Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday that she would not immediately sack Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is the subject of a parliamentary inquiry into claims of secret donations to his party.

After Peters defended himself Wednesday night at a hearing of Parliament's powerful privileges committee, Clark issued a statement saying the proceedings provided no basis for her to remove him.

Wellington  - New Zealand's foreign minister, battling for his political life over claims of secret donations to his party, defended himself at a hearing of Parliament's powerful privileges committee Wednesday night.

Winston Peters rejected testimony to the committee by expatriate billionaire businessman Owen Glenn on Tuesday that the minister had personally asked for money, and later thanked him for a cheque for 100,000 New Zealand dollars (about 67,000 US dollars) that he donated in 2005.

Wellington - The New Zealand Parliament on Thursday passed a law designed to combat global warming that was expected to raise the cost of just about everything and nobody knows by how much.

The law establishing a trading scheme that puts a price on emissions of greenhouse gases is bitterly opposed by most of New Zealand's business sectors, especially farmers, whose methane-belching animals are responsible for nearly half the country's emissions.

Wellington - One of New Zeal

Wellington - New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters' political future was on the line Tuesday after an expatriate billionaire donor to his political party gave damning testimony to Parliament's powerful privileges committee.

Owen Glenn, who lives in Monaco, flew home to tell the committee that Peters personally asked him for money to help pay legal fees after the 2005 general election and he donated 100,000 New Zealand dollars (66,000 US dollars).

Wellington - New Zealand and Malaysia are to resume negotiations on a free trade pact, which were suspended in deadlock two and a half years ago, Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday.

She told a press conference that her cabinet approved the resumption of talks after a boom in trade between the countries.

The latest New Zealand figures showed that Malaysia was New Zealand's ninth-biggest market in the 12 months through July with exports increasing by 50 per cent on the previous year to 876 million New Zealand dollars (596 million US dollars).

New Zealand's imports from Malaysia doubled in the previous 12 months to 1.83 billion New Zealand dollars.