1Royal Commission on Social Policy Discussion and viewer talkback about the obligation of the state towards its citizens, and the obligations of its citizens towards each other.

2The number of unemployed in New Zealand has fallen for the first time this year.

3Finance Minister Roger Douglas says personal and company tax reform must be carried out by the Government as soon as circumstances allow.

4Two year old Hamilton liver patient Regan Chibnall is due to arrive in Brisbane any time, where he will await a life-saving transplant operation.

5British surgeons say they have located a suitable heart donor for Southland woman Bev Hope. Her operation is due to proceed today.

6Hawkes Bay MP Bill Sutton hopes to help a terminally ill Hastings girl attain her wish to visit Disneyland after plans by the Make-a-Wish Foundation ran into difficulties over obtaining insurance.

7The trial of five police officers involved in the Ruatoria arson investigation began in Gisborne today.

8Security forces in both the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland have joined forces in the biggest ever operation against the Irish Republican Army (IRA) as they execute a search for weapons and explosives.

9Typhoon Nina has killed four people and left thousands homeless in Micronesia.

10Cuban inmates holding prison guards hostage at a detention centre in Louisiana have threatened to kill the hostages if authorities attempt a rescue. Now, however, Cuban prisoners awaiting deportation at a prison in Georgia have also rioted, and seized hostages.

11The plan to cut the United States budget deficit has received a mixed response from financial experts as well as Congress.

12Ethiopians are facing another famine similar to that which killed three million people in 1985.

13A court case in Britain has resumed over a ban preventing publication of extracts from Peter Wright's controversial book Spycatcher. However, copies of the book are appearing on shelves regardless.

14The ten New Zealand surf lifesavers, who ere banned indefinitely after competing in South Africa without permission, have been readmitted to the Surf Lifesaving Association on a limited basis.

15High speed fighter planes will be flying at low levels over parts of New Zealand today as part of a joint New Zealand - Australia defence exercise.

16Royal Commission on Social Policy Discussion and viewer talkback about the obligation of the state towards its citizens, and the obligations of its citizens towards each other.