1Twenty of the world's most influential Trade Ministers have begun talks behind closed doors in Taupo today. On the agenda was better access to world markets for farm produce.

2Another inmate has hanged himself at Paremoremo Prison, just two days after the Justice Department announced plans to combat an epidemic of prison suicides.

3The Parole Board meat at Paremoremo Prison today to discuss Dean Wickliffe's application for parole. However, no decision has been announced. Wickliffe was convicted of murdering jeweller Paul Miet during an armed robbery in 1972, but last year his conviction was downgraded to manslaughter by the Court of Appeal.

4The Justice Department claims it has good reason to transfer Maori activist Dun Mihaka to the notorious D Block at Paremoremo Prison. Mihaka is serving a six month prison sentence for unpaid fines.

5The latest report on the economy claims New Zealand is moving into a recession. Economic forecasters Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) predict rising unemployment, falling farm production and "fragile" business conditions. High inflation, an overvalued dollar and soaring interest rates are being blamed for the situation. However, BERL is predicting some long-term improvement.

6State and private sector unions will meet in Wellington tomorrow to begin the process of merging into the Council of Trade Unions (CTU), a move which will see the Federation of Labour (FOL) and the Combined State Unions (CSU) become history. However, some of the more traditional unions do not approve of the changes.

7Cook Strait ferry services will not run until Friday, thanks to a strike by Harbour Board workers in Wellington and Picton in protest at the breakdown of their pay talks. Strike action by harbour workers has led to the suspension of watersiders in Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, Lyttelton ad Dunedin.

8The Crown will fight any move to return the 27-hecttare public reserve in the Bay of Islands to its former Maori owners.

9The American-based International Committee Against Violent Entertainment wants all television stations to be required by law to tell viewers what programmes could be harmful to them.

10Police have made two arrests in Ruatoria and charged two men with arson. However, they warn the residents of Ruatoria to remain vigilant against arsonists.

11Former Australian Opposition leader Andrew Peacock has been sacked from the Shadow Front Bench after apparently criticising Liberal Party leader John Howard.

12Philippines President Corazon Aquino has abandoned her efforts to make peace with rebel groups, and has vowed instead to "crush them".

13INvestigators believe smoldering rubbish in a garbage chute started a fire in a New York high rise apartment building that killed seven people and injured twenty.

14Scottish authorities are investigating the second explosion at the British Petroleum (BP) refinery at Grangemouth in nine days. One man was killed in today's explosion.

15More than twenty ships remain trapped in thick ice in the Baltic Sea, after one of Europe's coldest winters.

16The first of 34 entrants in the Singapore to Christchurch Air Race took off today.

17A memorial stone now honours the Maori who died as prisoners in Otago, after being brought from Parihaka in Taranaki a century ago. Today the stone was unveiled in a special service in Dunedin today.