1Reports from New Caledonia say that Kanak separatists in New Caledonia have released 37 hostages they were holding at Mare Airport.

2A senior Nigerian politician has warned New Zealand that it could face a sports boycott by Black African nations if the All Black rugby tour of South Africa proceeds. Meanwhile, the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) has rejected demands from anti-tour groups to withdraw its financial support of Auckland schoolboy rugby.

3A brief visit by United States President Ronald Reagan to the German war cemetery at Bitburg is threatening to overshadow the major economic summit conference which prompted his visit to Germany in the first instance.

4New Zealand sixties pop singer Allison Durban has been found guilty of using heroin in a Sydney court.

5Commuter trains on Wellington's Johnsonville line travelled through a major bush fire this evening.

6The winners of the Montana Lindauer Art Award were announced in Gisborne this evening.

7Tomorrow is May Day and while workers around the world will take to the streets to mark the occasion, unionists in New Zealand who planned to do likewise may be declared on strike and could face being fired. Labour Minister Stan Rodger also opposes workers taking time off work to march.

8A battle over the right to sell frozen bread dough in the North Island has finally been settled after two years of fighting.

9Vietnam is marking the 10th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and the American news media has embarked on an invasion of a different kind.

10The Philippines is embroiled in the trial of twenty-six military men accused of the assassination of Opposition leader Benigno Aquino in 1983. General Fabian Ver, Chief of the armed forces, is central to the alleged plot.