1Convicted New Zealand drug dealer Peter Fulcher has been charged with armed robbery in Sydney, which may delay extradition proceedings for New Zealand Police.

2Rescue workers are sifting through the ruins of a block of London flats after a gas explosion destroyed nearly half of the building. So far eight bodies have been recovered, along with one survivor.

3A cloud of poisonous gas from a chemical plant is threatening a town of 35,000 people west of Stockholm.

4Traffic is flowing again on State Highway 5 between Rotorua and Taupo after an ethanol leak at the Reparoa Dairy Factory closed the road for several hours.

5Workers in Christchurch today discovered damaged drums in a container holding three different chemicals. All necessary precautions were taken and the drums were safely removed.

6Emergency services were alerted today when a plane with undercarriage difficulties was forced to make an emergency landing at Ardmore Airport.

7Eight hours of torrential rain coupled with high spring tides caused major surface in the Nelson region last night.

8The United States says it sees no conflict with pressing on with the MX Nuclear missile programme and arms control.

9The British pound sterling closed at a record low in New York today.

10United States Senator Edward Kennedy (aka Ted Kennedy) has been told by a Zulu leader that South Africa's Blacks would be the first to be harmed by American economic sanctions against the South African Government in response to its apartheid policies.

11A thirty year old Italian woman has given birth to six baby boys after using fertility treatment.

12The New Zealand Army is carrying out joint tests with Australia looking for a replacement for the standard SLR (self loading) rifle that was designed almost thirty years ago. A British decision to replace the SLR with a newer model is having some unexpected side effects.

13A top official from the Ministry of Transport has finished a close look at a Queenstown white water rafting operation and has declared it safe, despite an abnormally high number of injuries.

14New Zealand Party leader Bob Jones has painted a generally bright picture in a State of the Nation speech in Taupo last night.

15Forestry and wildlife officers are to launch an expedition in the Nelson area in the hope of locating some endangered kakapo, whose distinct booming sound has been heard in the region recently.