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,... 

Earthquake topples Christchurch Cathedral's spire, one of many collapsed buildings across New Zealand's second largest city. Country’s second largest city hit by 6.3-magnitude quake on busy weekday afternoon, its second major quake in five months. At least 65 people have died after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying... 

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key meets Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Auckland. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has used an historical speech to New Zealand’s parliament to boost trans-Tasman ties with a pledge for more leader talks and greater economic unity. Ms Gillard jetted home to Canberra on Wednesday having made history as the first foreign politician to address the NZ parliament. It... 

In support of their Australian neighbor, Julian Assange, the New Zealand Defence Force released UFO reports for a freedom of information request. They released thousands of files on Wednesday, December 22. These files offer a 50-year history of UFO sightings in New Zealand. In an earlier interview, the champion of freedom of information, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange referred to the people who... 

Row: Jacinta Lal raised eyebrows at the Wellington leg of the MissIndiaNZ contest where some of the audience accused her of not being Indian enough. Her stunning looks won her a coveted title in New Zealand’s Miss India contest. But Jacinta Lal, 21, was today at the centre of a huge row after she was accused of not looking Indian enough. The blue-eyed blonde, whose father is Fijian-Indian and... 

The $3million vessel was destroyed in the collision and Mr Bethune was delivering a bill for its replacement to the Shonan Maru 2 captain. A Tokyo court on Wednesday convicted a New Zealand activist of assault and obstructing Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic Ocean, and sentenced him to a suspended prison term. Peter Bethune was also found guilty on three other charges: trespassing, vandalism... 

New Zealand has become the fourth country to outlaw Jewish ritual slaughtering, authorities said Sunday, after Iceland, Norway, and Sweden took similar measures in the past. Under the newly instated Animal Welfare Commercial Slaughter Code, announced by Agriculture Minister David Carter, commercially killed animals would have to be stunned before slaughter, making kosher slaughter, or shchita, illegal,...