1New Zealand yacht KZ7 is currently racing American syndicate Stars and Stripes in the second race of the America's Cup Challenger final.

2Prime Minister David Lange has predicted that New Zealand's economic woes will continue for some time. Today he made his first major political statement of the year, and said that although the GOvernment's policies are starting to take effect, there is still major economic adjustment ahead.

3New Zealand Democratic Party leader Neil Morrison says his party may withdraw its candidates for Maori parliamentary seats in this election, if it will improve the Mana Motuhake Party's chances at the polls. He and Mana Motuhake leader Matiu Rata have been discussing a possible alliance between the two parties.

4Wellington police are searching for two men who held up a suburban pharmacy (chemist) this afternoon.

5A French reporter covering British envoy Terry Waite's latest attempt to free sixteen missing hostages in Lebanon, has himself been kidnapped by armed gunmen.

6A hotel maintenance worker has been arrested in Puerto Rico for starting the New Year's Eve fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel, which killed 96 people and injured 140.

7A Federal judge in the United States has sentenced seven men, accused of being the 'board of directors' of the American mafia, each to 100 years in prison and fined around NZ$500,000.

8New Zealand nurse Elizabeth Bennett, who has just returned home after a year working with drought victims in Sudan, says Western aid is vital for the region's development.

9The Federation of Labour (FOL) has spoken out strongly against special telephone recording machines which unions claim are an invasion of workers' privacy.

10Longburn Freezing Works near Palmerston North is being mothballed by management as a dispute over a new wage deal drags on. Other meatworks in the lower half of the North Island are reporting backlogs as drought-stricken farmers try to reduce their stock numbers.

11The Army and the Forest Service have been called in to help fight an enormous peat fire near Hamilton.

12The first consignment of unleaded petrol from Marsden Point is on its way to New Zealand motorists on the tanker Amokura.