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Beachgoers in New Zealand got a grim look at a toothy, emaciated carcass that washed ashore recently, prompting speculation that the rotting remains belonged to some sort of mysterious sea monster or pre-historic creature. Beachgoers in New Zealand got a grim look at a toothy, emaciated carcass that washed ashore recently, prompting speculation that the rotting remains belonged to some sort of mysterious sea monster or pre-historic creature. The creature was found by a group driving along the beach in four-wheeled vehicles along the Bay of Plenty near Pukehina, about 250 km (155 miles) southeast of the capital Auckland, Discovery...

Hundreds of parishioners watched in shock as a Catholic priest died at the altar during mass, moments after baptising a baby. Napier's longest-serving priest, Monsignor Timothy Francis Hannigan, 81, collapsed at the altar during communion at St Patrick's Catholic Church on Sunday. A doctor and nurses in the packed church rushed to help the popular priest when he slumped to the ground about 9.30am, but he died by the altar of the church where he had served for more than 30 years. "It's one thing for a priest to die in a church, but it's a whole other thing for...

You are subject to none Conquerer of all for My Presence "IN" you "IS" Holy and True ! Do you see My children the enemy would attempt to convince you of your unholiness but My Righteousness STANDS ETERNAL and is " subject to none " ! Thererfore wear the garments of Righteousness that I have given you and walk in My ways for I HAVE finished the fight you are in against darkness ! Merely APPLY MY WORD to each situation you are in and I will shut the mouth of the lions for you for THE BATTLE IS MINE...

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan – New Zealand has withdrawn its small contingent of troops from Afghanistan. The South Pacific nation had stationed about 145 soldiers in central Bamiyan province since 2003. Ten of its soldiers died during the conflict. The withdrawal came about five months earlier than initially planned. The U.S. and its allies plan to withdraw all remaining troops by the end of 2014. In a ceremony Thursday, New Zealand lowered its flag and opened a memorial to commemorate both the New Zealand troops and Afghan security forces who died in the province. About 95 Afghan interpreters and their family members...

Less than two decades ago, there were exactly zero known planets orbiting sunlike stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers back then were engaged in a powerful struggle to seek out exoplanets, and they succeeded, so that today there are 861 confirmed exoplanets, according to exoplanet.eu on March 25, 2013... astronomers at The University of Auckland in New Zealand announced their new method for finding exoplanets. They say they anticipate 100 billion planets similar to our Earth, orbiting stars in the Milky Way... Lead author of the New Zealand planet search -- Dr. Phil Yock from the University of Auckland’s...

The National Government are pushing a Cyprus-style solution to bank failure in New Zealand which will see small depositors lose some of their savings to fund big bank bailouts, the Green Party said today. Open Bank Resolution (OBR) is Finance Minister Bill English’s favoured option dealing with a major bank failure. If a bank fails under OBR, all depositors will have their savings reduced overnight to fund the bank’s bail out. “Bill English is proposing a Cyprus-style solution for managing bank failure here in New Zealand – a solution that will see small depositors lose some of their savings to...

New Zealand depositors could face a Cyprus-style tax on their bank accounts, as the government is planning to impose a similar strategy on its banks warns the country's Green Party. New Zealand is facing a similar bank failure to Cyprus, is likely to adopt open bank resolution (OBR), which will see small depositors lose part their savings in favour of a big bank bailout, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said. The country’s Finance Minister Bill English supports the open bank resolution. "Bill English is proposing a Cyprus-style solution for managing bank failure here in New Zealand," said Norman, adding that...

New genetic and archaeological approaches have substantially improved our understanding of the transition to agriculture, a major turning point in human history that began 10,000-5,000 years ago with the independent domestication of plants and animals in eight world regions. In the Americas, however, understanding the initial domestication of New World species has long been complicated by the early presence of an African enigma, the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). Indigenous to Africa, it reached East Asia by 9,000-8,000 before present (B.P.) and had a broad New World distribution by 8,000 B.P. Here we integrate genetic and archaeological approaches to address a...

Contact: Steve Bradt steve_bradt@harvard.edu 617-496-8070 Harvard University Ancient humans brought bottle gourds to the Americas from AsiaPlants widely used as containers arrived, already domesticated, some 10,000 years ago CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 13, 2005 -- Thick-skinned bottle gourds widely used as containers by prehistoric peoples were likely brought to the Americas some 10,000 years ago by individuals who arrived from Asia, according to a new genetic comparison of modern bottle gourds with gourds found at archaeological sites in the Western Hemisphere. The finding solves a longstanding archaeological enigma by explaining how a domesticated variant of a species native to Africa ended...

Martin Williams was a First Secretary at the British Embassy in Iran when militants invaded the US Embassy in November 1979, taking 52 hostages and sparking an international crisis that lasted 14 months. In his Oscar-winning film Argo, director and star Ben Affleck tells how six American diplomats hid in the Canadian Ambassador’s house in Tehran until the CIA arranged an ingenious escape plan – after they had been callously turned away when they sought shelter at the British Embassy. Here Mr Williams, 71, who later was High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and New Zealand, says this is a gross misrepresentation...

Explanation: What kind of clouds are these? Although their cause is presently unknown, such unusual atmospheric structures, as menacing as they might seem, do not appear to be harbingers of meteorological doom. Known informally as Undulatus asperatus clouds, they can be stunning in appearance, unusual in occurrence, are relatively unstudied, and have even been suggested as a new type of cloud. Whereas most low cloud decks are flat bottomed, asperatus clouds appear to have significant vertical structure underneath. Speculation therefore holds that asperatus clouds might be related to lenticular clouds that form near mountains, or mammatus clouds associated with thunderstorms,...

As most of you have read or seen by now, a journalist and NBC/MSNBC media consultant named William “Bill” Arkin has created quite a stir by viciously insulting American soldiers in Iraq. He wrote at his Washington Post blog, “Early Warning: William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security” column (1/30/07), that “… this NBC (Nightly News) report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer force that thinks it is doing the dirty work” re Iraq. The “report,” according to Arkin, featured “a number of soldiers (who) expressed frustration with...

A TOXIC substance has been found in New Zealand milk, in a potential blow to the nation's $NZ11.5 billion ($9.2 billion) dairy industry. The country's two biggest fertiliser companies, Ravensdown and Ballance Agri-Nutrients, have suspended sales of a chemical treatment sold to farmers after low levels of dicyandiamide, or DCD, were found in dairy products.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his new anti-feline campaign.

SCOTTBASE, Antarctica (AP) — Talk about whisky on ice: Three bottles of rare, 19th century Scotch found beneath the floor boards of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackelton's abandoned expedition base were returned to the polar continent Saturday after a distiller flew them to Scotland to recreate the long-lost recipe. But not even New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who personally returned the stash, got a taste of the contents of the bottles of Mackinlay's whisky, which were rediscovered 102 years after the explorer was forced to leave them behind. "I think we're all tempted to crack it open and have a...

A New Zealand volcano that featured as Mount Doom in "The Lord of the Rings" movies is in danger of erupting as pressure builds in a subterranean vent, officials have said. The Department of Conservation (DOC) warned hikers to avoid the summit of Mount Ruapehu, saying that temperature readings by scientists indicated there was an increased risk of eruption at New Zealand's largest active volcano. "The current situation can't continue, Ruapehu is so active that the temperatures have been going up and down a lot," DOC volcanic risk manager Harry Keys told Radio New Zealand... Official monitoring body GNS Science...

Not one but two specimens of the world’s rarest known species of whale have been discovered on a New Zealand beach, according to a report published Monday in the journal Current Biology. The species, called the spade-toothed beaked whale, is so rare that before the find researchers weren't even sure if it still existed. The two whales washed up on Opape Beach in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. At first scientists thought they were examples of a much more pedestrian species, the Gray’s beaked whales, which are the most commonly beached whales in the region. But after undertaking a DNA...

The New Zealand Army Mourns Its Dead With An Ancestral War Dance Geoffrey Ingersoll Aug. 30, 2012, 8:21 AM via YouTubeA post by the New Zealand Defence Force has gone viral recently. It's a "Maori" ritual dance, essentially the way Kiwi Soldiers memorialize brothers killed in combat, and it's so awesome it would make any active duty service member want to re-enlist. According to the New Zealand Herald: The 2nd and 1st Battalion Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment performed the moving tribute for Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, and Private Richard Harris, 21, at their funeral...

The Central government is hopeful of concluding the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) by the end of this year. According to Union Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao, the final leg of negotiations between the two parties is likely to be held in September. The deal was likely to be concluded as "we have closed most of the issues". India was exploring options for widening its engagement with ASEAN countries while negotiations with Pakistan on FTA were well on way. Mr. Rao, who was talking to reporters here on Saturday, said, "They (the EU) want us to take...

Dozens of traffic signs have been destroyed by prostitutes performing pole-dances in the street to attract clients, officials in New Zealand's biggest city have revealed. More than 40 poles have been bent, buckled or broken in the past 18 months in one area of south Auckland, New Zealand, it is claimed. The signs, bearing legally required notices such as parking restrictions, are thought to have cost ratepayers thousands of dollars to replace. "Prostitutes use these street sign poles as dancing poles," said Donna Lee, an elected member of the city council's Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board. "The poles are part of their...