Thursday's headlines: Otago Rugby Union received more than $108 million in poker machine grants over the past five years; Nigerian drug smuggler sentenced to prison; Meads confesses he was scared of former coach Fred Allen.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald reports a Nigerian drug smuggler who fooled immigration officials to get a job as a hospital psychiatrist has been sentenced to prison for 16 months. Chidozie Emmanuel Onovo did not reveal his criminal history when applying for a New Zealand visa.
The man accused of killing Carmen Thomas, Brad Callaghan, is the father of a new baby boy.
Former All Black Sir Colin Meads is quoted as confessing to being scared of his former coach Sir Fred Allen.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports the Government has gone into battle for Sir Peter Jackson, seeking urgent legal advice about a standoff with actors over The Hobbit film.
Interest in the All Whites is fading. Matches next month against Honduras and Paraguay have sold only 10,500 tickets each.
Helicopter rescue crewman Dave Greenberg, who is to receive an award on Thursday night, is profiled.
The Press
The Press says long-awaited changes to the give-way rule should help cut Christchurch's high number of intersection road crashes, according to the Government and the Automobile Association.
A kebab shop owner has been convicted of assaulting his wife after a judge rejected his claim they were performing a Turkish dance.
Lincoln University student Andrea Harris and her daughter are pictured looking for a new home after receiving an emergency grant from the Red Cross.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times says the Otago Rugby Union has received more than $108 million in poker machine grants over the past five years.
Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson says the reputation of local police should not be harmed because of one or two bad apples. He was commenting after the conviction of a former police officer for perjury.
The family of a Dunedin student who fell into Otago Harbour and drowned, say they will fight to find out what happened.
