1Debate has intensified over possible chemical contamination caused by a major fire in Mount Wellington two weeks ago. The Fire Service is reviewing its procedures for dealing with chemical fires.

2Two men held up a jewelry shop in Auckland city today.

3A nine year old girl was struck by a train and killed on a level crossing near Linden today.

4The official holiday road toll stands at eleven, six fewer than the Christmas / New Year period last year. The official holiday period has now ended.

5Records dating back to the 19th century have been destroyed in a fire that gutted the Petone Borough Council strongroom today.

6The Trans-Tasman quarrel over the early release of heroin dealer Peter Fulcher from a Sydney prison is continuing.

7Norway claims that a Soviet cruise missile flew over its territory and went down in Finland last Friday.

8Searchers today sighted the wreckage of an American jetliner carrying 29 people, which disappeared while flying from Asuncion to La Paz.

9The Indian Government has announced free legal aid for victims of last month's Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal in an attempt to stop foreign lawyers exploiting the tragedy.

10A young man is in hospital in Northern ireland after being beaten up badly by a gang of masked men claiming to be members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

11The Soviet news agency TASS has revealed plans by Soviet scientists to stop the level of the Caspian Sea falling any further. However, the plan, which includes diverting two rivers, is expected to raise the ire of environmentalists.

12A scientist working in believes he may have discovered the oldest living thing on earth - a huge creosote bush he dates back 11,700 years.