Wellington

New Zealand school introduces yoga for kids to beat exam stress

Wellington, Nov 10 : A school in Stratford has devised a rather ‘relaxing’ way to help students beat the stress during exams—Yoga.

St Mary''s Diocesan School has combined the bendy yoga move, Upward facing dog with the tree pose, the prayer pose and the reverse swan dive that may help students to have calm, focused minds before upcoming exams.

The programme will be starting in all participating secondary schools on November 14, and will finish on December 3.

The school held the classes as part of its futures scheme, which focuses on giving students all-round skills that they can put to use after leaving school.

New Zealand's new leader keeps distance from right-wing allies

New Zealand's new leader keeps distance from right-wing allies Wellington  - New Zealand prime minister-elect John Key, the self-confessed centrist leader of a conservative party that won Saturday's general election, chose Monday to keep right-wing allies in his new government at a distance.

Key, whose National Party's 59 seats fell short of an overall majority in the 122-member Parliament, received confirmation of support from the free market ACT party, which holds five seats.

Newly elected leader eyes Asia-Pacific summit

Newly elected leader eyes Asia-Pacific summitWellington - New Zealand prime minister-elect John Key said Sunday that he wanted a fast-track swearing-in process so that he could attend an important Asia-Pacific regional summit in Peru this month.

Key, whose conservative National Party swept to victory over the incumbent Labour-led coalition in Saturday's general election, told a news conference it would be in the country's best interests if he could attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit in Lima on November 22-23.

Record number of Asians elected to New Zealand parliament

Record number of Asians elected to New Zealand parliamentWellington  - The New Zealand parliament will have a record six Asian members - including the first ethnic Korean and Sikh - following Saturday's election.

Korean-born television presenter Melissa Lee, 42, and former New Delhi businessman Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi will join Pansy Wong, who was New Zealand's first Asian Member of Parliament when she was elected in 1996, in the newly-elected National Party government ranks.

New Zealand awakes to new centre-right government

New Zealand awakes to new centre-right governmentWellington - New Zealand awoke Sunday to the prospect of a new centre-right government to steer the country out of its worst recession for years after a general election dumped the Labour-led coalition that had ruled since 1999.

Saturday's election produced a sharp jump to the right, leaving prime minister-elect John Key, 47, leader of the conservative National Party, and his free market allies in the ACT party, to govern for the next three years.

Feisty free marketeer back in New Zealand parliament

Sir Roger DouglasWellington - Sir Roger Douglas, architect of sweeping free market changes that transformed the New Zealand economy two decades ago, was returned to parliament as part of the swing to the right in Saturday's election.

Douglas, now 70, was Finance Minister from 1984-88 in the Labour government that steered such radical reforms that a senior aide to Britain's Conservative Party said even its "Iron Lady" leader Margaret Thatcher would not dare to go so far.

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