New Zealand

Foreign Minister Murray McCully confirmed  New Zealand will vote in favour of the resolution on the status of Palestine, due to go before the United Nations General Assembly this morning. But McCully says a UN resolution is “a poor substitute for direct negotiations between the two parties”. He says the primary reason for voting in favour of the resolution is …

GLOBAL MARKETS:  It was a rather lacklustre overnight session for markets. A positive start from yesterday’s sentiment that the US fiscal negotiations would be sewn up by Christmas faded as senior Democrat spokesperson, Chris van Hollen said they are “not close to a deal”. Republican US House Speaker John Boehner echoed similar sentiment, saying there had been “no substantive progress” on …

“Third time lucky,” said Fonterra’s Henry van der Heyden triumphantly as he was awarded Chairperson of the Year at the 2012 Top 200 Awards last night in Auckland. Van der Heyden’s award could not have been more exquisitely timed as it came on the eve of the Fonterra Shareholders Fund debut on the NZX at noon today.  The Fonterra chairman said …

Peter Jackson speech at Hobbit World Premiere in Wellington, NZ November 28, 2012. Introduction of producers, writers, cast. Includes video message from Sir Ian McKellen.

A giant cow bell, crafted especially for the occasion, will be used to ring in the launch of Trading Among Farmers on the NZX at Fonterra’s Darfield site at midday. Fonterra Southern Operations Engineering Manager, Greg Millane says the large stainless steel bell was based on an old cowbell and was commissioned with the help of Fonterra’s team at its …

New Zealand shares edged up to a new five-year high as Sky Network Television surprised investors with a special dividend and Tower said it would return capital to shareholders after the sale of its medical insurance business. The NZX 50 Index rose 4.61 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4016.77, the highest since the start of January 2008. Within the index, …

Wellington, New Zealand (CNN) — You’d have to have been hiding down a, er, Hobbit hole, to miss the hubbub. You can fly to New Zealand, where the Hobbit premieres on Wednesday, on a Hobbit-branded plane — complete with a Hobbit-inspired safety video with Peter Jackson, telling you how to keep safe, if the flight approaches its own Mount Doom. When …

In her report on fracking, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, suggested tougher rules for oil and gas workers may improve protection for the public and the environment.  Listen here

David Shearer says he is not looking for Helen Clarke’s endorsement as leader of the Labour Party. Speaking this weekend on TV3’s ‘The Nation’ Shearer said “I’m not looking for that.  I’m simply just saying from my point of view I have the endorsement of my caucus we move on and we get on to the issues that we need to …

Sir Peter Jackson invites the public behind scenes as his team races to get The Hobbit finished ahead of Wednesday’s premiere in Wellington.