1The Government is preparing to pay compensation to all schools affected by the Novopay debacle. The Government has also scrapped the proposed controversial car park tax.

2Much needed rain has broken the dry spell in the North Island, but it has not been enough to break the drought.

3Former All Black Jerry Collins remains in custody in Japan after being arrested for carrying a knife in a department store.

4An elderly woman caused a five car crash in Wellington today by driving the wrong way down a motorway.

5Teenager Jackie Maikuku, accused of attacking Kawhia's sole charge Police officer Constable Perry Griffin in January 2013, will be committed to trial, but he is vowing to fight the charges against him.

6A Beachhaven man spent more than half an hour impaled on a metal spike after slipping on a wet fence.

7Labour Leader David Shearer has admitted he made a mistake not declaring an American bank account in which he used to collect his salary when he worked for the United Nations.4

8The survivor of a 12 metre fall down a crevasse on Fox Glacier last week has spoken out about her ordeal.

9Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she will not step down as leader of the Labor Party, despite polls showing that former leader Kevin Rudd is twice as popular as she is.

10Everyone with a bank account in Cyprus will lose 10% of their savings as part of the latest Eurozone bail-out deal.

11Pope Francis walked among the crowds in St Peter's Square following today's blessing.

12The Duchess of Cambridge stumbled slightly while presenting Irish soldiers with sprigs of shamrock to mark St Patrick's day today.

13One hundred schools around the United States have moved to introduce longer school days with impressive results. A look at one Massachusetts school to see how the programme works.

14A 26 year old Otago University graduate has been revealed as the promoter of a luxury hotel proposed for Dunedin's waterfront.

15Farmers are being urged to consider options for wholesale changes in the red meat industry after a hard-hitting meeting in Gore.

16Musician David Bowie has scored his first United Kingdom number one album in twenty years, topping the charts both in Britain and in New Zealand with his new album "The New Day".