1Labour Party anger at Government plans to sell off Air New Zealand spilled over at today's Caucus meeting. Party President Ruth Dyson has told Caucus in no uncertain terms that the Labour Party and its supporters are totally opposed to the sale. However State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Richard Prebble remains adamant that the airline will be sold before Christmas. Who is pulling the strings in Cabinet?

2New rules to cover company takeovers and protect small investors are being recommended by the Securities Commission.

3A settlement has been reached in the Grocery and Supermarket Award talks, which is expected to provide a lift to other wage round negotiations.

4The Electricity Corporation (Electricorp) has been accused of scaremongering to turn people against the conservation movement. Electricorp has been telling consumers that any moves to reduce the amount of water it takes from the Whanganui River catchment could lead to higher power bills. However, both the Government and conservationists are rubbishing such claims.

5The Government will vacate Parliament buildings in two years, and is expected to remain elsewhere for around four years, while they are being refurbished and earthquake-strengthened.

6Warships from the Royal Netherlands Navy made a spectacular departure from Wellington today.

7There has been outrage and accusations of censorship over the British Government's ban on television and radio interviews with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Protestant paramilitary groups from Northern Ireland, because it includes legal political organisations such as Sinn Fein and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and excludes newspapers from the ban.

8Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese women were killed when a suicide bomber in a vehicle packed with explosives rammed their convoy today.

9A total of 164 people have been killed in two separate plane crashes in India.

10An Audit Office report claims inefficient local authority health inspections may be costing New Zealand more than $35 million a year in lost productivity due to food-borne illnesses.

11Doctors at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne have successfully separated conjoined (Siamese) twins who were born at the weekend.

12Telecom had been considering taking legal action against the Christchurch Wizard for repainting their blue telephone boxes red, however tonight they had a change of heart.

13A helicopter has forced an avalanche of snow on the road to Milford Sound because it was threatening the safety of motorists.

14New Zealand's America's Cup yacht has finally reached New York where it's detention in Cuba has created a great deal of publicity.

15The giant pandas on loan from China made their debut tp the public at Auckland Zoo today.