New Zealand

New Zealand leader says Fiji strongman broke promise about election

Wellington - Fiji military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama, who ousted the elected government 19 months ago is "protracting the rule he established at the barrel of a gun" in breaking a promise to hold fresh elections next year, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Monday. 

Clark rejected Bainimarama's assertion last week that he had never promised to hold elections before 2010, telling her weekly news conference, "That is not what he said to my face." 

She said Bainimarama, who seized power in a bloodless coup in December 2006, had told leaders of the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum at their summit in Tonga last year that he would go to the polls under Fiji's existing constitution before March. 

New Zealand’s Labour Department speaks to missing Indian pilgrims

New Zealand’s Labour Department speaks to missing Indian pilgrimsWellington, July 21 : The Labour Department’s immigration service has spoken to half of the Indian pilgrims who went missing in New Zealand while en route to World Youth Day in Sydney.

It was originally believed 39 Indian pilgrims had gone missing, but the number increased to 40 on Friday when it was discovered that a man travelling alone had not left New Zealand when scheduled.

The 40 were from a group of 220 pilgrims visiting New Zealand before attending World Youth Day.

Runaway Indians in New Zealand start to go home

Wellington - A group of Indians who disappeared in New Zealand while reportedly on their way to Australia to see the Pope began going home on Sunday, news reports said. 

About 40 young Indian men who joined a Catholic pilgrimage to the World Youth Day festival in Sydney that was scheduled for a week-long transit stop in Auckland, paid immigration fraudsters in Delhi half a million rupees believing that they were buying permanent residence in New Zealand. 

The men, mainly from the Punjab region, abandoned their Catholic family hosts as soon as they realized they had been taken for a ride and went to ground after failing to check in for their scheduled flights to Sydney on Tuesday. 

Indian pilgrims to reveal how immigration scam to New Zealand was arranged

Wellington, July 17: Three of the 35 Indian pilgrims who went missing, will meet immigration officials today to provide information about the alleged scam that brought them to New Zealand.

Three runaway Indians to tell all about New Zealand visa scam

Wellington - Three Indian men who disappeared in New Zealand while on the way to Australia to see the Pope have agreed to tell all about the swindlers who tricked them into believing they would be

New Zealand watchdog takes airlines to court over cartel charges

Wellington - New Zealand's Commerce Commission filed criminal charges against three airlines for failing to cooperate in an inquiry into air-cargo price-fixing allegations and other anti-competiti

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