Trade Me bid ` $26,000. The money will help restore the city's Isaac Theatre Royal. The winners approached the Child Cancer Foundation to choose a deserving detonator. He's a boy. Boys generally like blowing things up. We thought it would be a fun thing for him to do. On Sunday morning, Jayden will wait with demolition bosses in a shipping container just down the road from here for the countdown to his big moment. Now, when he pushes a trigger like this one, 63kg of explosives will go off, and 7.7 seconds later, this building will be reduced to a pile of rubble The building's being wired; the explosives drilled into place. A large crowd's expected at Latimer Square ` the closest safe vantage point. BOOM! Until then, Jayden's just happy to keep practising. Lorelei Mason, ONE News. Just ahead ` Vertigo knocks Citizen Kane off the top of the cinema ladder. The master of suspense finally gets a much-vaunted Hollywood gong. And I'll have your forecast as we head towards the weekend. After almost half a century reigning as the world's best movie, Citizen Kane has lost its top slot. The 1941 American masterpiece has been the critics' choice in a poll conducted every 10 years. Now it's lost out to a film by Alfred Hitchcock. The BBC's Will Gompertz explains. SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC James Stewart, playing a San Francisco detective who quits the force after this incident because it leaves him with... vertigo... DRAMATIC MUSIC ...and Hitchcock with a plot device on which to hang his intricate story. The film critics of 1958 were not thrilled by the thriller when it was first released. But today's generation have just voted it the greatest film of all time. So what's changed? Over time, with repeated viewings ` because this film has such rich psychological layers of investigation into the personalities involved ` it's grown and grown in critical estimation. The critics might laud Vertigo for its hidden depths. ROMANTIC MUSIC But Hitchcock's cinematic genius also lay in the superficial. He was the master stylist; a director with a fanatical approach to image, as Kim Novak, the film's leading lady, recalls. The facade was everything to him. If the hair was off in any way... He was calling the hairdresser over constantly. 'Fix that. In the back, the bun is twisted wrong.' For this famous scene, Hitchcock used an innovative camera trick to accentuate the detective's fear of heights. Hitchcock had other visual tricks up his sleeve, such as this psychedelic dream sequence. It's worth noting that the first 10 films in the poll Vertigo tops are all over 40 years old, suggesting that either critics are prone to nostalgia or that films, like a good wine, get better with age. 846 critics, academics and writers took part in the British Film Institute poll, the biggest ever. Weather time now with Renee. The soggy weather looks set to continue in many areas. We're expecting more heavy falls, likely overnight and tomorrow morning in these eastern parts of the North Island. Still a watch in place for heavy rain for other eastern areas from the Coromandel Peninsula all the way down to the Kaikoura Ranges, through to early Saturday. We just can't seem to get rid of this low. This blocking high pressure out to the east of us isn't helping. Still got an east to northeasterly flow over us, loaded with bands of showers. This slow-moving front continues to plague eastern parts of the North Island and upper South Island, keeping the rain going there. For weather, see onenews.co.NZ And that's your weather. Enjoy the rest of your evening. WE'RE ON THE GOLD MEDAL TABLE MEN'S DOUBLE SCULL WINNERS That's it from us here on Tonight. Thanks for watching. Pomarie, goodnight. Captions by Desney Thorogood and Sam Bradford