1The French have exploded another underground nuclear device at Mururoa Atoll.

2The rebel rugby team has again taken the field in South Africa, despite an order by the International Rugby Board (IRB) that the tour be called off. Today the cavaliers played Northern Transvaal in Pretoria and won 10:9.

3Seamus McElwaine, a leading member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been shot dead in an encounter with security forces while trying to plant a bomb near Rosslea in Northern Ireland.

4French police believe that an explosion in Lyon yesterday may have been linked with the murder of a British businessman. A group calling itself the Arab Revolutionary Front has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

5A bomb explosion in Beirut badly damaged the British Bank of the Middle East. Police also defused a car bomb outside the United States embassy in Mexico City today.

6The Mount Augustine volcano in Alaska is showing signs of an imminent eruption and volcanologists are warning nearby residents to prepare for the worst.

7Veteran cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Dzahibekov is visiting New Zealand to mark the 25th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space.

8The popularity of New Zealand Democratic Party leader Bruce Beetham remains as high as ever within the party faithful, despite recent calls by MP Garry Knapp calling for Beetham to step down as leader.