1The United States has exploded a nuclear weapon under the Nevada Desert, and blown apart any prospect of an early nuclear test ban with the Soviet Union.

2Well over half of United States physicists, receiving money from the Department of Defence, believe the Reagan Administration's Star Wars Programme is unworkable.

3Prime Minister David Lange has been given a colourful welcome in China.

4Someone opened fire with a rifle on a priest's house in Bluff today.

5A nationwide survey shows clear support for the abolition of the University Entrance exam.

6An Australian Air Force Hercules was flying over South Auckland this afternoon, when one of its engines disintegrated, showering the region with debris. There were no reports of injuries or property damage.

7British author and historian David Irving plans to take defamation action against The University of Auckland, following the cancellation of a lecture he was to have delivered on campus tomorrow. He was to talk about falsifications of history regarding World War Two, Hitler and Churchill. Irving is a leading Holocaust denier.

8An Australian man has turned his Volkswagen into SeaBug, a water vehicle in which he plans to try to cross Bass Strait from the mainland to Tasmania.

9Shoppers in Lower Hutt this weekend have been surprised by the risque antics of an enthusiastic window dresser, who is unashamedly flaunting a new line of menswear.