1Anglican Church special envoy terry Waite has himself been kidnapped by the pro-Iranian extremist group Islamic Jihad in Lebanon, according to American television news sources.

2New tenancy laws came into effect today, However, there are fears that they could result in the Housing Corporation finding itself short of money, as landlords elect not to collect bond money from their tenants.

3New postal rates came into effect today.

4From June this year, New Zealand will no longer receive special treatment when ordering military equipment from the United States.

5The stock market has continued last week's slide, with the state of the economy being blamed.

6The Government has decided to scrap its contract work schemes for gangs following investigations by the police and Labour Department into abuses of the scheme.

7Police are searching for a man accused of kidnapping a woman from Wellington and repeatedly raping her on the way to Te Horo Beach near Otaki overnight.

8Filipinos went to the polls today to vote on whether or not to ratify a new Constitution proposed by the Aquino Government.

9Troops were called in this afternoon to help fight a major scrub fire in Canterbury.