The making of ‘The Hobbit’ movie for release this month has resulted in the deaths of at least 27 animals, wranglers involved in the film say. The main cause seems to have been poor accommodation and treatment of animals away from the set. According to the American Humane Association supervising the way animals are treated on films, the animals were not harmed during the actual filming, Associated... 

The Moon is seen passing in front of the Sun during a solar eclipse in Auckland, New Zealand. A total solar eclipse was observed on Tuesday (13th) from 17:40 (GMT) in the state of Queensland, Australia. Clouds hampered the show, but even so, it was possible to observe the Sun completely covered by the Moon for a few minutes. The eclipse could be seen from the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park, 250 kilometers... 

The raid on the mega upload headquarters earlier this year seems to have awakened the rebel spirit within Kim Dotcom, Megaupload’s infamous founder. Since his release from jail he has made repeat promises to put “the dinosaur record industry out of business for good” and has announced the release of a website that will provide free music while paying the artists at the same time. Now he’s... 

There is a high level of public support for abandoning the monarchy in some of the nations of the Commonwealth. Along with Britain’s anti-monarchy campaign group Republic that campaigns for a democratic country consisting of an elected head of state, there seems to be a high level of public support for abandoning the monarchy in some of the nations of the Commonwealth. In 16 of the total of 54 Commonwealth... 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey New Zealand’s capital will be renamed after the fictional setting of Middle-earth to celebrate the world premiere of the Hobbit saga film. “The Middle of Middle-earth” is Wellington’s new unofficial name for three weeks before and after the premiere. ­The magic name will be reflected on postmarks on letters and the masthead of Wellington’s main... 

New Zealand is to release special commemorative coins depicting characters from JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit. They are being issued to coincide with the premiere of the Peter Jackson film of the book. The coins will be valued between $25 and $3000. New Zealand has been the setting for all of Peter Jackson’s movies of Tolkein books including the three part Lord of the Rings. The coins will go on sale... 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key apologized to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, saying the file-sharing tycoon was spied on illegally, since he was an NZ resident at the time of the surveillance. Key apologized on Thursday following the release of an official report into the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau’s (GCSB) surveillance of Dotcom. The FBI and New Zealand Police conducted... 

New Zealanders are moving to Australia in their tens of thousands. Australia is facing a flood of economic refugees. But the big numbers aren’t from the north, they are from the across the Tasman, where Statistics New Zealand yesterday announced the biggest exodus to Australia on record. An extraordinary 53,900 New Zealanders moved to Australia in the year to July – around the entire population... 

English language schools whose students entered New Zealand on fraudulently obtained visas say they had no way of knowing about the scam. A routine audit by Immigration New Zealand’s Beijing branch last month uncovered 279 fraudulent visas. Of that total, 231 students are still in the country with the visas and authorities are trying to track them down. The scheme involved education advisors... 

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have shut down one of the world’s largest file-sharing sites, Megaupload.com, and charged its founder and others with violating piracy laws. The indictment accuses the company of costing copyright holders more than $500 million in lost revenue from pirated films and other content. The indictment was unsealed Thursday, one day after websites shut down in protest... 

The grounded cargo ship Rena slips off the reef after its hull split into two, caused by heavy swells, in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. One half of a cargo ship that ran aground on a New Zealand reef three months ago has started sinking into the ocean. The stern section of a stricken cargo ship is slipping off a New Zealand reef where it has been stuck for three months and is sinking, authorities said,... 

A group of New Zealand scientists and flu researchers have won a five-year, multi-million-dollar contract to study influenza in an effort to better understand the burden of the virus and how to prevent its spread around the world. New Zealand Health Minister Tony Ryall and the Minister for Science and Innovation Wayne Mapp on Wednesday congratulated the Institute of Environmental Science and Research... 

Mahmoud Abbas In the whirr of diplomacy taking place at the United Nations, the case for and against statehood recognition for the Palestinians has become almost an afterthought. Rather, two countries, the United States and Israel, are going to great lengths to avert the embarrassing consequences of an expected application. Great pressure is being placed on the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas,... 

Tens of thousands of people were spending a freezing night without power after Christchurch was shaken by a series of violent earthquakes. With temperatures plummeting under a clear winter sky, the Orion lines company warned more than 20,000 householders they would not be reconnected until at least Tuesday. Residents were also being told to boil drinking water. Christchurch Hospital said two of the... 

An extensive check has shown that earthquake-hit Christchurch escaped any serious damage from a 5.5-magnitude aftershock on Monday. The jolt occurred at 9.09am and was centred 20km southwest of Christchurch at a depth of 15km. Two more aftershocks have been recorded: a 3.8-magnitude tremor at 11.41am and one measuring 4.7 at 5.04pm on Monday. Both were 20km west of Christchurch at a depth of 10km. The...