1The death toll from the Zeebrugge ferry disaster is likely to exceed 130. The official casualty figures are 51 dead and more than 80 people still unaccounted for. Rescue workers hold virtually no hope of finding any more survivors. More than 400 people did manage to escape. Investigations into the cause of the ferry disaster as it set off for a Channel Tunnel crossing, are still ongoing. What are the chances of a similar accident occurring in New Zealand on the InterIslander ferries operating in Cook Strait?

2Trading bank workers will learn details of a pay deal reached between their union and bank employers tomorrow. Their planned strike for tomorrow and Tuesday has been called off.

3Feelings are running high in the hunt for the South Island's lucrative sea-run salmon. To counter a lucrative black market, the Government has allowed commercial fisherman to land the salmon as an "incidental bycatch", so long as they do not deliberately fish for salmon. However, the salmon farming industry, Fisheries officers and recreational fishermen complain their stock is being hijacked before it can return to the rivers.

4Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Sir Robert Muldoon today expressed concern about a report that LIbya plans to step up its diplomatic and commercial presence in the South Pacific.

5There have been new developments in the case of jailed American Intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of handing United States military secrets to Israel. Some are questioning why the Pollards, who are both Jewish, were refused sanctuary in Israel. Relations between Israel and the United States are at a low point.

6The road toll for this weekend stands at seven. Three were killed when a truck went over a bank on Great Barrier Island and another five were injured.

7Shipping company P&O marks its 150th anniversary this year, and to mark the occasion the company's Pacific flagship the Royal Princess made her first visit to Auckland this weekend.

8Welsh actor Windsor Davies is currently in New Zealand, performing in the Dunedin stage play Run For Your Wife.