1The controversial film The Last Temptation of Christ opened in New Zealand today amidst a storm of protest.

2Mobil is keeping out of the public argument over the future of the synthetic fuel plant at Motunui, which was one of the previous national Government's Think Big projects.

3Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet has rejected Opposition calls to step down in the wake of his referendum defeat, insisting he has the right to remain in power until elections next year.

4The Mason Report on Psychiatric Services will be released within 24-hours, but it will be remarkably different from the document given to Health Minister David Caygill three months ago. Court action has gutted the report of some of its most telling findings.

5Psychiatric nurses have decided to for their own professional body aimed at giving nurses greater influence over the way mental health services are managed.

6It could be months before a decision is made on the future of key doctors involved in the Cervical Cancer Inquiry.

7The Department of Conservation (DOC) says hundreds of the extremely rare Hector's Dolphin are being caught and killed in set fishing nets. They are calling for fishing restrictions to be imposed lest the dolphins become extinct.

8The body of one of the two Greymouth fishermen, missing after their boat capsized near the mouth of the Grey River, has been found.

9Two young men who used a loaded gun to rob a Dunedin Postbank last month have been jailed for eight years.

10A state of siege has been declared in Algiers, and a curfew is in force after fresh rioting broke out on the second day of anti-Government protests.

11Democrats in the United States are celebrating the performance of Lloyd Benson in the televised Vice Presidential debate against Republican nominee Dan Quayle.

12The Government and Qantas have reached a deal on the airline's 25% stake in Air New Zealand.

13Finance Minister Roger Douglas has warned that hard-won economic gains could be lost if pay increases in this year's wage round are accepted.

14Telecom is moving from a State Owned Enterprise (SOE) to a more commercially orientated operation and will embark on new telephone billing rates that are expected to cost kindergartens and Playcentres significantly more than they are currently paying.

15Official backing is likely for a South Canterbury horticulturalist who may have developed the solution to New Zealand's drought problems. He has developed a system for growing grain hydroponically.

16The Department of Conservation (DOC) says hundreds of the extremely rare Hector's Dolphin are being caught and killed in set fishing nets. They are calling for fishing restrictions to be imposed lest the dolphins become extinct.

17Giant pandas Xiao Xiao and Fei Fei are settling in at Auckland Zoo after today's flight from Sydney.