Good evening, everyone. Jack Frost was out and about last night, with many South Island centres going sub-zero. Keep the raincoat nearby, as we're stuck in this showery sou'west flow for a few days yet. Right now, it's 6 o'clock. Due to the live nature of ONE News we apologise for the lack of captions for some items. This is ONE News with Peter Williams and Bernadine Oliver-Kerby. Tonight ` burnt-out buildings and human remains. UN observers finally reach the site of the latest massacre in Syria. A full military welcome for John Key as he meets Germany's leader in Berlin. A toast to the opening of the ski season ` plenty of cheer as hundreds hit the slopes at southern ski fields. And swinging not swigging ` Jesse Ryder's off the ropes and on the wagon. Kia ora. Good evening. A bloody and gruesome find is piling more international pressure on Syria's government. It comes as the death toll mounts, and the Red Cross warns that 1.5m people need humanitarian aid. For the first time, United Nations observers have managed to enter the small village of Qubair, where at least 78 people were massacred. The BBC's Paul Danahar is traveling with the UN team. Just a warning you may find parts of his report disturbing. The observers had been trying for more than 24 hours to get into the village of Kabir. In the end, the flies found the evidence of a massacre before the UN did. The first house had been gutted by fire, but the stench of burnt flesh still hung heavy in the air. The scene in the next house was even worse. The UN have come here to try and find out what happened in this village. There are pieces of people's brains on the floor. There is a tablecloth out covered in blood and flesh, and in the corner the blood has been pushed into a pile. Someone's tried to clean it up, and frankly given up because there's simply too much of it. As the carcasses of the animals rotted in the hot sun, the only clue to where the bodies of the people may have gone were etched into the tarmac road. There were, said the UN observers, tracks made by military vehicles, perhaps tanks or armoured cars. We found a variety of different kinds of bullet there. The bodies ` you can` you can smell the burn` the smell of dead bodies, and you could also see body parts in and around the village. The Syrian Army claims it was in the area, but hunting for the killers after receiving a call for help. The local villagers told the UN it was done by a nearby Alawite community. a sect from which much of the Syrian leadership is drawn. (SPEAKS ARABIC) TRANSLATOR: The army surrounded the area, and the militia went into villages and slaughtered people and burnt them in their houses so that no bodies would remain. Only three survived. Even kids were killed. The militia group blamed for this attack could possibly have been acting without the direct command and control of the Syrian Army, because the situation here is fracturing into chaos. But attempts to hide the details of the atrocity are calculated and clear. Syria's escalating violence is putting immense pressure on international leaders who remain divided over what to do next. Opposition forces claim that at least 40 people were killed across the country in the past 24 hours as government forces launched a series of air attacks. The BBC's James Robbins reports. This is Syria's third largest city Homs under renewed government shelling this morning... BOOM! ...according to this opposition activist video that we can't independently confirm. BOOM! The Syrian army's fire power is vastly superior, but they are taking casualties too. WOMAN SPEAKS IN ARABIC Tonight, Syrian state television is reporting a car bombing in Damascus. Opposition activists say the explosion killed at least two members of the security forces. The UN, with fewer than 300 unarmed observers in Syria, can do little more than rush from one ceasefire violation to another ` sometimes under fire, often hampered in their efforts to establish facts as Syria descends into sectarian civil war. MAN SPEAKS IN ARABIC 'Where is Kofi Annan,' asks the activist who is videoing what appears to be a helicopter missile attack on the town of Talbise near Homs. This suggests the regime may be turning to aerial attack as it takes increasing casualties on the ground. Most international leaders blame Syrian regular forces and government-backed militia coming in behind them for the worst violence in this conflict. But what are the barriers blocking stronger international action? One is the sheer strength of Syria's armed forces. Its military capability is far greater than Libya's, for example. But anyway, there's no political will behind the military option, reflecting a public mood against another war, particularly in the United States. So the major powers are left clinging to Kofi Annan's peace plan, which even he concedes is not being implemented. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Today Kofi Annan seemed tired and dispirited after discussing ways to salvage his peace plan with America's Secretary of State. Some say the plan may be dead. 'Is the problem the plan or the problem is implementation?' If it's implementation, how do we get action on that? And if it is the plan, what other options do we have? PEOPLE YELL INDISTINCTLY BOOM! And the international committee of the Red Cross now says 1.5m people in Syria need relief aid, because of the conflict. They report more and more driven from their homes amid shortages of food, medical care and shelter. The escalating crisis in Syria was also on the agenda of a meeting between Prime Minister John Key and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But the main focus of the talks in Berlin was the crisis in the eurozone and the looming bail out of the Spanish banks. Mr Key says a successful outcome in Europe is important, because of the impact it has on NZ. Europe correspondent Garth Bray reports. Angela Merkel turned out the troops and a marching band to welcome John Key to Berlin with full military honours. Germany, though, is better known for its economic power than its armed might. The chancellor has been put on the spot by world leaders who think this country and its taxpayers need to guarantee the debts of struggling European countries to forestall another crisis. TRANSLATOR: I quite frankly think it is at this point in time, on the contrary, very important to talk to leading politicians from all over the world and to also explain Europe staying the course, wishing to pursue a course which takes it out of this crisis. Others want to know if Mrs Merkel will support a direct bailout of Spain's banks. She gives no ground on that either, even though Spain's sovereign credit rating has just fallen closer to junk status. They make quite a pair of historical turnarounds. Angela Merkel started her life behind the Berlin Wall, while the Prime Minister's mother was one of many who fled Austria and the aggression of an earlier age. There are a number of memories I have of my mother, but one is obviously her being extremely upset and traumatised by that. I mean, she lost her own family members herself in the concentration camps. If the economic problems here seem enormous, this place puts them all into stark perspective. This is Berlin's monument to the murdered Jews of Europe ` a memorial to a much darker time that left a permanent stain on this country's history. I think the Germans have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure that their people never forget what happened, so I don't feel bitter about that, but I also want top pay my respects for what's taken place. He didn't get his wish. Last-minute changes to travel plans forced a dash to the airport. This would have been John Key's last official stop, an uncomfortable reminder of how once before Europeans let economic chaos breed a rampant nationalism, with almost unspeakable consequences. Garth Bray, ONE News, Berlin. Police are continuing their appeal for help tracking down a man who shot at a police officer in Central Auckland. Murray Toleafoa has gang connections and is described as armed and dangerous. Police searched this house in the suburb of Glen Innes yesterday. Toleafoa was a passenger in a car stopped by police on this corner, when he fired the shots at close range. The injured officer was treated for burns and is receiving counselling. There could be hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars for the country, but there's more and more opposition to exploration plans for oil and gas. The government's identified 23 possible areas where it could be found. Daniel Faitaua reports. The Taranaki coastline has been a place where oil and gas has been a bonanza. Now the government wants to replicate the region's success across the country. We've released these blocks, so we hope that responsible oil companies will respond. The minister says in the last decade over 500,000km2 were released for exploration. It's proposing to release an extra 40,000km2 by offering 23 blocks, seen here in blue, for investors to drill. We think if there's a significant find, you can get up around the $10b to $12b-mark for all of NZ. It's a potential economic boost the oil and gas industry is backing. These blocks will take somewhere between three and five years to develop, so it will start with one or two years of seismic surveying and some desktop analysis before actually takes place. But the Labour Party say the offer is premature. At the moment we don't have laws that provide sufficient and environmental protection in our exclusive economic zone where this kind of activity will be taking place. Also opposing the idea and expressing concern is the Green Party. It says the government is risking NZ's clean-green image and pristine shores by selling the right to conduct risky deep-sea drilling. But that may be too little too late. Bids close in October, and permits are expected to be awarded by the end of the year Daniel Faitaua, ONE News. The man who advised the government on its controversial education cuts says National should have stuck to its guns. The plan sparked protests and a major backlash. That forced an embarrassing U-turn. Education expert John Hattie told TV ONE's Q + A programme the government should not have backed down. It's a mistake, obviously, in how it was handled in putting class size right up front. I think if they'd kept to the staff-student ratio, they'd be more specific about the investment in the teachers. He says increasing class sizes has little impact on children's learning and the government went about promoting the policy completely wrong. And you can see the full interview with John Hattie on Q+A at nine tomorrow morning here on TV One. Only a handful of homes are without power tonight as temperatures are set to plummet again in the Canterbury region. Snow's still blanketing sports grounds across Christchurch, forcing matches to be cancelled, postponed or played at indoor facilities. Most mail deliveries are back on with the exception of a few inaccessible places, but NZ Post warns it'll take a few days to clear the backlog. But this week's white-out has given two of our southern ski fields the green light to open. Coronet Peak in Queenstown and Canterbury's Mt Hutt are the first commercial fields to start up for the season with high-hopes for a better year than last year. Ana Olykan reports. The pop of a cork,... POP! ...snip of a ribbon,... then the swish of skis. Coronet Peak's open much earlier than last year, but never soon enough for some. It's been a year and a half in the waiting, so glad to be back on the board. First day back on it. Especially with glass of champers as well. (LAUGHS) Firm, but smooth, silky, very nice. Very good, very good. The snow's good ` very excited. First on the chair honours went to those who turned up before 5am. First here. Bragging rights. First run, just keen as and excited for the season. We've been looking forward to it for couple of months now. The front-runners scored a T-shirt, an extra layer in just 1 degree. The big polar blast dumped 10cm on Coronet. The snowmakers have done the rest. We've got 215 automated snow guns which can make enough snow to open in three days, so we just needed a three-day window, which we got, and now we're open. It's the first time Coronet's opened jointly with Canterbury ski field Mt Hutt, which got 1m of snow over the past week. The average 60cm base here helping to increase bookings by 400%. With technology these days, people are waiting later and later to make their bookings, so when that snow arrives, they tend to make their commitments. A year ago, no snow meant the cancellation of some Winterfest events. This year it's all systems go. The sort of opening day... Stoked! ...words can hardly express. Ana Olykan, ONE News. Still to come on ONE News ` How lessons learned from the fault responsible for the devastating quake and tsunami in Japan could help prepare for quakes here. A horse-and-carriage funeral procession for former Bee Gee Robin Gibb, as fans and family make a final farewell. And a soldier's story unravels, as a war vet turned talent show contestant comes under attack for fabricating his military history. An exploration of the undersea fault that caused last year's devastating Japanese earthquake could help us better understand quakes much closer to home. An Otago University geologist was heavily involved in the Japanese project. She caught up with Max Bania. Breaking new ground off the coast of Japan, scientists drilling to record depths to find out how faults work. We can look at hundreds of potentially active faults on land in NZ and we can say, 'Oh, these materials look like this or they look like this, 'and therefore this fault is likely to behave in this way.' Virginia Toy joined the two-month exploration of the fault which caused last year's Tohuku earthquake and tsunami. That's slipped up that way. That's a small amount of slip. By studying the colliding plates, it's hoped we'll learn more about how NZ faults behave, including those that caused the deadly Christchurch quakes. Sometimes smallish earthquakes like the Christchurch sequence generate a lot of ground shaking and huge amounts of damage. Much larger earthquakes like Tohuku or the Fiordland quake that happened in 2009 generate significantly less ground shaking even though they're larger magnitude events. Let's say for a minute these two bits of foam are plates. When they move against each other smoothly there's not much seismic activity, but when resistance friction begins to build up, that's when the fault breaks and earthquakes occurs. Predicting when they'll happen will never be an exact science. What we can refine are our estimates of scenarios ` you know, exactly how much will the ground shake. So in Dunedin we should be aware that it's possible that we could have ground shaking of a certain amount and that it may not happen within our lifetimes, but we should be prepared for it. Advice which could save lives. Max Bania, ONE News. Prince William and Harry are the latest royals to pay a hospital visit to their ailing grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. The pair were at the hospital for 45 minutes. The Duke, who turns 91 tomorrow, has been in hospital since Monday with a bladder infection. The palace has confirmed he will remain in hospital for his birthday. The sole surviving Bee Gee, Barry Gibb, has paid an emotional tribute at the funeral of his brother Robin, describing him as a man with a beautiful mind and a magnificent heart. The Bee Gees star (62) died from kidney failure last month after fighting cancer and pneumonia. The BBC's David Sillito has the story. BAGPIPES PLAY It began at his Oxfordshire home ` a final horse-drawn carriage journey around the streets of the town of Thame accompanied by friends and family. Hundreds had lined the route. BAGPIPES PLAY Many here are just, of course, remembering someone who is a member of the community here for 30 years. But the fans are remembering one of Britain's greatest songwriters. Very sad day, indeed. The Bee Gees have given us such a lot over the years. Every disco, every wedding, we've danced to them. THE BEE GEE'S 'HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?' PLAYS The coffin was carried in to the tune of How Deep is Your Love ` one of more than 20 number one hits. Robin Gibb had begun performing when he was just 6 years old. 56 years on, his older brother, Barry led the final farewells. Barry said in the church that he's never felt so much love from` Right? From one place. From one place. I know the heartbreak, and I know that heartbreak that they're going through, and you have to believe that there's another world, and that's where he is, and... he'll always be with us. Always. And at the end of the service, music from Robin Gibbs' Titanic Requiem ` his final work after more than 50 years of song writing. Robin Gibb's twin, Maurice Gibb, died in 2003, a loss described as Robin's greatest pain. An American soldier turned TV talent show contestant is under fire tonight over false claims he made over his war record. The aspiring country singer, who performed on America's Got Talent, is now receiving death threats. The ABC's Amy Robach reports. America's Got Talent looked like it found a new star this week ` Sgt Timothy Poe ` a wounded soldier left with an audible scar. I` I had got hit by` by a grenade in Afghanistan and` and it` it b-broke my back and gave me a brain injury, s-so that's why I stu` stutter a little bit. # Gonna be enough to last # if tomorrow never comes # Everything about you is amazing. Some of Sgt Poe's fellow-soldiers were also amazed,... not because of Poe's singing but because of his story. They say it never happened and contacted Mark Seavey with the American Legion. I was absolutely unbelieving from the first second I saw it. Seavey investigated and the National Guard confirmed that Sgt Poe's military records do not show he was injured by a grenade in Afghanistan, where he served for just one month. Today Poe release a military document showing he suffers from an injury or disease received in the line of duty, but there was nothing specific about the cause. There's more. In May, Poe told our ABC Dallas affiliate, WFAA, he was shot and injured while serving in Iraq. In the firefight, I` I took a bullet in the leg. But the National Guard says Sgt Poe was never even deployed to Iraq, and this photo used on America's Got Talent ` it's not actually a picture of Poe, but of Staff Sgt Norman Bone. It's the same picture Poe gave WFAA. SOBS: It's the truth th-that I know. It's the truth that I... (EMOTIONALLY) truly think is real. (SOBS) And that's so horrible, because I don't know it. (SOBS) Poe says he has a lot of trouble working out what's real from what's not. He also says he believes he's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Students graduating at an American university should have been celebrating. Instead they were sent screaming for cover when this monster storm interrupted their ceremony in New Jersey. Announcers called names at rapid speed and students hastily tossed their caps in the air before bolting for shelter from hail and fierce winds. Luckily no one was injured. Much calmer conditions here, but it was a cold start to the weekend for some, Renee? Yes, a frosty Saturday morning for many South Island centres, as we can see on the isotherm map. The coldest overnight temperature was Molesworth on minus-7, with Methven and Manapouri close to zero. For weather, see tvnz.co.nz So that's how we are looking this evening. I'll be back after sport with your forecast for Sunday morning brunch. Still to come on ONE New ` the international volunteers building homes for quake victims in Kaiapoi. And stopping the sweet overload ` calls for a tax on sugar-filled drinks. 1 A group of volunteers from North America have been working in Kaiapoi, lending a very welcome hand after the earthquakes. Working through Habitat for Humanity, they're making a real difference for a couple of local families. Lisa Davies reports. Braving the cold on a frosty Canterbury morning. 20 Canadian and American volunteers here to help out a couple of Kiwi families who are still struggling with the consequences of devastating earthquakes. I think it's really surprising to know where things are still at. I think we would think of a country like NZ to be further along in the process, and there's really a lot more help that needs to be given. They've paid their own here. That's the way Habitat For Humanity does it. It's just really good to be doing something incredibly practical for two families in this Christchurch post-earthquake situation. When the Hyetts couldn't afford increasing rents, the family of seven moved on to a house boat. It just becomes a big mess in the boat with kids and clothes and dishes, and, yeah, it's just quite full on, really. Now they're one of the lucky two families to get their very own home. Angela Pollard's family is getting the second house. Where we've been staying, the children have been in one bedroom, and my husband and I and the baby have been in the other room, so it's a bit hard having five children in one room. Under the scheme, the two families help with the building and through a rent to buy scheme take over ownership in five years. Habitat is about a hand up rather than a hand-out. And there's benefits all round. It means a lot. I mean, you get so connected to these families on many different levels. You feel like you don't deserve it. We've been struggling for so long. A struggle that's soon to be over. Lisa Davies, ONE News. There are calls this weekend for a tax on sugared soft drinks. It follows moves in New York towards banning the sales of super-sized sodas. Some claim sugary pop is a major contributor to our own childhood obesity epidemic. Sunday correspondent Phil Vine reports. 10 teaspoons of sugar in this one can of Coke. NZers drink 500 million litres of soft drinks every year. There's more and more scientific evidence that we've got an addiction. The businessman is leading a personal crusade against sugary drinks and their alleged role in our childhood obesity epidemic. We've got a major problem. This big tidal wave that's coming ` I mean it is a pandemic. Already one in three Kiwi kids are obese or overweight. Some are pouring blame on sugary drinks and what they do to our appetite You can, just like a flip top, open up your head and pour them in, and we don't know when we're full. Manufacturers insist fizzy can't be the sole cause of obesity. Somebody can go and purchase these products, drink it responsibly, on occasion, as a treat, and not suffer any health effects. In New York they're proposing a ban on sodas bigger than 473ml. In France they've imposed a tax on sugary drinks. Tony Falkenstein wants one here. That would give consumers the time to get rid of the addiction and manufacturers time to take down the level of sugar in their products. Well, I dont see that that's going to solve anything. He says the industry is actively looking at ways around sweetening its drinks with sugar. Phil Vine, ONE News. And tomorrow night, Sunday has Tony Falkenstein's ground breaking plan for weaning our next generation off the fizzy. Heavy rain in China forced a driver to deal with more than just bad traffic on his daily commute when a sinkhole measuring 3m deep and 4m wide appeared suddenly in the road, swallowing this minibus. The driver was alone in the vehicle and escaped with only minor facial injuries. Looking at our top stories tonight ` UN observers who visited the site of a massacre in the village of Kabir in which at least 78 died, have linked Syrian government forces to the attack. It's unclear what happened to the bodies of the victims. The International Red Cross says more than a million people in Syria are now in desperate need of humanitarian aid. Back here, more than a thousand skiers have hit the slopes on opening day at Coronet Peak in Queenstown and Canterbury's Mt Hutt. It's the first time the ski fields have opened jointly, with both mountains boasting a good base of man-made and natural snow. Queenstown's Remarkables is expected to open next weekend. Jenny-May joins us from Eden Park for sport ahead of tonight's first All Black's Test against Ireland. A ground which holds special significance for the ABs, but it's the beginning of a new era. we'll catch up with All Black wing Hosea Gear for the latest from inside the camp. Also on the way ` I'm no bad boy. Jesse Ryder comes out swinging. He speaks exclusively to ONE News. The French Open dishes up a sumptuous final. Two players in search of their own piece of history. And she's never short on giving her opinion, but for once Silver Fern Joline Henry backs down. Well, sort of. Kia ora. Welcome back to Eden Park. New coach, new faces, new era. There's plenty of added interest around tonight's first All Blacks Test against Ireland. Post Rugby World Cup, rugby fans get to see what direction steve hansen is steering the All Blacks in. Joining me now for an insight is All Blacks wing Hosea Gear. THANKS FOR COMING HOW HAVE THE PLAYERS ADJUSTED GOING STRAIGHT INTO INTERNATIONAL RUGYB? YES, THEY'VE DONE WELL. WE'RE GETTING INTO ALL BLACK MODE NOW WE'RE MENTALLY PREPARED. YOU TURNED DOWN A JAPANESE CONTRACT, BUT NOT IN THE STARTING XV? FRUSTRATED? A LITTLE, BUT I'M JUST FOCUSING ON MYSELF AND TAKING THE OPPORTUNITIES AS THEY COME. I'M RAPT FOR SAVEA TO GET A CHANCE. HE'S GOT A MASSIVE TALENT. WE'VE SEEN GLIMPSES OF HIM IN SUPER RYUGBY I HAVE NO DOUBT HE'LL SHOW US SOMETHING. THANKS, HOSEA. What the NZ Under 20 rugby side would have given for age-grade stars TJ Perenara and Sam Cane as they crashed to their first-ever defeat in the tournament's five-year history, and may now struggle to make the semi-finals. They've gone down 9-6 to Wales in the mud and rain at Stellenbosch in South Africa ` a monumental upset given they beat the Welsh 92-0 last year. A fair few players on the left-hand side. Here's Marnus Hanley. Gets away from the first tackler. Hanley. The conditions were so bad, the event organisers have decided not to play any more games at Stellenbosch, moving them to Cape Town instead. Just mention his name, and it divides sports fans across the country. But cricketer Jesse Ryder has decided to set the record straight. From batting for himself, to boxing, to booze ` no topic was off limits in an exclusive interview with Craig Stanaway today. Jesse Ryder doesn't like the media. He's not the biggest fan of ONE News, but he's invited us to Billy Graham's gym in Naenae to train. He's taken up boxing. He doesn't have a NZ Cricket contract. You wouldn't be the only one thinking what's going on. I know you don't like interviews. Why are you doing this interview? > I don't really know, actually. I guess it's more just to show that I'm in a good space. Just to let everyone know that I'm really committed to this boxing thing, getting fit, getting sorted and stuff and trying to get back into the team. Later on down the line, you hear people saying, 'Oh, he's just interested in the money. 'He's going to run off and be a Twenty20 player,' and it's definitely not the case. My one goal is to get back in that side, you know, and be one of the best batsmen NZ's seen. So that's still my goal. That's always been my goal Ryder remains one of only 13 NZers to have scored a double century. He still averages over 40 in Test cricket. But in his last stint for the Blackcaps in February he did himself no favours, taking an agonising nine balls to reach a personal milestone, and his team lost a game they shouldn't have. Obviously the criticism was you were batting for yourself. Which is definitely not the case, because that's the last thing I do when it comes down to batting, So that sort of hit me quite hard. So that sort of hit me quite hard. Then he broke team protocol after a night out in Napier. His international career is effectively in limbo. If there's one thing you'd like people to know, don't buy you a drink in a pub. > Yeah, definitely. You know, if you're going to get me a drink, get me a bottle of water or something these days. Water's my best friend, as Billy says, so that's the motto I'm running on at the moment. How may days since you last had a drink? > It's 84 days today, so it's going pretty strongly. If you have another drink, are you going to beat yourself up? > Yeah, definitely. Yeah,I've given up and at this stage I'd` But we all have relapses. > I've had enough of those. In the past I've always said I've tried to give up or I am giving up and it hasn't happened, so I think I've come to the conclusion in my life that I actually need to. I think it's been good that it's actually me that's said it and not everyone else. So I think, yeah, this time it's for good. Ryder will fight one of his biggest critics, sports commentator Mark Watson on July 5. I heard the one comment he said that I wouldn't get close to him in a boxing bout. After so much negative publicity, this is one event where Ryder is sure to have the public on his side. Craig Stanaway, ONE News. Russia has opened the Euro 2012 football tournament in dazzling style with a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic. The group A favourites have a reputation of being flaky, but they were back to their sublime best today. Russia forward here again. Shirokov! Dzagoyev! Still Pavlyuchenko. He's still going. Pavlyuchenko! Co-host Poland made a great start to its match against Greece, but then a defensive tangle led to the equaliser early in the second half from Dimitris Salpigidis. But when he was denied a second strike, the Polish goalkeeper was sent off. However his replacement saved the resulting penalty, and the match finished at 1-1. Nadal-Djokovic. The men's French tennis final is a promoter's dream. The pair will clash in their fourth successive major showdown after winning their semis. Blair Norton watched them progress. It's being described as the final from heaven. Novak Djokovic aiming to hold all four major titles simultaneously. Raphael Nadal striving to eclipse Bjorn Borg with a seventh French Open title in eight years. Initially, though, it looked like Roger Federer might spoil the party. A flurry of early winners seeing him out to a break of serve against Djokovic. Good exchange from Federer. But the Serb's made of stern stuff these days, and although he trails Federer 14-11 head-to-head, he had lost just one of their last six encounters. And he takes the first set 6-4. Federer showed flashes of brilliance again in the second set, but Djokovic's consistency and athleticism once again proved too much, forcing error after error from the former world number one. Mum and Dad are happy. In the quarter-finals Djokovic had to fend off four match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer providing no such challenge, downed 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Game, set and match ` Djokovic. Spaniards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer are good friends, though there was little sign of it as Rafa completely dominated his pal. CROWD APPLAUDS After losing the first set 6-2, a change of shirt did little to change Ferrer's fortunes. Nadal simply magnificent ` highlighted perfectly in this 33-shot rally. What an unbelievable point. How Nadal can play a perfectly executed drop shot when he's sitting on his rear, I don't know. Nadal's continually developing his game. A beefed-up first serve paid big dividends in the second set, when he completed it winning every single point. APPLAUSE Rain provided Ferrer with a reprieve, but his was only brief. Nadal finished the 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 mugging in just an hour and 46 minutes and ensuring a fourth consecutive grand slam final against Djokovic. Blair Norton, ONE News. League's state of origin has claimed its latest casualty, the top of the table Melbourne Storm. With its three stars in camp with Queensland, the Storm has slumped to its first ever loss at home against Benji Marshall's Wests Tigers who stretched their winning run to seven games. Their 10-6 victory has lifted them in to a five-way tie for second, six points behind the storm. He's off running! Utai now! Matt Utai! Warriors-bound centre Dane Neilsen grabbed a consolation try for the Melbourne side. Having already swept the Steel and the Tactix this season, the Central Pulse are gunning for an even bigger netball scalp, the Magic, this weekend. And a reluctant centre is the key to avenging last month's loss. Here's Mark Hathaway. A team in unfamiliar territory ` a winning streak. Three games on the trot for the Pulse coincides with Joline Henry shifting from wing defence to centre. I don't know if I'm enjoying playing at centre. But her distribution to shooters is working, even though the position is hard work I don't envy centres, you know. I really now have a great empathy for the likes of Temepara George and Laura Langman and, you know, take my bow down to them, but, yeah, I'm quite happy at wing defence. Her coach and captain however are quite happy where she is. She doesn't want every second pass like some centres do, but when she does get it given to her, she certainly meets it and keeps it and puts it into the circle where it should be. You know, it kind of gives that mongrel though the attacking court ` you know, someone who is gonna stand strong and stand proud and just put the ball in when it's needed, so it also helps on defence. The Pulse will get a bearing on the effect of the reshuffle tomorrow night when they face the Magic. The Pulse lost to them the last time Henry played wing defence, and the born-again centre believes a good performance can reverse that. I hope so. Otherwise, it's a waste of time us going to Tauranga. (LAUGHS) I think that they're in form at the moment, and they're just getting better week by week, so it's certainly not gonna be an easy task for us. But a simple one ` get the ball to the shooters and let them do the rest. Mark Hathaway, ONE News. The ailing American horse racing industry has been denied a much needed boost with the shock scratching of 'I'll Have Another' from tomorrow's Belmont Stakes. The Kentucky Derby winner had been on track to be the first 3-year-old to win the triple crown in 34 years, but instead, the flashy chestnut's been retired after pulling up with a swollen tendon following a light final work out. Could he run and compete? Yes. But would it be in his best interests? No. Certainly not for his stud value, and that's where 'I'll Have Another' is heading. And finally just the lift the Irish needed ahead of tonight's Test, with boom golfer Rory McIlroy returning to form a week out from trying to defend his us open title. For a while he looked like the same player who had missed the cut in his past three tournaments, but then McIlroy came good on the Memphis course, late in the second round of the St Jude classic. And with less speed... Yeah. Nicely done. Caught it in the centre. And that is a beautiful four there. There were no problems making the cut today as the 23-year-old birdied the final hole for a five under 65 and a one stroke lead. That's sport from Eden Park. The rain has been falling off and on throughout the day here in Auckland. IT IS COOL AND CALM HERE. ALL BLACKS BY 20... The Kathmandu winter sale starts Thursday, with up to 60% off a massive range. There's huge savings on fleece, thermals, down jackets, rainwear, packs and much more. Don't miss the Kathmandu winter sale. It starts Thursday. Hi, everyone. A showery south-westerly flow is expected to affect NZ over the next few days, dragging showers across western parts of the country, while frontal activity embedded in the flow brings showers to eastern parts. A band of bright wave cloud sits east of the lower North Island, extending across to the Chatham Islands. Another bright area of cloud east of the South Island marks a low, linking to a cold front over central NZ. Lots of speckled cloud west of the country associated with that cool, showery south-west flow. The remains of that weak cold front move off the country tonight. A narrow ridge over the South Island, moves across central NZ tonight, spreading over the North Island tomorrow. And heads up ` a very cold front is expected to move onto southern NZ tomorrow evening, bringing more snow to the south on Monday. South Island ` a few showers in Buller, with occasional showers in Fiordland spreading into Westland. One or two falls along Southland's southern coastline. Mainly fine elsewhere, with early frosts in sheltered spots and a veil of high cloud spreading over the south. South-west winds, but a strong westerly buffeting the far south. North Island ` cloudy periods in the west with a few showers, but dry over the south-west, with showers becoming isolated in the north. Some cloudy periods in the east. Winds from the westerly quarter. For weather, see tvnz.co.nz And just before I go, how's this for beautiful? It may be cold, but you're looking lovely, Christchurch. That is your weather. Enjoy the rest of your evening. And that's ONE News this Saturday. On Q+A tomorrow morning at 9, John Hattie, the man who suggested bigger class sizes, and a debate on gay marriage. From us and all the ONE News team, goodnight. Captions by Glenna Casalme and Hugo Snell. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright TVNZ Access Services 2012