Anyone who arrives in New Zealand by plane knows about Biosecurity NZ. Bio means living and security means safe. Biosecurity NZ is a government department. Their job is to make our country safe from unwanted living pests. These pests are plants, anim...
Financial problems in the US have been going from bad to worse. Last week the US Government took over the mortgage investment companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. On Monday this week, Lehman Brothers, the 4th biggest investment bank, went bankrupt....
New Zealand discovered this weekend that a milk powder factory in China, partly owned by the New Zealand dairy company Fonterra, has been selling contaminated baby formula. One baby has died and more than 400 are suffering from kidney problems. Fonte...
Today, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Alan Bollard, dropped the official cash rate by ? of 1 percent to 7.5%. This rate affects how much the banks have to pay to borrow money overnight from the Reserve Bank. If the banks pay less, they can drop...
The 2008 Beijing Paralympics opened Saturday night Beijing time, early Sunday morning New Zealand time. These Games will last 11 days, until September 17th. There are more than 4,000 athletes involved in 20 different sports. Paralympic athletes have...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could become law later this week or early next week. This scheme is a plan to cut greenhouse gases by making businesses pay for their carbon dioxide emissions, that is the CO2 which they put into the air. There will...
Midnight tonight is the deadline for all Treaty of Waitangi claims. Last year, there were 97 claims but more than 1,000 claims are likely by midnight tonight. This is the last time that anyone can make an historic claim although it will take many yea...
On Friday, Winston Peters, leader of the New Zealand First Party, announced that he was stepping down from his job as Minister. He said this is a temporary move because the Serious Fraud Office is checking on money that some people said they gave him...
The Beijing Olympics ended on the same high note as it began. The opening and closing ceremonies were amazing, finishing with a large display of fireworks that went on and on. During the Games, everything worked well too. That included the accommodat...
The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, is attending the 39th Pacific Islands Forum. This year, it is being held on Nuie, a small Pacific island with a population of only about 1,500 people. The annual forum started in 1971 and there are now 16 member count...