1Smash and grab robbers have stolen tens of thousands of dollars worth of diamonds from a Wellington jeweller.

2The New Zealand Post Office is stepping up security after a recent spate of armed hold-ups at Post Office branches around Auckland.

3The holiday season is a busy one for Police trying to deal with dozens of household burglaries every day.

4Police are searching for two young people from South Auckland whose disappearance is suspicious.

5The extradition hearing against convicted drug dealer Peter Fulcher, set down for a Sydney court on Friday, will no longer proceed on that date.

6It is thought that chemical interaction may have caused the $3 million fire at the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) plant in Mount Wellington.

71984 was a boom year for the New Zealand sharemarket, but the new year has brought investors down to earth. The Barclays Index dropped 34 points yesterday and the downward trend continued today.

8The price of gold has fallen to its lowest level in over five years, as the American dollar resumes its surge against the British pound.

9United States Senator Edward Kennedy (aka Ted Kennedy) is receiving a confusing reception in South Africa. While pressuring South African business leaders to speak out against apartheid, he has himself been confronted by Black South Africans rejecting his help for their cause.

10The United States and the Soviet Union have agreed to enter into new negotiations aimed at reducing nuclear weapons and prevent an arms race in space.

11Vietnamese troops have captured the key Kampuchean guerrilla base of Ampil, near the Thai border after two days of fierce fighting.

12Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett, representing the Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDF) in Australia, has failed in his bid to gain a seat in the Australian Senate.

13French plans for the granting of independence to New Caledonia have come under attack from all sides

14There is no end in sight to Europe's worst winter in decades.

15The New Zealand Health Department has dismissed a report that is about to be released by the United States Health Service, which claims that aspirin is potentially dangerous to children under sixteen who have the flu or chicken pox as it increases the risk of them developing Reye's (Ryes) disease. However, the New Zealand experts say Reye's has never been a problem in New Zealand.

16Auckland radio station 89FM has withdrawn a controversial television commercial that features animated visuals and special effects using strobe lighting, amid concerns it could cause epileptic seizures.

17A Christchurch shopkeeper has billed his local council for $2,500 because he feels he is providing a public toilet service that should be supplied by the Council.