1The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will not be laying criminal charges against Hanover Finance's owners or directors over the company's collapse despite finding serious questions over the way the company was run.

2Another twist has emerged in the murder trial of Menzies Hallett, accused of killing service station worker Rodney Tahu in Turangi in 1979. Hallett now denies murdering Tahu, despite having previously admitted to the crime.

3National MP Maurice Williamson is considering running for the Auckland Mayoralty later this year.

4Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been seen in public for the first time in nine months.

5The Overseas Investment Office (OIO) has approved the sale of 14,000 hectares of prime forestry land to the Chinese Government.

6Preparations are underway for the funeral of Labour MP Parekura Horomia this weekend.

7Police are trialing a controversial new taser as well as new body cameras.

8A group campaigning for the restoration of Christchurch Cathedral says it could be done for a third of the cost and in a fraction of the time laid out by the Anglican Church.

9Two groups of inmates at Hawkes Bay Prison went head-to-head in a confrontation this morning that left some with minor injuries.

10Two Western retailers say they will compensate the families of garment workers killed in a Bangladesh building collapse.

11The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have taken a DNA sample from the widow of one of the Boston bombing suspects after a trace of female DNA was discovered on a fragment of one of the bombs.

12Police in Brisbane are hunting for a couple who got away after a bungled petrol theft.

13Medical reinforcements have arrived at Guantanamo Bay to help deal with over 100 hunger-striking prisoners at the United States base in Cuba.

14The National Beekeepers Association wants New Zealand to follow the European Union's lead and place a temporary ban on certain pesticides while their effect on bee populations is investigated.

15The three cheetah clubs born at Orana Wildlife Park that were fighting for their lives yesterday are now making good progress according to park staff.

16Space tourism has moved a step closer after a first powered test flight by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.

17A concert promotion company being sued by pop star Michael Jackson's family is warning jurors that they will hear some "ugly stuff" about the musician's private behaviour.

18A recent study has found that while Maori and Pasifika people excel as sports players, captains and coaches only 5% end up moving into sports governance and management.