Wellington  - New Zealand veterans of the 1944 Normandy landings, which were a turning point in World War II, vowed Sunday to keep going despite their international organization closing down because too many members have died.

Thirty representatives of veterans from Britain, France, Canada, the United States and New Zealand who took part in the assault on France's northern coast - which remains the largest amphibious military operation ever attempted - held a commemorative service Sunday in Wellington.

The international Normandy Veterans Association (NVA) has decided its membership is falling too fast to continue past the 65th anniversary of the landings in June, said David Christison, president of the New Zealand branch.

Wellington - The New Zealand government will guarantee wholesale deposits by foreign finance institutions to local banks, Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced Saturday.

Cullen said the move would help facilitate improved access to international funding markets for New Zealand banks.

"While the New Zealand banking system is very sound, we are in an environment where international investors remain risk-averse and where many other governments have guaranteed their banks," he said.

Wellington - New Zealanders were warned Saturday against travelling to parts of Indonesia where three Islamic militants involved in the Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mainly tourists, in 2002, are expected to be executed any day.

Indonesian police said they had found bombs suspected to have been prepared for a retaliatory attack after the bombers, Mukhlas, his brother Amrozi, and Imam Samudra, go before a firing squad.

Wellington - The first nest of eggs laid by tuatara reptiles - living fossils who are descendants of the dinosaurs - has been found on the New Zealand mainland in more than 200 years, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary reported on Saturday.

Staff found four ping-pong-ball-sized leathery white eggs while doing routine maintenance work near the 8.6 kilometre predator-proof fence around the 225-hectare sanctuary in suburban Wellington, manager Raewyn Empson said.

Wellington - The New Zealand stock market rose 2.2 per cent on Wednesday after a roller-coaster day in which strong gains in morning trading were checked later.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose nearly 4 per cent in the first 15 minutes of trading, apparently fired by news of dramatic gains on Wall Street which produced the second biggest rise on record.

Wellington - The New Zealand dollar was trading at a five- year low of about 54.5 US cents on Tuesday, as stock markets and commodity prices continued to fall around the world amid fears of a global recession.

The kiwi dollar has now fallen by 33 per cent against the US greenback this year, Radio New Zealand reported.

Robin Clements, an economist with the Swiss investment bank UBS, was quoted in Wellington's Dominion Post as saying the kiwi was likely to continue falling as the central bank's benchmark interest rate comes down.