1An opinion poll showing the National Party has fallen nine percentage points behind Labour has cast a shadow over the National Party conference in Christchurch. However, National Party leader Jim McLay received an enthusiastic welcome from delegates.

2Heavy rain and flooding last week has caused millions of dollars worth of damage ho hill country farms as well as to those in low-lying areas near Gisborne. The storm continues to lash parts of the country, with Kaikoura the latest region to suffer damage.

3Police are considering mounting a full scale search for two fishermen missing in a small boat off the coast of Leigh.

4There have been no sightings of the New Caledonian yacht Ouvea, whose crew is wanted by New Zealand Police investigating the Rainbow Warrior bombing. Efforts towards salvaging the sunken Greenpeace vessel began in Auckland today.

5Breaking News There has been a military coup in Uganda. A man identifying himself as a military officer interrupted a Radio Uganda broadcast to announce that the military has overthrown Ugandan President MIlton Obote.

6The Soviet research vessel Mikhail Somov, which has been trapped in an Antarctic ice floe for four months, has finally been freed.

7The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a French resolution calling for voluntary economic sanctions against South Africa.

8Three people have died and around twenty are missing in Japan following a huge landslide engulfed an old people's home and destroyed around seventy houses.

9The main Sikh political party in India has called off its three year long campaign for political and religious autonomy in the State of Punjab and have signed an historic peace accord with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

10HPA-23, a controversial drug being used in France for the treatment of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), may soon be available for use in the United States. Despite having serious side effects, medical experts believe the new drugs warrant further investigation in the fight against the disease, which has an 84% mortality rate.

11A frenchwoman has flown upside down across the English Channel.