Wellington, Dec 4 : For soccer ace David Beckham, New Zealand is one of the “nicest” places in the world.

While promoting Saturday''s LA Galaxy-Oceania All Stars game, Beckham revealed that he would look forward to visits to New Zealand at the end of his career, and thinks "this is one of the nicest places I''ve been."

"It''s an amazingly beautiful country, the people are great to us," the NZPA quoted him as saying.

On being asked if he ever considered playing rugby, Beckham said he had tried it but decided it wasn''t the game for him.

Wellington  - New Zealand's central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate on Thursday by a record 1.5 percentage points to 5 per cent and urged commercial banks to pass along the reduction to stimulate an economy in recession.

Noting that he had now cut a total of 3.25 percentage points from the official cash rate since July, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said, "We expect financial institutions to play their part in the economic adjustment process by passing on lower wholesale interest rates to their customers."

Bollard - who has now cut the rate four times since July after five years with no reductions - said that bank margins had "stayed quite high and indeed grown" and that he was easing monetary policy for a purpose.

Wellington  - New Zealand's Reserve Bank announced Thursday a record 1.5 per cent cut in its benchmark interest rate to 5 per cent - the lowest level in five years.

Wellington  - Fears were rising for two Japanese climbers stranded in New Zealand's Southern Alps for a week as appalling weather ruled out another attempt to airlift them to safety on Thursday.

A bag of emergency supplies, including a radio, was dropped to the climbers, who are holed up in a tent 3,700 metres up New Zealand's highest peak Mount Cook, on Wednesday but a Conservation Department spokeswoman said it was not certain they had retrieved it.

Wellington, Dec 3 : Office Christmas parties not just bring celebrations and gaiety among workers, but also trigger infidelities among people indulging in festival pleasures, warns a Kiwi private investigator.

Private investigator Kerrie Pihema has cautioned that infidelities are "rampant'''' among staff members going to work Christmas parties this season.

Wellington  - Two Japanese climbers were stranded 3,700 metres up New Zealand's highest mountain on Wednesday as police waited for the weather to lift before launching a rescue attempt.

Severe winds again prevented a helicopter from lifting the pair off Mount Cook, where they have been stuck for a week, but it was able to drop them an emergency pack with survival gear, food, cooking equipment and a radio.

The men are holed up in a tent on a ridge near the summit of the mountain, in the Southern Alps, unable to move because of gale force winds, driving rain and low clouds.

Police said forecasts indicated it could be Friday afternoon before conditions improved enough for a rescue attempt.