Wellington  - The New Zealand economy, already technically in a recession, suffered a further blow Friday when dairy farmers were warned to brace themselves for a 700-million-New-Zealand-dollar (about 364 million US dollars) cut in their projected income.

Dairy farmers are the main driver of the rural economy in New Zealand and analysts said the impact of their reduced income would be particularly harsh in small provincial towns, already facing rising unemployment as the recession bites.

Wellington - A Royal New Zealand Air Force plane resumed a search Friday for 29 missing Taiwanese fishermen after their burned- out boat was found floating in the South Pacific.

Crew of the Orion maritime surveillance aircraft found no trace of the missing men, who are believed to have abandoned their vessel on three life rafts, despite 12 hours of searching waters around Fiji on Thursday, a Defence Force spokesman said.

Wellington  - A Royal New Zealand Air Force plane has begun a search for 29 missing Taiwanese fishermen after their burned out boat was found floating in the South Pacific, a Defence Force statement said on Thursday.

The Orion maritime surveillance aircraft will spend the next three days searching nearly 39,000 square kilometres of ocean for the men believed to have abandoned their vessel on three life rafts, a spokesman said.

Wellington  - The New Zealan

Wellington - Fiji embarrassed visiting New Zealand with a 2-0 win in Oceania's final World Cup qualifier on Wednesday night.

It was the New Zealanders' first defeat after five wins in the Oceania Nations Cup had already qualified them for the Confederations Cup in South Africa in June 2009 and a World Cup playoff against an Asian team later next year.

Both goals in Lautoka, Fiji, came in the second half after New Zealand goalkeeper Glen Moss was sent off in the 59th minute for questioning a decision of referee Lencie Fred, reducing the visitors to 10 men.

Wellington, Nov. 19 : Wealthy owners of the eight Indian Premier League (IPL) teams are all keen to make a bid for New Zealand’s latest cricket star Jesse Ryder despite his bad boy reputation.