1Prime Minister David Lange and Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke have agreed to speed up the expansion of Closer Economic Relations Agreement (CER) between the two countries, both agreeing that free trade across the Tasman will "come sooner than expected".

2The centre of the historic Northland township of Rawene has been extensively damaged by fire.

3Two men died today when their light plane crashed on Lochinvar Station in the central North Island.

4A helicopter has crashed in Westland, killing the pilot and severely injuring his passenger.

5Hamilton police are still trying to piece together what happened to a 23 year old man who died in Waikato Hospital on Friday night after being severely beaten.

6A 21 year old Southland man was today given a new heart and lungs at London's Harefield Hospital.

7A fundraising appeal to send two year old Hamilton boy Regan Chibnall to Brisbane for a liver transplant has passed $200,000.

8The moves announced by Washington to cut the United States budget deficit have been generally welcomed by other industrialised nations, although reaction within the United States remains cool.

9The investigation into the fire at the King's Cross underground station has found that it smoldered for at least two hours before it exploded into a fireball, killing 30 people.

10Enniskillen residents will hold a memorial service tomorrow for the eleven people who died in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombing two weeks ago.

11Nearly six months after Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka's military coup in Fiji, the new political leadership of the country is by no means finalised. Continuing instability has had wide-ranging effects on the Fijian economy.