1Relations between New Zealand and France are strained to breaking point following the release of the Tricot Report into the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. The report confirms that French spies have been operating in New Zealand, but has found no evidence that the French Secret Service or the French Government were behind the bombing.

2Rotorua Police believe a bomb was responsible for an explosion at a house yesterday which killed one woman and seriously injured another. They are treating the explosion as homicide.

3Convicted Mr Asia drug dealer Peter Fulcher has been remanded in custody until next week, when he will face court on four charges of assault, including two with intent to rob.

4The Labour Government will make it politically very difficult for future governments to change the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate.

5Wealthy Wellington businessman Frank Renouf is to marry Australian socialite Susan Sangster next week.

6The Medical and nursing profession has criticised New Zealand's top heart surgeon Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes, for bringing a wealthy Indonesian man to Auckland Greenlane Hospital for heart surgery as a private patient, while there are New Zealanders continuing to wait for much-needed surgery.

7Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, a visiting South African anti-apartheid campaigner, says time is running out for South Africa and the country is likely to descend into civil war. Trevor Tutu, son of famed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has been detained for allegedly swearing at a police officer during a court case regarding school boycotts.

8Thirteen year old Samantha Smith, the American schoolgirl whose wish for peace led to a Presidential invitation to visit the Soviet Union in 1983, has died in a plane crash.

9Kiribati has signed an agreement allowing Soviet fishing boats to fish for tuna in its waters.

10The Government has offered Stewart Islanders $330,000 to help replace the ferry Wairua, their only sealink with the mainland.

11Tony Steele, the President of the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) has called for the abolition of corporal punishment in schools.