Friday's headlines: Rugby World Cup opening ceremony described as spine-tingling; Pumas welcomed to Dunedin; alarm over missing fishermen raised when dog returmed home alone.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald leads with a search for two fishermen on Lake Arapuni in south Waikato. The two men left for their trip on Sunday and the alarm was raised when a dog owned by one of them, returned alone to its home almost 20km away.
The first details of the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup have been issued, with a ''sporting legend'' to star in what's described as a spine-tingling show.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports that Wellington City Council was warned years ago about the perils of not checking on elderly tenants in flats.
In 1997, the Wellington Coroner urged the council to make checks when an elderly man died unnoticed in the same block of flats where pensioner Michael Clarke was found this week more than a year after he had died.
The paper also reports that the Prime Minister John Key is rubbishing a claim by writer Nicky Hager that the main New Zealand camp in Afghanistan harbours a secret CIA base.
The Press
The Press says critics are warning that cutting hundreds of jobs at Canterbury University may have major repercussions for the region's redevelopment.
University planning documents show staff cuts are being considered because of a possible budget shortfall next year after an exodus of students following the earthquakes.
And the inquest into the deaths in the February quake has found that three elderly Christchurch couples died in the same central city block and might have known each other.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times reports that coastal erosion could force Kettle Part in Dunedin and nearby dunes to be abandoned to the sea, but only after millions of dollars are spent clearing potentially toxic industrial waste from an old landfill laying underneath.
And fans are shown welcoming the Argentine rugby team, the Pumas, to Dunedin.
