Missing Whanganui woman was in internet relationship; ailing elderly couple have home help axed; Canterbury dentist found guilty of professional misconduct; new ambulance service starts operating in Dunedin.
NZ Herald
Residents of a Bay of Plenty suburb where a 4-year-old boy was assaulted for wearing a red shirt say they don't dress their children in the colour for fear of Black Power gang reprisals. The pre-schooler was playing in a Whakatane park at the time.
The parents of a teenager who died after binge-drinking vodka outside a party want people to learn from the tragedy - and they don't blame anybody. Charles and Penny Webster reiterated they don't bear any ill-will towards those who looked after James on the night he died.
A 10-year-old Dutch boy is the only known survivor from a Libyan plane carrying 104 people which crashed on approach to Tripoli's airport yesterday.
Dominion Post
Missing Whanganui woman Marice McGregor was in an internet relationship with a man for more than a year, and her family suspect he may be involved in her disappearance.
A Waikanae couple in their 80s battling inoperable prostate cancer, incontinence and a shoulder injury have had their home care help axed. The one hour a week of help provided by Capital and Coast DHB to Frank and Nelma Woodfield was reassessed over the phone, and they were told they no longer met the criteria.
The Press
A Canterbury dentist has been found guilty of professional misconduct for making a female patient touch him sexually while she was sedated.
A Christchurch bus company has lost six routes to other operators, affecting the jobs of more than 100 drivers.
Some Christchurch men are taking more than a wife when they say "I do" - taking their wife's surname along with the wedding ring.
Otago Daily Times
A new ambulance service designed to overcome delays for non-urgent transfers between Dunstan and Dunedin Hospitals carried its first patients on Thursday.
KiwiRail chief executive Jim Quinn met staff in Dunedin yesterday to break the news the Hillside workshop would not be bidding for a contract to build trains for Auckland.
