Wellington  - The state-owned Air New Zealand announced Wednesday that it was cutting 200 jobs in a new cost-saving drive as passenger numbers fall in the current international financial crisis.

Chief executive Rob Fyfe said that 100 long-haul cabin crew staff would be made redundant and up to 68 in technical, planning and management with smaller cuts in other areas.

Fyfe said the airline had reduced capacity to match customer demand over the past few months and had worked hard on initiatives to minimise redundancies.

Wellington  - New Zealand's new government was sworn in Wednesday, officially clearing the way for Prime Minister John Key to attend this week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in Peru.

Key, whose conservative National Party has formed a centre-right administration after signing power-sharing agreements with three other parties in Parliament, will leave Thursday for Lima.

Wellington  - New Zealand's All Whites see 2009 as their most important year since the national team reached the World Cup finals 26 years ago, an achievement that gave them their highest ever FIFA ranking of 47th.

After slumping to a record low ranking of 156th last year, New Zealand have risen to 54th after five wins in five games in a successful Oceania Nations Cup campaign, which doubled as the regional qualifier for next year's Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

Half the players in the current squad were not born when the All Whites beat China 2-1 in Singapore in January 1982 to qualify for the World Cup finals in Spain, and coach Ricki Herbert, who was in that team, is looking for even younger blood for South Africa.

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."