1New Zealand Police have strongly denied ever offering to do a deal with drug dealer Peter Fulcher while he was in an Australian prison.

2The death of a prisoner in Mount Eden Prison is now being treated as homicide. Meanwhile, a 26 year old inmate has been stabbed several times at Paremoremo Maximum Security Prison.

3Three Hutt Valley fishermen drowned off Foxton Beach today while dragnetting.

4An armed robber held up the small Glenfield North Post Office branch in Auckland today.

5A panel beater has died in a welding accident in a Lower Hutt workshop today. He was apparently trying to cut into a 44-gallon drum when it exploded.

6The latest French plan to give New Caledonia independence within a year is not expected to be welcomed by all people living on the island.

7At least 25 people have died in Europe as a direct result of the severe cold snap currently sweeping the Continent.

8Princess Margaret has undergone an operation ion London to have a small area of her left lung removed.

9The anti-apartheid group Halt All Racist Tours (HART) says it will not give up its campaign until all New Zealand links with South Africa are severed, or apartheid abolished.

10Irish pop singer Bob Geldof has arrived in Ethiopia to supervise the distribution of millions of dollars worth of aid, raised by sales of the pop single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

11Many branches of the Automobile Association (AA) are reporting an increase in t he number of breakdown calls this holiday season, a factor they attribute to people not having their vehicles checked before heading off on vacation.

12The Health Department is looking at a television advertisement for Auckland radio station 89FM following a complaint from a competing station, which alleges the commercial could cause epileptic fits.