1The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's owners, Rio Tinto have rejected a Government offer of a short-term subsidy, and the Government is ruling out any long-term assistance for the company.

2Police say recorded crime has fallen to its lowest level in 24 years. However, Christchurch crime has increased.

3Police are seeking information about a vehicle that was seen parked near where road worker George Taiaroa was shot dead two weeks ago.

4Cricketer Jesse Ryder has told Police he has no recollection of the brutal bashing that left him in an induced coma last week.

5A specialist search team has found the wreckage of the light aircraft that crashed into the sea near Kawhia, killing 2Degrees boss Eric Hertz and his wife.

6The deadline for Christchurch's red zoned homeowners to accept a Government offer to buy their properties has passed.

7The North and South Islands could be renamed in Maori.

8The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is predicting a warmer than average late autumn and says rainfall should return to normal levels within the next three months. However, some are questioning why NIWA did not predict the drought in the first place.

9Some of the Earthquake Commission's (EQC) external IT functions are now being resumed, following last week's massive privacy breaches.

10The United States Navy is moving anti-missile systems closer to North Korea in response to belligerent comments by North Korean leader Kim Jing-Un.

11An electrical fault is being blamed for a fire at a Muslim school in Burma (Myanmar) that has left at least thirteen boys dead.

12Police in Mauritius are searching for survivors after flash floods killed at least eleven people.

13Colorado prosecutors are calling for the death penalty for James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people at a screening of Batman last year.

14The family of Arthur Allan Thomas, the man wrongly convicted for the Crewe murders, says it is a travesty that Detective Chief Inspector Bruce Hutton never faced criminal charges for planting evidence. Hutton died on the weekend, having never faced any consequences for his actions.

15Two souvenir companies have been fined over $250,000 for misleading Asian tourists with fake goods, by claiming they were genuine New Zealand products.

16Police in Australia are searching for a thief whose getaway plan came crashing down when he ran into a glass security door.