1Coup Fiji's elected Prime Minister Dr Timoci Bavadra has been released after six days in detention, claiming he is still Fiji's leader. However Governor General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau maintains he is the sole authority in Fiji and has set about forming a Council of Advisors. Meanwhile, in Suva, fifty people were injured in a huge brawl which saw Fijian Indians (Indo-Fijians) set upon by indigenous Fijians when a prayer meeting degenerated into a riot. Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka has visited a meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs, and has since appealed for calm. It is being reported that the Great Council of Chiefs has given its support to the military regime of Rabuka. The New Zealand Government has warned New Zealanders not to travel to Fiji, and Prime MInister David Lange has urged those already in Fiji to return immediately. Air Force transport aircraft are on standby at Whenuapai should an evacuation be necessary. There have been accusations that the real reason for the coup in Fiji was covered up by the Fijian military. Constitutional lawyer Bill Hodge says he has seen evidence of corruption involving the ousted Government of Ratu Sir Kamese Mara. He alleges the coup was staged to prevent embarrassing revelations by the Bavadra Government about the Mara Government's past dealings. The Air New Zealand cabin crew who overpowered a hijacker at Nadi Airport yesterday, returned home last night to a heroes' welcome.

2Libya will not be permitted to establish a diplomatic post in New Zealand, following the Australian expulsion of the Libyan People's Bureau from Canberra, after it was accused of meddling in Australian domestic affairs.

3The death toll from the American frigate USS Stark, attacked by Iraqi missiles in the Persian Gulf, has risen to 37.

4Hindu - Muslim rioting has flared in three Indian cities today, leaving at least 19 people dead, 220 people injured, and a million people under a curfew.

5Tamaki MP Sir Robert Muldoon appeared before Parliament's Privileges Committee today to defend a charge of Contempt of Parliament brought against him by East Coast Bays MP Garry Knapp. Knapp says Muldoon is in contempt for making a press statement that reflected negatively on the "conduct, character and impartiality" of Parliament's Speaker, Dr Gerard Wall.