The prime minister of New Zealand has said the Irish Examiner’s tribute to Jonah Lomu shows the country needs a new flag.

New Zealand media toasted the All Blacks’ victory over Australia in Saturday’s final, hailing the achievements of a “phenomenal” team many are calling the best of all time.

New Zealanders now have a fifth option to choose from when deciding whether to change their flag after a popular campaign for a geometric design called Red Peak prompted politicians to amend the rules to add it to the original four finalists.

New Zealand prime minister John Key has apologised for pulling the ponytail of a waitress who accused him of bullying, media reported.

New Zealanders will vote twice over the next two years on whether the country should change its flag, the government has said.

Prime Minister John Key has won an emphatic victory in New Zealand’s general election to return for a third term in office.

Former National Security Agency (NSA) systems analyst-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden has said the US agency is collecting mass surveillance data on New Zealanders through its XKeyscore system.

New Zealand police are investigating a gang of young males who boasted online about stupefying underage girls with alcohol then having group sex with them.

World leaders joined in the welcome of the new royal baby as his arrival continued to spark a global tidal wave of interest.

Relatives of an Irish tourist killed in an aircraft accident in New Zealand have joined others in writing to the country’s prime minister to urge him to bring in stronger safety enforcement.

A six-storey office building that collapsed and killed 115 people in New Zealand’s devastating earthquake last year was poorly designed, inadequately constructed and should never have been issued with a building permit, a government report said today.

Wilson Whineray, acclaimed by many as the All Blacks’ greatest ever captain, has died in Auckland after a battle with cancer. He was 77.

New Zealand is to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan earlier next year than planned, prime minister John Key said today.

Thirteen children were among 19 people killed in a fire in one of Qatar’s most upmarket shopping malls, the interior ministry said.

The leader of New Zealand's Labour party conceded defeat to Prime Minister John Key's National Party in elections today, paving the way for him to return for a second term as the nation's leader.

New Zealanders are voting in national elections today, with popular prime minister John Key seeking to propel his centre-right party to the country's first outright parliamentary majority in years.

A group of young Israelis caught up in the deadly Christchurch earthquake were investigated for possible links to Israeli intelligence, but no connection was found, New Zealand’s prime minister said today.

New Zealand’s prime minister said today around 10,000 houses in Christchurch would have to be demolished because of earthquake damage and some parts of the city abandoned altogether.

Fresh aftershocks sent masonry tumbling among rescuers in New Zealand’s quake zone and a cat sparked false alarms today of a possible survivor, as the disaster’s death toll rose to 145 with more than 200 missing.

Hopes faded of finding more survivors today in the collapsed towers of New Zealand’s quake-shattered Christchurch, as officials said the death toll rose to 98 with grave fears for more than 200 missing.

Rescuers were continuing a desperate search for survivors throughout the night amid the ruins of the New Zealand city of Christchurch after a massive earthquake that killed at least 65 people.

New Zealand’s prime minister has said at least 65 people have been killed in the earthquake that hit the city of Christchurch.

New Zealand’s prime minister John Key put rugby before politics today, telling the nation he had fixed a general election date after the world cup.

ALL 29 men missing in a New Zealand coal mine died after a powerful second blast tore through the pit, plunging the country into mourning.

New Zealand’s prime minister said today hope was fading for 29 coal miners missing for four days underground after an explosion.

NEW ZEALAND will remain the home of The Hobbit after the government struck a US$25 million (€18m) deal with Warner Bros and promised labour law changes to stop the film studio from relocating the big-budget movie production.

New Zealand’s prime minister held a crisis meeting with studio bosses today in a bid to keep filming of 'The Hobbit' movies, but warned his country would not be drawn into a bidding war.

WELSHMAN Stephen Shurrock has been appointed chief executive of O2 Ireland, taking over from Danuta Gray who has announced her resignation after nine years in the post.

New Zealand’s powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted railway lines around Christchurch ripped a new 11ft wide fault line in the earth’s surface, a geologist said today.

A FUGITIVE criminal and key suspect in the Veronica Guerin murder investigation faces extradition to Britain after being arrested in a small town in Holland.

THE Irish family farm is facing a new threat from international buyers who are taking over large tracts of land around the world in the face of rising food prices, it was claimed yesterday.

NEW Zealand’s prime minister had to apologise for joking he would have been eaten if he attended a dinner with a Maori tribe who were once cannibals.

New Zealand’s prime minister had to apologise today for joking that he would have been eaten if he attended a dinner with a Maori tribe who were once cannibals.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the country will extend its troop commitment to Afghanistan for another year and then begin posting civilian development specialists to the war-torn nation.

A FRENCH town is to honour a British soldier whose family were unaware for 65 years that he died a hero during World War II.

President Barack Obama telephoned New Zealand’s prime minister John Key to speak of the war in Afghanistan and co-operation on nuclear non-proliferation and human rights.

A rare 23-foot-long whale shark got entangled in a fishing net off Malaysia’s northwest coast and was towed to shore but died due to injuries, local media reported today.

A new conservative government has been sworn into office in New Zealand, with Prime Minister John Key indicating the economy is his top priority by leaving almost immediately for a Pacific Rim leaders’ summit to discuss the global financial crisis.

New Zealand Prime Minister-elect John Key said Monday he had won enough support to form a new government by mid-November, after meetings with two small parties.

New Zealand today elected its first conservative government in almost a decade, ending the rule of one of the world’s longest-serving elected women.

An emotional Bertie Ahern today officially ended his evidence to the Mahon Tribunal with a parting accusation that its lawyers tried to ’trap and trick’ him.

Alicia Keys had plenty of reason to be thankful on Thanksgiving - her song 'No One' knocked Chris Brown's 'Kiss Kiss' off the top of the US singles chart.

The quirky 'Elvis Is Alive Museum' will pack up in Missouri and move to the King’s home state, Mississippi, the new owner said today.

Drinking any kind of alcohol adds to the risk of developing breast cancer, researchers said today.