Wellington  - An Iranian man who went on a hunger strike for 53 days in a New Zealand prison to highlight his request for asylum was given permission Monday to stay in the country after his third appeal, news reports said.

Ali Reza Panah, who claimed he would be executed for converting from Islam to Christianity if sent back to Iran, was held in jail for 20 months for refusing to sign the travel papers he needed before he could be deported.

Wellington  - A 36-year-old German woman talked Monday about how she was fooled into visiting New Zealand to meet a man she befriended on the internet who turned out to be quite different from how he portrayed himself online.

The woman, who was identified only as Maja, told the TV3 channel that the man had told her he was 33 and a university student but she realized immediately when he met her at Dunedin International Airport that he had misrepresented himself.

Wellington  - One of New Zealand's highest profile manufacturers revealed Monday it had been hard hit by the global recession, prompting Prime Minister John Key to float the idea of a possible government bail-out.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances, which exports refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes' dryers and other appliances around the world, issued a surprise warning that its profit could be halved this year after sales to Europe fell 19 per cent and US sales fell 13 per cent.

Alarmed investors wiped 35 per cent off the company's share price after it told the stock exchange its bank debt had increased more than fourfold since March and it might have to seek a cornerstone shareholder if it cannot raise capital.

Wellington - Hardcore teenage criminals in New Zealand will be sent to military-style boot camps under a new law announced by the centre-right government on Monday.

The camps will take the "most dangerous and recidivist young offenders" aged 14-16 whose persistent offending indicates sees them heading for the adult court system, said the Minister of Youth Affairs Paul Bennett.

Wellington  - Bar-tailed godwits - the long distance champions of the bird world - have started leaving New Zealand on their annual 18,000-kilometre migration to breeding grounds in Alaska.

The godwits (Limosa lapponica) spend the Southern Hemisphere summer at a number of estuaries and mudflats resting and gorging themselves to the point of being clinically obese in preparation for the flight to the other side of the world.

It is a remarkable feat of endurance, unmatched anywhere in the world.

Wellington  - The New Zealand government announced Wednesday a 500-million-New-Zealand-dollar (about 260 million US dollars) stimulus package for the economy, which has been in recession for a year.

Prime Minister John Key, whose centre-right administration was elected in November, said a number of state housing, road and education sector projects would be accelerated in a bid to preserve jobs as the global financial crisis continues to impact on the local economy.