1South Auckland detectives have arrested and charged two Samoan men with murder following the machete attack on two Tongan men in the Otara mall yesterday.

2A top official from New Caledonia's Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) has called on French Presidential candidates Francois Mitterand and Jacques Chirac to agree on a political mediator to resolve the Ouvean hostage crisis. Meanwhile, the head of the Catholic Church in new Caledonia has agreed to mediate in the hostage drama.

3People are being evacuated in parts of New South Wales due to heavy flooding. A woman and her baby were killed today near Wollongong when their house collapsed on top of them.

4Prime Minister David Lange has received an Anti Nuclear Award in California.

5Counterfeit $20 bank notes are circulating in New Zealand, and police are warning people to be alert.

6A number of fake Maori artefacts, recently discovered in a Hawkes Bay museum, will soon become the basis for an international study of ethnic forgeries.

7The second stage of a Government deregulation programme came into force today, allowing anyone to sell phones and other telecommunications equipment. However, despite now having to face competition, Telecom still has the means to identify and report any equipment that does not meet standards.

8South Island doctors say radical changes are needed in the medical system, because the profession is increasingly out of touch with what the public expects, and there is growing unease among both doctors and patients.

9South Island doctors say radical changes are needed in the medical system, because the profession is increasingly out of touch with what the public expects, and there is growing unease among both doctors and patients.