12,4,5-T A working party reporting to the Environmental Council this week found insufficient evidence to justify banning the pesticide trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). However, the report did recommend a moratorium on production of 2,4,5-T while more scientific research was conducted. Why do New Zealanders spend do much time arguing over a product which offers a cheaper and ,more efficient method of controlling gorse, which is still used in many countries with strong agricultural traditions and for which there is no conclusive scientific evidence that it is harmful? Opponents argue that a product which causes birth defects and abnormalities in experimental animals might also result in harm to humans when used in the community, and that the true horror is the lack of certain knowledge regarding the long-term effects of 2,4,5-T. Discussion and viewer talkback with Jeanette Fitzsimons, a member of the working party that wrote that report.

2Edward Lee Howard, a former American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent has been granted political asylum by the Soviet Union on humanitarian grounds.

3A homeless New York man is currently visiting Moscow and is attracting much attention on Soviet television, who are using his plight as propaganda.

4The British Government has apologised to the Irish Republic for a border incident involving hundreds of Protestant Loyalists last night. The Ulster Freedom Fighters have warned that they will kill any supporters of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

5A brief listing of the New Zealand news headlines.

6The latest tender of Government stock has seen interest rates rise by up to 0.5%.

7North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fighter pilots are playing war games in Britain, in a big exercise to show how to crack Warsaw Pact defenses.

82,4,5-T A working party reporting to the Environmental Council this week found insufficient evidence to justify banning the pesticide trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). However, the report did recommend a moratorium on production of 2,4,5-T while more scientific research was conducted. Why do New Zealanders spend do much time arguing over a product which offers a cheaper and ,more efficient method of controlling gorse, which is still used in many countries with strong agricultural traditions and for which there is no conclusive scientific evidence that it is harmful? Opponents argue that a product which causes birth defects and abnormalities in experimental animals might also result in harm to humans when used in the community, and that the true horror is the lack of certain knowledge regarding the long-term effects of 2,4,5-T. Discussion and viewer talkback with Jeanette Fitzsimons, a member of the working party that wrote that report.

9A brief listing of the national and international news headlines.

102,4,5-T A working party reporting to the Environmental Council this week found insufficient evidence to justify banning the pesticide trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). However, the report did recommend a moratorium on production of 2,4,5-T while more scientific research was conducted. Why do New Zealanders spend do much time arguing over a product which offers a cheaper and ,more efficient method of controlling gorse, which is still used in many countries with strong agricultural traditions and for which there is no conclusive scientific evidence that it is harmful? Opponents argue that a product which causes birth defects and abnormalities in experimental animals might also result in harm to humans when used in the community, and that the true horror is the lack of certain knowledge regarding the long-term effects of 2,4,5-T. Discussion and viewer talkback with Jeanette Fitzsimons, a member of the working party that wrote that report.

11A brief listing of the New Zealand news headlines.

12As the cleanup gets underway in earnest, following Sydney's disastrous flooding, there are fears that some insurance companies may not accept some flood damage claims.

13United States President Ronald Reagan has offered to personally undergo a medical test to determine whether he has taken illegal drugs, to set an example in the escalating fight against drugs.