1The Fire Commission is likely to ask the Government for permission to increase its pay offer to fire fighters in an attempt to avoid strike action next week.

2National Party MP Winston Peters says he plans to turn his attention to the Treasury's involvement in the Maori Affairs loans case.

3Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures show that New Zealand had the second-highest rate of inflation for 1986 of the 24 member countries, following only Turkey.

4Food and medical aid has tonight reached starving Palestinians trapped in a refugee camp inside Lebanon for almost four months.

5The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there were over two thousand new cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported worldwide last month.

6For the fifth consecutive day, Soviet authorities have clashed with Jewish dissidents and Western journalists in Moscow.

7An Alabama court has ordered the United Klans of America to pay US$7 million to the mother of a young Black man who was lynched in 1981. The judgement may ruin the White supremacist group as its members are largely low-paid and uneducated.

8Black South African Anti apartheid activist, Bishop Desmond Tutu launched a new attack on his country today.

9The Prince and Princess of Wales are currently touring Portugal.

10Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her husband Prince Henrik are to leave Auckland tonight following a six-day State visit.

11Hundreds of supporters turned out in Christchurch and Dunedin today to welcome home the New Zealand America's Cup Challenge team and the crew of KZ7.

12Restorers have been cleaning away centuries of grime from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. However, some art critics believe the cleaning process is damaging the frescoes.