1A man who beat his former partner and her teenage boarder to death in their Porirua home is tonight beginning a life sentence in prison and will be behind bars for at least 19-years. 28-year-old Joseph Ogle had previously admitted killing Joelene Edmonds and Jashana Robinson.

2Families of homicide victims will be eligible for thousands of dollars of extra support under a new plan unveiled by the Government today. Up to five adult family members could receive $124 for every day in court, there'll also be an increase in the discretionary payments made to families experiencing financial difficulties.

3Families of homicide victims will be eligible for thousands of dollars of extra support under a new plan unveiled by the Government today. Gil Elliott, whose daughter Sophie was stabbed to death in their Dunedin home last year, comments on the new initiative.

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5Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Auckland toddler Aisling Symes today, with many watching the service on big screens outside the church. The two year old was found dead in a storm water drain on Monday, a week after she went missing.

6Hospital workers angry at having their pay rates frozen have voted to take strike action next month. The Service and Food Workers Union says it's been trying to negotiate higher wages for the past six months.

7Investigators in the United States have found a six-year-old boy whom they feared had been carried cross country by a runaway helium balloon.

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9Around a thousand people have marched in Christchurch to protest against an irrigation scheme proposed for North Canterbury. Opponents of the project are outraged at plans to dam a branch of the Hurunui River.

10Five men in Australia have been convicted of plotting to carry out an attack on the country following one of the longest trials in its history.

11Chinese company Agria Corporation is to invest $36-million in the debt-plagued rural services firm PGG Wrightson in a deal being described as China's first step into agriculture here.

12Waatea News

13Air New Zealand has announced it will be cutting it's domestic ticket prices in a bid to boost passenger numbers. From Monday it will drop fares by at least 10-percent, with some regional routes dropping by up to 23-percent.

14The police say a Scottish tourist is lucky to be alive after falling down a 30 metre bluff while taking a short cut on a track near the Franz Josef Glacier.

15It is estimated more than 8-percent of the population uses marijuana at least once a year, but the figure could be as high as 18-percent, a rate only matched by North America and Australia.

16For the first time in Australian legal history a major trial is to be televised. Dr. Jayant Patel will face manslaughter charges in a Brisbane court over his time as a surgeon in Bundaberg.

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18The ASB has kicked off what could be a fresh round of home mortgage rate hikes. The bank has raised rates by up to one third of a percentage point on a varied range of mortgages.

19Beijing is waiting to see whether President Barak Obama will follow through on the rhetoric of his election campaign against China's low value currency. He has to formally decide whether to label China a currency manipulator, a move that would force talks over the issue.

20In the past 11 days there have been 5 major attacks across Pakistan. The military has been trying to take on the offensive but has had little success so far.

21New Zealand's watchdog protecting personal information says a proposed law widening police powers of search and surveillance needs more safeguards. The Privacy Commissioner has warned the government that procedures like computer searches could become trawling exercises.

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23Arrangements are being finalised for the repatriation of about 400 Port Moresby-based West Papuan refugees to Indonesia next month.

24Nearly 7-million people dropped and took cover in California today as part of the largest earthquake drill in US history.

25The United Nations Human Rights Council is supporting calls for Israel and Hamas to face a fresh investigation over alleged war crimes committed during the conflict in Gaza. The Human Rights Commission has accused both sides of a culture of impunity.

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27Focus on Politics: Almost a year on from the general election, Maori Party members meet in Auckland for the party's annual conference this weekend, where its relationship with the governing National Party will be just one issue under scrutiny. This past week disagreements between the two parties over broadcasting rights to the 2011 Rugby World Cup exploded into the public arena.

28Waatea News