Wellington - The New Zealand government will encourage the national cricket team, the Black Caps, against making its scheduled tour of Zimbabwe next year, but past experience shows that it depends on the International Cricket Council, Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Monday.

"Obviously we would prefer that the Blacks Caps not play in Zimbabwe," she told her weekly press conference, condemning Robert Mugabe's claim of a landslide victory in the weekend's presidential election as "a farce with tragic consequences."

Wellington  - New Zealand's economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, according to official figures released Friday, confirming analysts' fears that the country is heading into recession

Wellington  - The New Zealand stock market fell more than 2.5 per cent on Friday, with its benchmark index of top 50 stocks dropping to its lowest level since December 2005.

Wellington(TN), June 27: Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, whose military victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war led to the creation of Bangladesh, died at the Military Hospital in W

Wellington, June 26 : Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw is seriously ill and is undergoing treatment at a military hospital in Wellington.

Wellington  - Consumer confidence in New Zealand is at its lowest level since the recession of 1991, according to a survey reported Thursday.