1In a hardline unemployment policy released today, National is warning that it will crack down on what it terms 'dole-bludgers' if it becomes the Government later this year.

2A man has been charged with the murder of Nicholas Thomas, whose badly beaten body was found in a Hamilton park on Friday.

3A new report on smoking highlights the number of teenage girls taking up the habit, and has called on anti-smoking measures targeting women.

4Maoridom is grieving the passing of kaumatua Ephraim Te Paa, widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable people about Maori oral tradition.

5Auckland's elderly residents are becoming increasingly concerned about a 25% annual rates increase by the Auckland Regional Council (ARC)..

6The Superpowers are hailing today's agreement to limit long-range nuclear missiles.

7South African President FW De Klerk is in Europe seeking support for his Government, and says he is in a hurry to dismantle apartheid.

8A new 515km per hour speed record has been sent by France's intercity high-speed electric train (TGV).

9Survivors of the Mount St Helens volcanic eruption have met near the mountain this weekend to reflect on the tenth anniversary of the disaster.

10Filming has begun on the New Zealand feature film Te Rua, a political thriller about stolen Māori carvings in a Berlin museum and an iwi's attempts to have them returned.

11A fur seal pup was rescued in the Manukau Harbour today and taken to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World to recover before he will be re-released.

12Canterbury has experienced its first significant snowfall of the winter.