Wellington - Two brothers were found guilty Tuesday of murdering a three-year-old girl who was kicked to death after months of abuse, including being hung and spun on a rotary clothes line until she fell off and put in a tumble dryer that was switched on, news reports said on Tuesday.

A jury in the Rotorua High Court took nearly 11 hours to convict Wiremu Curtis, 18, and Michael Curtis, 22, of the murder of Nia Glassie, who died from severe brain damage in August 2007, 12 days after being taken to hospital.

The girl's mother, Lisa Kuka, 35, who had been in a relationship with Wiremu Curtis, was found guilty on two counts of manslaughter for failing to provide the necessities of life and not protecting the child from violence.

Wellington  - New Zealand is experiencing a baby boom with a birth rate of 2.2 babies per woman in the 12 months ending September 30, the highest level of fertility for 17 years, according to official figures released Tuesday.

A total of 64,540 babies were born in the 12 months, the biggest number in a September year since 1962, when the population was 2.5 million, Statistics New Zealand reported.

With a population of 4.3 million today, the current birth rate is about half the peak of 4.3 births per woman recorded in 1961.

Wellington  - New Zealand prime minister-elect John Key named his first cabinet on Monday, saying it was focussed on growth and prosperity for all, despite the current international financial crisis.

"The growth outlook is weak and international and domestic difficulties abound," he said. "This government will concentrate on boosting economic growth because that is what will lead us out of these challenging times."

Wellington  - A new minority centre-right government in New Zealand will be sworn in this week after John Key, prime minister-elect and leader of the conservative National Party, signed power-sharing agreements with three other parties on Sunday.

They included the Maori Party, representatives of the country's indigenous population whose special status and rights Key's party threatened to abolish less than five years ago.

Wellington  - John Key, leader of New Zealand's conservative National Party, confirmed Sunday that he had signed agreements with three other parties to establish a minority centre-right government.

The Nationals won the most seats in parliament at a general election on November 8 to oust the Labour-led coalition that had governed for nine years, but failed to get an overall majority.

As a result of the agreements finalized Sunday, the Nationals are now guaranteed 70 of the 122 seats in the House of Representatives.

London, Nov 14 : Gutsy Kiwis have shunned the traditional races with an egg and spoon in favour of running with bulls'' testicles in their mouths.

In one of the most bizarre competitions, the participants from the Shepherd''s Shemozzle in Hunterville, New Zealand had to run 50 metres with a bull''s testicle in their mouth.

This year''s winner, Josh Masters, said he had never carried a bull''s testicle in his mouth before – but he claimed that it was "not too bad".

"Best of all, they weren''t connected to anything," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

The competition was tarnished this year by a rumour that one spectator ate a raw testicle.