1Civil Defence authorities have begun evacuating two Southland towns Otautau and Mataura which are being threatened by rising floodwaters.

2Opposition MP Ian McLean believes the Bay of Plenty earthquake could cost as much as the 1931 Napier earthquake. He also accuses the Government of taking too long to make decisions needed to boost the morale of affected locals.

3The extent of damage caused by the earthquakes which shook Ecuador last week is only now becoming apparent. The confirmed death toll stands at 20, but officials fear as many as 300 people may have died. Fifteen thousand people have been left homeless.

4Insurance claims from the Zeebrugge ferry disaster are expected to be more than $90 million. 134 people are believed to have died in the sinking of British Channel Island ferry Herald of Free Enterprise, although 81 bodies are yet to be recovered. Preparations for salvage and body recovering have now begun. Tales of heroism among crew and passengers are now emerging, and an eight year old boy, left an orphan by the tragedy, has become the face of the disaster.

5A senior Customs officer is one of six people arrested in Sydney after police seized five and a half kilograms of heroin hidden inside footballs (soccer balls) imported from Pakistan.

6A Darwin court has been told today that the police investigation into the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain "had a very unsatisfactory flavour, and smacked of a cover-up".

7The high value of the New Zealand dollar on the foreign exchange markets has saved New Zealand almost $500 million.

8Finance Minister Roger Douglas has rejected Opposition criticism of his policy of restructuring the public sector. Acting Opposition leader George Gair says selling shares into the new corporations, means taxpayers will have to pay again for shares in companies they already own.

9The Government Taskforce on Trade Union and Worker Education has found that racism is a major problem in the workplace, and has called for a greater understanding of cultural differences which should begin in schools.

10Two men have been jailed for nine years for kidnapping the wife of a prominent Hamilton businessman last month.

11Prominent Auckland criminal lawyer Ed Leary is before the Court of Appeal in an attempt to avoid being struck off for perjury and association with drug dealers.

12Greece is currently locked in the grip of a fierce blizzard which has brought snow to the island of Rhodes for the first time in living memory and paralysed Athens.

13Update - Civil Defence Emergency in Southland Civil Defence authorities have extended the state of emergency, brought about by severe flooding, to the entire Southland province, except for Invercargill and Bluff.