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[New Zealand] Prime Minister Helen Clark says her bridge-building trip to India this week has not been undermined by a newspaper report that wrongly said she would tell it to sign up to nuclear disarmament treaties. An angry Miss Clark yesterday described the article on the front page of the Hindustan Times as a "low value beat-up", and said she had been assured by India's Foreign Ministry that it would not damage relations with India or mar her visit. In the article, the paper's chief diplomatic correspondent, Saurabh Shukla, quoted Miss Clark as describing the disputed territory of Kashmir between...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen... Randog, the pride of Nevada will tie the knot on Saturday, October 9.Join with me in wishing him and his wife to be all the best for a very happy, healthy and prosperous life together.

New Zealand is risking fresh American ire after voicing doubts about the credibility of Iraqi elections amid continuing violence. Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff made it clear yesterday that he doubted the elections would take place as scheduled next January, even as United States President George W Bush vowed not to be blown off course by daily violence in Iraq. "The point of holding an election is to give a popular mandate that is a credible mandate and if the circumstances are such that that can't be organised with confidence then I think it likely that the process will be...

New Zealand is the easiest place in the world to do business, according to a new report from the World Bank. "Doing Business 2005" says New Zealand tops the 145 nations surveyed by the World Bank on seven measures of administrative and regulatory impediments, most of which deal with barriers to entrepreneurial undertakings rather than the actual operation of business. The other nine of the top ten nations are, in order, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Norway, the UK, Canada, Sweden and Japan. The top score is an average of New Zealand's performance on the seven indicators and...

Accounting firm Deloitte is trying to position itself to play a part in the potentially lucrative Islamic finance market ­ with the unusual selling point that "sharia-compliant" banking is not just for Muslims. There might seem to be a contradiction in a profit-driven western company such as big-four firm Deloitte embracing the devout Islamic ideology which prohibits "making money from money," since that sounds a lot like an accountant's job description. But the professional services firm's move is in line with international trends which have seen a growth in finance companies which comply with sharia or Islamic law. The boom...

New Zealand's Inland Revenue department has found a way to tax grass.Caught in the tax collector's web are farmers who convert their farms to dairying. The department has changed the way it regards the new grass laid down and the fertiliser used.Previously, these costs were treated as part of normal farming life. In all the 2000 conversions of the past ten years, a new milking shed was put on a farm's books as a capital item and it's value was discounted by 6% a year - a process known as amortisation - while all the associated costs of grassing and...

About 5000 protesters left Wellington's Civic Square this morning on a Destiny Church-organised march against proposed legislation giving gay relationships legal recognition. The number was well below the estimated 10,000 protesters signalled by the church last week. Two counter-protests organised by Victoria University's UniQ gay group and the Against Conservative Fundamentalism group planned to reach Parliament around the same time as the church group. The church group is protesting the Civil Union and Relationships (Statutory References) bills aimed at removing discrimination from the law based on marital status and sexual orientation. Richard Lewis, leader of the church's political party, Destiny...

A prime ministerial plane could be the answer to public concern about high-speed police escorts, says Helen Clark. The prime minister flagged the possibility yesterday after 24 hours of harsh criticism over her one-hour, 45-minute dash from Waimate to Christchurch to catch a flight to Wellington for the Bledisloe Cup rugby test on Saturday. "What I wonder is whether we need to go back and have a look at the level of support that someone in my position is given," she said. "In other countries you wouldn't be relying on commercial airlines for your travel. In other countries the prime...

Possum pies and other meals made from the ubiquitous Kiwi pest have Australian animal-rights activists in a stew. Possum dishes such as Road Kill, Headlight Delight Pie, Guess That Mess and Shovel-Flipped Roadside Pizza have incensed Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV). President Patty Mark said New Zealanders' treatment of possums was an outrage and the culinary names "make your stomach turn". "Possums are a treasure and ALV would see them as individuals who have their own rights." The Kiwi behind the culinary treats, Peter Salter, dismissed the group's comments. After cooking up the pests for customers at his pub in Pukekura,...

New Zealand children as young as 12 prostituted themselves on Christchurch streets last year. Confidential government papers given to The Press yesterday and obtained by National Member of Parliament Katherine Rich under the Official Information Act reveal that: Child Youth and Family (CYF) knew of at least 14 children and youths involved in prostitution in May last year; two of the underage prostitutes were enrolled at Christchurch's most elite schools – one a private school; a group of boys – some known to CYF – were "pimping" for girls; one 13-year-old girl tested positive for chlamydia; and one or two...

Hello, Thought you'd want to know about Blackie since he hasn't been on line lately. He had a bronchial infection & went the usual 7 days w/the anti-biotic. Early Saturday AM he had severe back pain, chills & was sweating profusely. He could barely walk but got into bed after taking a pain pill. He was no better by 6AM so got him to emergency where he was given morphine & was running a fever. They took ex-rays but could find nothing wrong just the usual bulging disks & arthritis damage he had over the years. Because of the lower...

Australia has been told to butt out of New Zealand affairs after its Foreign Minister Alexander Downer revived the anti-nuclear row on the eve of a summit supposed to strengthen trans-Tasman ties. Mr Downer took a pot shot at New Zealand's nuclear-free policy and particularly former National prime minister Jim Bolger for failing to reverse the Labour-instigated ban when he had the chance during the 1990s. Prime Minister Helen Clark took a dim view of the remarks yesterday and said she was "disappointed" that Mr Downer had not observed the same "restraint" as New Zealand in commenting on Australian foreign...

[New Zealand] Prime Minister Helen Clark, an agnostic, has been granted an audience with the ailing Pope John Paul II. It is understood the brief meeting with the head of the world's one billion Catholics has been scheduled for May 21, subject to the Pope's health. Miss Clark described herself as an "agnostic" earlier this year after taking issue with National Party leader Don Brash for calling her an atheist. Her meeting with the Pope, who is also head of the world's smallest state, the Vatican City, has been added to her visit to Italy this month for the 60th...

UPDATED REPORT Richard Prebble has resigned as leader of the ACT Party, he announced today. He told a press conference that it was the best thing for the party, which has been struggling in the polls. His resignation comes just an hour after Act MPs collectively said there was no threat to his leadership. Just yesterday Prebble dismissed speculation he was about to resign, saying the leadership issue was not being discussed at today's caucus meeting. "No one has raised it with me in the last four weeks," he said. Despite his confidence there had been rumours of his demise...

An Inland Revenue Department manager dresses in a fairy costume, complete with wings and a tiara, and makes her staff put pictures of monkeys on their desks. A team of about 12 call centre workers were ordered by the winged manager to display pictures of a monkey till they boosted their performance. The Dominion Post was told the photos were to remind each member they were "the monkeys on the backs of management". Inland Revenue confirmed there was a team leader who "chooses to wear fairy wings some days". "It's just the way that she expresses her dress sense," a...

[New Zealand] taxpayers paid $7000 for two women to travel to the United States to study ways of encouraging more gay and lesbian Maori and Pacific Islanders to take part in sport and cultural activities. Elizabeth Kerekere of Porirua attended the Federation of Gay Games annual meeting in Chicago in November with her partner Alofa AioNo. She said it was a good investment as she found new ways of encouraging gays and lesbians to participate in sport, art and cultural events and that her research could help any group wanting to encourage participation in its events. But the government agency...

Just days after criticising Helen Clark's "indifference to the institution of marriage", Don Brash has confirmed he had an extramarital affair. The admission is the latest development in the increasingly bitter battle between the prime minister and the Opposition leader. Yesterday Miss Clark objected to Dr Brash describing her as an atheist. Dr Brash admitted the affair with his second wife, Je Lan – while he was still married to his first wife, Erica – in an interview with Newstalk ZB yesterday. "I did have an affair. That's absolutely correct and I acknowledge that. It's not something I'm proud of,"...

UPDATED REPORT The veil of silence over planned SAS deployments has been partly lifted after the Government said 50 elite troops would be sent to Afghanistan. The announcement yesterday breaks with the Government's policy of strict secrecy which surrounded the Special Air Service deployment to Afghanistan in 2002 and which was sharply criticised by Opposition parties. The main SAS contingent will go for up to six months from April 1 and will be under the command of a New Zealand officer. It will specialise in planning and executing long-range reconnaissance and "direct action missions". Prime Minister Helen Clark said the...

A shock political poll showing National vaulting ahead of Labour has jolted the Government, but Prime Minister Helen Clark has vowed not to change direction. The One News Colmar Brunton poll showed National leader Don Brash's Orewa speech, pledging to end special treatment for Maori, pushed National up 17 percentage points to 45 per cent. Labour was down seven at 38, the first time it has trailed National since 2000. ACT fell five points to 1.3 per cent. NZ First fell five points to 6 per cent. Political analysts said it confirmed a significant change in fortune for National, though...

A Sri Lankan teenager forced to leave New Zealand after being refused asylum was heavily sedated and restrained during her flight home, it was reported last night. The 16-year-old girl, whose high-profile immigration case here involved claims she suffered years of sexual abuse by male relatives in Sri Lanka, is now at a Catholic convent in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The girl, a Buddhist, was "heavily sedated and motionless in a wheelchair" when she arrived at the airport," a One News reporter said from Colombo last night. The report said the girl, known as Takshila, had been given drugs...