1Meat worker pickets have prevented the loading of live sheep onto a ship at Timaru. However, the exporting company has tonight won an injunction in the Christchurch High Court, forcing the picketers to cease.

2Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Democratic Party, Garry Knapp has announced his intention to retire from politics at the next election.

3A group of Greenpeace demonstrators opposed to whaling made a lightning raid on two Japanese ships berthed in Wellington today.

4The new Philippines Government has begun releasing political prisoners detained under the Ferdinand Marcos regime.

5There has been more fighting in Cairo between President Hosni Mubarak's soldiers and rioting security police, leaving 26 people dead.

6The Presidential Commission into the space shuttle Challenger disaster heard today that the company that built all four shuttles advised against the launch only hours before lift-off.

7Tonight Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip are in Christchurch after an investiture in Wellington and a short stopover in nelson this afternoon. Despite good crowds in the South Island today, the 1986 Royal tour will not be remembered as a great crowd pullers. it seems clear that reverence and awe for the reigning British monarch do not grip New Zealanders the same as they used to.

8Over the next week, 6% of New Zealand's population will attend concerts by British rock band Dire Straits, amounting to $4.5 million worth of ticket sales. Who benefits when that sort of money earns thousands of dollars in interest before a single note is even played? In some cases, fans who purchase tickets are not guaranteed a show or their money back. What sort of deal can concert-goers expect for their money, aside from just the music?