Wellington  - One of New Zealand's highest profile manufacturers revealed Monday it had been hard hit by the global recession, prompting Prime Minister John Key to float the idea of a possible government bail-out.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which exports refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes' dryers and other appliances around the world, issued a surprise warning that its profit could be halved this year after sales to Europe fell 19 per cent and US sales fell 13 per cent.

Alarmed investors wiped 35 per cent off the company's share price after it told the stock exchange its bank debt had increased more than fourfold since March and it might have to seek a cornerstone shareholder if it cannot raise capital.

Wellington  - The New Zealand government is likely to order the national cricket team not to go to Zimbabwe for a scheduled tour in July, Prime Minister John Key indicated on Monday.

The cabinet had not yet considered the issue, he said at his weekly news conference, "but I'd be deeply sceptical about whether they would be going."

Wellington - Hardcore teenage criminals in New Zealand will be sent to military-style boot camps under a new law announced by the centre-right government on Monday.

The camps will take the "most dangerous and recidivist young offenders" aged 14-16 whose persistent offending indicates sees them heading for the adult court system, said the Minister of Youth Affairs Paul Bennett.

Wellington - The New Zealand government said Thursday it was making urgent inquiries into the arrest of a 35-year-old New Zealander by Pakistani security forces as he tried to enter an al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold on the Afghan border.

The man, identified on his passport as Mark Taylor, was reportedly detained at a paramilitary checkpoint near the town of Tank, about 280 kilometres south-west of Islamabad

Wellington  - Bar-tailed godwits - the long distance champions of the bird world - have started leaving New Zealand on their annual 18,000-kilometre migration to breeding grounds in Alaska.

The godwits (Limosa lapponica) spend the Southern Hemisphere summer at a number of estuaries and mudflats resting and gorging themselves to the point of being clinically obese in preparation for the flight to the other side of the world.

It is a remarkable feat of endurance, unmatched anywhere in the world.

Peshawar, Feb. 11 : Pakistani security forces detained a New Zealander on Wednesday who was trying to enter the South Waziristan region, an al Qaeda and Taliban militant stronghold on the Afghan border, officials said.

The man, identified as a 35-year-old New Zealander with a European-sounding name, was detained at a paramilitary checkpost on the outskirts of Tank town, about 280 km southwest of Islamabad, which is the gateway to South Waziristan, the Dawn reported.