Wellington  - Jimmy Choo, British shoemaker to the stars, has threatened to sue a New Zealand woman unless she changes the name of her oneline gift shop Kookychoo. com - which does not sell shoes - a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Looie James, a mother of seven who lives on a small farm about 50 kilometres north of Auckland and sells things like teddy bears, glass bracelets and bean bags, said she had received an aggressive letter from intellectual property lawyers acting for Jimmy Choo claiming the names were similar enough for customers to be confused.

Wellington  - The New Zealand government on Thursday warned of tough times ahead after new Treasury forecasts painted a gloomy picture for an economy that has already been in recession this year.

The Treasury predicted a steep rise in unemployment from 3.7 per cent this year to 6.4 per cent over the next 15 months, economic growth virtually stagnant until 2010-2011 and soaring national debt.

After years of budget surpluses, the Treasury forecast cash deficits rising from 6.6 billion New Zealand dollars (3.8 billion US dollars) this fiscal year to 11.4 billion New Zealand dollars by 2013.

Wellington  - Five earthquakes rattled New Zealand Thursday morning, according to seismologists of GNS Science who recorded them. There were no reports of damage from any of the quakes.

Three hit the North Island, including one measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, off the Bay of Plenty coast and 80 kilometres north- east of White Island, which has an active volcano.

That quake was deep, at 130 kilometres below the surface, and GNS Science said it was likely to be felt in the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Hawek's Bay regions.

Wellington - New Zealand's newly elected centre-right government on Wednesday ditched a three-month old measure that would have forced oil companies to sell biofuels to combat climate change.

The government, elected last month, repealed the controversial measure adopted by the ousted Labour Party-led administration in October, by 62 votes to 59 in parliament. Two of the ruling National Party's allied parties joined the opposition in voting against it.

Wellington, Dec. 16 : New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram has been ruled out of the second cricket Test against the West Indies starting Friday due to a calf strain.

Oram, who reported his latest injury two days before the drawn first Test started in Dunedin on Thursday, will focus on returning for the Twenty20 and one-day international legs of the West Indies'' visit.

The first Twenty20 international is in Auckland at Eden Park on Boxing Day.

The second is at Hamilton two days later before the five-match one-day series starts in Queenstown on New Year''s Eve.

Kyle Mills replaced Oram in Dunedin and is a possibility to play again after bowling impressively at University Oval.

Wellington  - New Zealand and Fiji refused to budge in the standoff that threatened to see the two countries expel each other's diplomats Tuesday.

New Zealand insisted it would not reverse a ban on visas for officials of the military, which seized power in a bloodless coup two years ago, and their families, until fresh democratic elections were held.

Prime Minister John Key told reporters he sent a message to Fiji military strongman Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama confirming that the travel ban remained in force.

"It spells out our position, which is we have no intentions of lifting the ban on people travelling to New Zealand if they are part of the regime or associated with the regime," Key said.