1The United States is reportedly planning to send more warships to the Persian Gulf and among them could be a mine sweeper. This follows the hitting of a mine by the Kuwaiti oil tanker Bridgeton, which was sailing under United States protection.

2Switzerland is bracing itself for possible retaliation after yesterday's seizure of the hijacker of a Congolese airliner.

3A new political crisis is looming in Fiji with the rejection today of a compromised peace plan prepared by the Great Council of Chiefs. The militant Taukei movement says the plan does not go far enough to guarantee indigenous Fijian supremacy. However, the Indian-dominated Labour coalition says it goes too far. Meanwhile, the New Zealand and Australian high Commissioners in Fiji have been accused of feeding back inaccurate information to their Governments regarding the role of former Fijian Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara in the military coup.

4Election 1987 With three weeks until the general election, the political parties are turning on the main television thrust of their campaigns. National Party leader Jim Bolger took the stage in the Christchurch Town Hall today for a leader's rally, which will screen later this evening.

5The Salvation Army has spoken out strongly against what they say is a failure by successive Governments to provide for the care of the elderly in New Zealand.