Friday's headlines: Ructions in Customs Service over gay officers strip-searching male passengers; southern schools reportedly refuse to implement national standards; $155 bottle of champagne was purchased as a matter of national pride - Tizard.
NZ Herald
The New Zealand Herald says places at many popular universities will be restricted to students who gain top marks at high school - a move which could stop up to 3500 young people studying where they want.
Former Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard says a bottle of Bollinger champagne bought at an Auckland restaurant in 2008 for $155 was purchased as a matter of national pride when she hosted a dinner for Australian ministers and officials.
Dominion Post
The Dominion Post reports a mother of four has been brutally bashed in the street outside her home in Lower Hutt by a gang of women - some of whom were pregnant.
The paper says bitter ructions in the Customs Service over gay officers strip-searching male passengers have been revealed in an employment case.
Two frontline Customs officers are fighting to regain their jobs at Christchurch international airport.
A new play is bringing the Bain murders to the stage - with two endings. One has the David as the culprit and in the other, it's his father Robin.
The Press
Lead story in The Press is the employment dispute at Christchurch airport: the paper says the case has revealed a Customs Service policy that bars it from asking about the sexual orientation of frontline officers because of potential charges of unlawful discrimination.
A Christchurch teenager crushed by a shipping container is likely to make a full recovery after an eighth operation scheduled for Friday.
ODT
The Otago Daily Times says former Otago District Health Board chairman Richard Thomson will stand for Dunedin City Council and has not ruled out seeking election to the health board as well.
A Dunedin school and two Invercargill schools are believed to have refused to implement the Ministry of Education's national standards.
Dunedin is ready for a big weekend as crowds gather to celebrate the end of two city institutions - Carisbrook and the Gardens Tavern.
