1The National Party Conference in Dunedin has become preoccupied with issues around the party's leadership. A challenge may be mounted against Deputy Opposition leader Don McKinnon.

2Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and Deputy Prime Minister Helen Clark were both returned to surprise homecoming parties put on by their electorates. The Labour Party Council has approved the leadership change, but has warned it will not tolerate any more feuding among its politicians.

3Auckland police believe the body found in the Manukau Harbour this afternoon is that of the pilot of the air freight plane that crashed into the harbour on take off two weeks ago.

4Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah, has offered to help in the Beirut hostage crisis, on the condition Western nations pressure Israel into freeing its Arab prisoners.

5A campaign is under way in China to try to restore the Chinese people's trust in the People's Army - a trust that was shattered by the Tiananmen Square massacre in May.

6There is growing concern in the United States that as well as the international fishing industry, dolphins also face danger as victims of their own popularity.