1A man with a bizarre psychiatric history escaped from Carrington Psychiatric Hospital yesterday and was later found intoxicated and partly undressed. The Auckland Hospital Board has since announced that a new 30-bed secure ward for dangerous patients will open next month.

2It has been confirmed that a woman who works at Auckland Hospital has contracted Legionnaires' disease.

3The row over alleged financial mismanagement at Northland Polytechnic erupted in public today when Chief Executive Noel Harrison claimed infants were being enrolled as tertiary students in order to save the crèche from insolvency. However, there are calls for him to be sacked.

4Around 3000 tertiary students marched through central Christchurch this evening opposing tertiary fees.

5Next week's Budget secrets were almost accidentally revealed to journalists today.

6A bomb has exploded inside the London Stock Exchange. The 18th century building had been evacuated after a phone warning from the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

7A New Zealander who survived the devastating Philippines earthquake last week has recalled his traumatic experience.

8South Korea will open the heavily fortified border with North Korea for five days next month.

9Two British teenage girls are in a Thai prison tonight after being caught allegedly trying to smuggle heroin out of Bangkok.

10Disgraced former United States President Richard Nixon has been honoured by some of the world's rich and powerful at the opening of the Nixon Museum in California.

11The National Party conference has opened in Wellington today with an emphasis on presentation over policy.

12A new batch of New Zealand films has signalled that the struggling New Zealand film industry is finally on the up. A preview of some of the new releases and a look at some of the obstacles New Zealand filmmakers continue to face.