Wellington  - New Zealand prime minister-elect John Key, whose conservative National Party won the largest number of parliamentary seats in last weekend's election, was in talks Tuesday with political allies on the shape of his government.

Amid signs that he would run a minority government rather than a formal coalition, Key had a brief meeting with Rodney Hide, leader of the free market ACT party, and another with leaders of the Maori Party, which both won five seats in Saturday's election.

Wellington  - New Zealand's Labour Party, which was defeated at the weekend's general election after ruling since 1999, elected Phil Goff, 55, as its new leader on Tuesday.

Goff replaces Helen Clark, 58, who had led the party for 15 years, the last nine as prime minister. Clark resigned after the conservative National Party won Saturday's election. She is staying in parliament and will be Labour's spokeswoman on foreign affairs.

Goff, who has been a member of parliament since 1981, apart from three years when he lost his seat, has held the foreign affairs, trade and defence portfolios.

Annette King, 61, becomes deputy leader of the party, replacing former finance minister Michael Cullen.

Wellington - Some voters on welfare rang police emergency numbers and counselling hotlines on New Zealand's election night fearing that the winning conservative party would slash their benefits, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The National Party won Saturday's election, ending nine years of Labour-led government that raised welfare benefits and pensions.

After breaking the reign of the Helen Clarke's labour party for the past nine years, John Key, PM-elect of New Zealand, is in a hurry to form the Government to fight the Global Economic Crisis. Key's Party won 59 seats in the 122-seat parliament according to a preliminary count of Saturday's election.

Wellington, Nov 10 : A school in Stratford has devised a rather ‘relaxing’ way to help students beat the stress during exams—Yoga.

St Mary''s Diocesan School has combined the bendy yoga move, Upward facing dog with the tree pose, the prayer pose and the reverse swan dive that may help students to have calm, focused minds before upcoming exams.

The programme will be starting in all participating secondary schools on November 14, and will finish on December 3.

The school held the classes as part of its futures scheme, which focuses on giving students all-round skills that they can put to use after leaving school.

Melbourne, Nov. 10 : New South Wales Blues have called up a teenager from the bush for their match against New Zealand this week.

Dubbed the "new Glenn McGrath" Josh Hazlewood will be given the job of embarrassing the tourists at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the absence of lethal quicks Nathan Bracken and Doug Bollinger.

The 17-year-old Hazlewood had just completed his final HSC exam in geography when told he would be lining up against the cross-Tasman rivals.