Wellington - Air New Zealand on Tuesday reported a 24-per- cent slump in profit for the last fiscal year because of soaring jet fuel prices.

The airline, which is 77-per-cent owned by the government, announced a pre-tax profit of 197 million New Zealand dollars (about 138 million US dollars) for the year ended June 30.

Chairman John Palmer said that the cost of fuel had risen by 300 million New Zealand dollars in the year, resulting in profit declining 24 per cent on 2006-07, despite increases in fares.

Wellington  - A New Zealand judge, who is an expert on internet law, made an unprecedented ruling Monday banning publication of the names of two men on a murder charge on news websites, saying he was "concerned about the viral effect of digital publication."

Judge David Harvey said the names could be published in newspapers and on radio and television news bulletins, but he was concerned about people being able to Google someone's name "and being able to access it later."

Wellington, Aug. 23 : International students in Christchurch can now complain anonymously about racial harassment online.

A website set up by the Christchurch City Council, Canterbury and Lincoln universities and other groups in the city will enable foreign students to report racial abuse, reports stuff. co. nz.

Half the international students who took part in a recent survey said they had experienced harassment because of their race. The survey also identified that the main barrier to not reporting harassment was not knowing how and who to tell.

Vienna, Aug. 22 : New Zealand diplomats are said to have played a major role in attempting to block a nuclear deal between India and the United States late on Thursday night.

Wellington’s stance over the deal has won front-page headlines in the Indian media. The 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which includes New Zealand, was meant to have approved the deal, but no consensus was reached yesterday, Fairfax News reports.

New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, Norway and Switzerland have the power to block NSG approval for India.

New Zealand is refusing to accept the deal on the ground that India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India, on the other hand, wants a waiver from the rule.

Wellington  - New Zealand and Australia have contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from Fiji in an emergency, New Zealand's defence minister said Friday as the Pacific island state's military leader warned his people of hard times ahead.

Minister Phil Goff confirmed after talks with his Australian counterpart, Joel Fitzgibbon, in Wellington the existence of a joint plan to evacuate their people from Fiji if the security situation deteriorated and they were in danger.

"We don't expect the situation to deteriorate," he told reporters, "but we would be remiss in our duty not to have a plan in place."