Wellington , Oct 25 : New Zealand is looking to help North Korea pay for imports of heavy fuel oil as a reward for Pyongyang’s disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear facility.

Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Wellington said that the country was discussing offering financial assistance for heavy oil aid for North Korea through six-party talks.

Wellington - New Zealand's Asian community - the fastest-growing group in the nation of just under 4.3 million - is poised to make its voice heard as never before in parliament after next month's general election.

Up to four other Asians could join current members Chinese migrant Pansy Wong and Pakistani Muslim Ashraf Choudhary in the House of Representatives after the poll on November 8.

They will not be a huge bloc in the parliament of about 120 seats, but will have an important profile, given predictions that the number of Asians could near 800,000, close to the estimated indigenous Maori population, inside two decades.

Wellington - Next month's New Zealand general election might not be the predicted sure thing for the conservative opposition National Party, an opinion poll released Thursday night indicated.

Although the Nationals remained well ahead of the Labour Party, which has led minority coalition governments for the past nine years, the Greens, who are seen as certain potential partners for Labour, are showing their biggest level of voter support in five years, the TV3 poll found.

The Nationals are backed by 45.1 per cent of committed voters while Labour is supported by 37.4 per cent. But the Greens are on 8.8 per cent, which with Labour would produce a virtual tie in the election on November 8.

Wellington, Oct 22 : Ice cream tastes better when it''s licked from a cone than eaten from a spoon, according to an expert.

The question of whether ice cream tastes better from a cone than when eaten from a spoon was a tricky hypothesis to prove.

Now, Kay McMath, a sensory scientist from Massey University and chief judge for the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards, has provided a scientific explanation to support the idea that ice cream tastes better when it''s licked, reports the NZPA.

Wellington - The man who could be New Zealand's next immigration minister was dubbed racist on Wednesday for remarks about Asian and Pacific island migrant workers in the country's orchards and vineyards.

Lockwood Smith, immigration spokesman for the opposition conservative National Party, which is favoured in next month's general election, said that Asian workers were more productive "because their hands are smaller" and Pacific islanders had to be taught how to use toilets and showers.

Smith, who was campaigning Tuesday in the vineyard and fruit- producing province of Marlborough, issued a statement regretting that his comments had caused offence but claiming he was reported out of context.

Wellington - New Zealand's APN News and Media Limited, publisher of the country's biggest newspaper, the New Zealand Herald, told staff Wednesday that it was reviewing its operations in reaction to flow-on effects of the economic downturn, a news report said.

The company, which also publishes seven provincial newspapers, the New Zealand Women's Weekly and The Listener, made the announcement to staff, Radio New Zealand reported.

Chief executive Martin Simons said the review and consultation process would affect a small number of staff across the whole company, the report said.