1Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100 metre gold medal after returning a positive drugs test, and has been sent home from the Seoul Olympic Games. Doping controversies have overshadowed the 1988 Olympic Games and the sporting community is desperately trying to clean up its act. Will the Seoul Olympics be remembered as the Drug Games? Auckland will now have to organise a sophisticated drug testing programme in time for the 1990 Commonwealth Games. However, it will have to do so on a tight budget.

2Breaking News The Government is being taken to court again over Maori fishing claims. Representatives from 38 tribes are claiming the entire New Zealand coastline (including that of the Chatham Islands) and accusing the Crown of trespass. They are also seeking a review of the Government's decision to set up the individual transferable quota system.

3New Zealand's role in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping work is likely to be extended and could include a contingent in Namibia. Prime Minister David Lange is currently in New York to address the UN General Assembly.

4United States President Ronald Reagan made his final address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly today as President, calling for an end to the horror of chemical weapons.

5Ansett New Zealand has banned smoking on domestic flights.

6Daylight savings will be lengthened by up to six weeks during the summer of 1989-1990.

7Two men are in hospital following a crane collapse in New Plymouth.

8The Government has confirmed it is establishing a monopoly Kiwifruit Marketing Board to try to save New Zealand's kiwifruit industry.

9New Zealand's part-time soldiers (Territorials) are finding it increasingly difficult to be granted leave to train with the army, leaving them with less experience than is ideal..

10Anti nuclear protests continued in Sydney today as the United States battleship USS New Jersey arrived in Sydney Harbour.

11A gunman has gone on the rampage in a school in South Caroline, killing a young girl and wounding ten others.

12Israeli troops have been accused of using a new type of plastic bullet against Palestinian demonstrators, which penetrates the body like live ammunition.

13Disaster-stricken Sudan, still reeling from the effects of heavy flooding, is now facing a plague of locusts.

14The merino sheep is being heralded as the saviour of New Zealand's ailing pastural industry, High prices for wool and a trial underway in Central Otago suggests that these sheep may be able to be farmed elsewhere rather than just on rugged high country sheep stations.