Wellington  - A seriously injured hiker spent two days dragging himself 3 kilometres down a New Zealand glacier with a suspected broken ankle and wrist after falling down a cliff in the Southern Alps, news reports said Wednesday.

Matthews Briggs, 33, had lain injured for a week hoping that friends would raise the alarm and searchers would find him. But he eventually set off for a mountaineers' hut, thinking: "If I don't get out of here, I'm going to die here," the Dominion Post reported.

New York  - The UN General Assembly approved on Tuesday New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark as the new administrator of the UN Development Programme.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon nominated Clark last week to replace outgoing UNDP head Kemal Dervis of Turkey.

"Helen Clark was selected, amongst a group of excellent candidates, for her outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments in her long career," said UN spokeswoman Michele Montas in an official statement.

Here’s sad news for Chennai Super Kings. Kiwi all-rounder Jacob Oram might pull out of the much awaited Indian Premier League (IPL)'s second season, if a pesky Achilles tendon injury, which has been ailing him for sometime now, stops his involvement in the domestic State Championship final on April 6..

Chennai Super Kings picked the Kiwi all-rounder for a massive 675,000 dollars last year. Oram played a big role with both bat and ball in Chennai's first three wins in the last season of the IPL.

Auckland (New Zealand), Mar. 31 : New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram has said that he may opt out of 675,000 dollar Indian Premier League contract if he fails to complete the State Championship final.

The injury-plagued all-rounder is suffering from an aggravated Achilles tendon injury, and after consulting New Zealand Cricket''s medical staff it was decided he should miss the current match and aim for the five-day final against Auckland, starting on April 6.

Wellington (New Zealand), Mar. 31 : West Indian umpire Billy Doctrove has been replaced for Friday''''s third cricket test between New Zealand and India at the Basin Reserve as he continues to recover from illness.

Doctrove had to pull out of the second test in Napier last Saturday after two days play when he was diagnosed with a chest infection. He was replaced by New Zealand''''s Evan Watkin, the NZPA reports.

Two neutral umpires will stand in the series finale.

Wellington - An influenza epidemic has struck more than one in 10 people living on the three remote atolls of Tokelau in the South Pacific, which calls itself the last paradise on earth, health authorities in New Zealand reported on Tuesday.

Most of the 150 people affected are children and the New Zealand Ministry of Health sent a nurse with an official from the World Health Organisation to the isolated territory with vaccines and to obtain sample swabs so that the strain of influenza can be identified.