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.

Wellington - Banks in Australasia are well placed to handle the current international financial crisis, Alan Bollard, governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, said on Wednesday.

"While we are far from seeing the final impact of the financial and economic disruption, New Zealand's banks, and the Australian parents of the majors, are well-positioned to withstand the economic downturn," Bollard said while releasing the bank's November financial stability report.

Brisbane, Nov 11 : New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said that after losing comprehensively 0-2 against India in the just concluded four-match Test series, the Australians might unleash a strong backlash in order to prove a point in the ensuing two-Test series against New Zealand starting in Brisbane next week.

About Ponting''s decision to apparently put Australia''s over-rate ahead of winning the final Nagpur Test in India, Vettori said he didn''t think his Australian counterpart acted out of selfish reasons.