Wellington  - John Key, leader of New Zealand's conservative National Party, confirmed Sunday that he had signed agreements with three other parties to establish a minority centre-right government.

The Nationals won the most seats in parliament at a general election on November 8 to oust the Labour-led coalition that had governed for nine years, but failed to get an overall majority.

As a result of the agreements finalized Sunday, the Nationals are now guaranteed 70 of the 122 seats in the House of Representatives.

London, Nov 14 : Gutsy Kiwis have shunned the traditional races with an egg and spoon in favour of running with bulls'' testicles in their mouths.

In one of the most bizarre competitions, the participants from the Shepherd''s Shemozzle in Hunterville, New Zealand had to run 50 metres with a bull''s testicle in their mouth.

This year''s winner, Josh Masters, said he had never carried a bull''s testicle in his mouth before – but he claimed that it was "not too bad".

"Best of all, they weren''t connected to anything," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

The competition was tarnished this year by a rumour that one spectator ate a raw testicle.

Wellington - Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, hailed the beginning of the end of Japanese whaling in the Antarctic on Thursday following news reports of the first cut in the season's target kill for 21 years.

A Greenpeace statement quoted Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper as saying that Japan cut its target of whales to be caught in the Southern Ocean for its so-called scientific programme this year by 20 per cent.

Kathmandu  - At least six people were killed and dozens more injured in a bus-tractor accident in eastern Nepal, police said Thursday.

Police said the bus crashed into a tractor in Sunsari district, about 400 kilometres east of the Nepalese capital, late Wednesday night.

Among those killed where the people travelling on the tractor. More than 30 people were injured and some were in serious condition.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. However, police suspected speeding by the bus was the main cause of the accident.

Wellington - Nearly half of all Maoris registered to vote for the seven parliamentary seats reserved for New Zealand's indigenous people boycotted last weekend's general election, the Maori Party said on Wednesday.

"Something is terribly wrong with our democracy," said Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia.

She said the party had campaigned strongly to persuade their people to vote and despite many Maoris being poverty-stricken it was clear they had become seriously alienated and disenfranchised.

Wellington - Air New Zealand will make the world's first commercial aviation test flight powered by fuel created from the seeds of the African jatropha plant next month, the airline announced on Wednesday.

Rolls Royce had certified the sustainable second-generation biofuel as suitable for use in the airline's Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets, a statement said.