The new President of the United States dominates the front pages of the papers on Thursday.
The New Zealand Herald carries a full size photo of a Barack Obama being clutched by a delighted wife Michelle and a heading "He's got the whole world in his hands".
Inside, the Herald says Prime Minister John Key has written to President Obama to tell him New Zealand will be a friend and a partner in the challenges ahead.
The Dominion Post reports that crime victims are owed nearly $80 million in reparations. It says the figure raises questions about whether National's plan to levy a $50 crime tax on offenders can work.
The new US President and First Lady are pictured dancing at one of the 10 inaugural balls they attended on Tuesday night.
The paper says Transpower officials still don't know the cause of an outage that left 25,000 customers without power in Wellington on Wednesday.
The Taranaki Daily News leads with a report that George, a dog who died while saving two children from a pit bull attack in 2007, is to be awarded Britain's highest gallantry award for animals.
The Press devotes its front page to the changing of the guard in Washington DC, declaring that President Obama heralds a new era.
It has a photograph of the huge crowd attending the inauguration, headlined by a quote from the new president: 'a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous'.
The dancing Obamas also feature on the front of The Otago Daily Times, along with a report that Dunedin City Council appears to have no intention of reining in its spending.
The ODT says the council's first decision at a budget hearing on Wednesday was to increase its economic development fund by $461,000.
