1At least five people are dead - some of them schoolgirls - following an horrific bus crash near Hastings tonight.

2Tens of millions of dollars were wiped off the value of shares at stock exchanges around New Zealand today as speculators continued to bail out of a shaky market.

3The Wellington High Court has stopped a planned strike by New Zealand's professional fire fighters by extending yesterday's interim injunction for another week.

4A thunderstorm that struck Auckland this afternoon brought hailstones as big as fifty cent pieces, and caused a fire engine to become stuck in a drift of hailstones.

5The trial of American car worker, John Demjanjuk has begun in Israel. Demjanjuk is accused of being the Nazi war criminal known as Ivan the Terrible, but his lawyers say it is a case of mistaken identity.

6Soviet leader MIkhail Gorbachev has told a peace forum in Moscow that there must be an end to the Superpowers'' arms race. Attending celebrities also heard Gorbachev make some encouraging statements about human rights in the Soviet Union.

7The Republic of Ireland goes to the polls tomorrow, with opinion polls predicting a close result. The main election issue is the country's economy, which is so stagnant, another Irish exodus is underway, as Irish citizens leave their country for greener pastures.

8Headline News 1. Visa requirements for travellers from Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa are to be reimposed because the Government believes the system is being abused 2. Fisheries officers have cracked down on black marketing of fish 3. Greenpeace crew in the Antarctic began the return home today

9Three months after removing visa requirements for travellers from Tonga, Fiji and Western Samoa, they are to be reimposed because the Government believes the freer process is being abused. Pacific leaders in Auckland agree the Government does need to take action, but are critical of the abruptness of the change. Interview with Immigration Minister Kerry Burke.

10The Wellington High Court has stopped a planned strike by New Zealand's professional fire fighters by extending yesterday's interim injunction for another week. Interview with the MInister of State Services Stan Rodger.

11Tens of millions of dollars were wiped off the value of shares at stock exchanges around New Zealand today as speculators continued to bail out of a shaky market.

12Worldwatch The trial of American car worker, John Demjanjuk has begun in Israel. Demjanjuk is accused of being the Nazi war criminal known as Ivan the Terrible, but his lawyers say it is a case of mistaken identity.

13Worldwatch Soviet leader MIkhail Gorbachev has told a peace forum in Moscow that there must be an end to the Superpowers'' arms race. Attending celebrities also heard Gorbachev make some encouraging statements about human rights in the Soviet Union.

14Worldwatch Worldwatch A row is developing between the Soviet Union and the United States over a controversial new seven-part ABC American television series, Amerika. It dramatises a future in which America has become occupied by the Soviets. The first episode has aired in the United States - how was it received? Russia has never invaded the United States, but history shows the reverse is actually true.

15Worldwatch The Republic of Ireland goes to the polls tomorrow, with opinion polls predicting a close result. The main election issue is the country's economy, which is so stagnant, another Irish exodus is underway, as Irish citizens leave their country for greener pastures.

16Worldwatch In Margaret Thatcher's England, the gap between the North and the South is no longer simply cultural and linguistic. In the South, business is booming and unemployment dropping, while the North is becoming increasingly poverty stricken.

17Worldwatch The United Kingdom's first 24-hour newspaper will soon go on sale, but only in London and the South-East. The London Daily News will have five different editions each day.

18Worldwatch The British Government is under pressure from environmentalists and other countries to reduce the amount of dangerous sewage waste it allows to be dumped in the North Sea.