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Armed forces from 10 nations involved in New Zealand's biggest ever multinational military exercise are this week expected to start ''protecting'' power stations on the Waitaki hydro lakes.

The Victorian Precinct yesterday provided the perfect backdrop for Oamaru's annual Victorian Fete, as an estimated 5000 people attended the town's annual salute to its heritage.

Armed troops from 10 countries yesterday began honing their skills around South Canterbury and North Otago.

Renewed protests over the legal sale of party pills and other so-called legal highs have returned to Oamaru after it emerged psychoactive substances were being sold over the counter in the town.

More than $3.6 million will have to be spent to provide Twizel township with water complying with New Zealand drinking water standards, according to a report from Opus.

Culprits who held down a 94-year-old man in his own bed while they pilfered his belongings during a ''despicable'' night-time burglary in Oamaru have been labelled ''animals''.

Omarama has long been renowned as one of the world's best places for gliding and soaring, and when an 11-year-old leukaemia patient from the United States was offered a dream holiday through the Make a Wish Foundation, a trip to the tiny North Otago township was his first choice.