Wellington, July 21 NZPA - The Defence Force (NZDF) has been severely criticised by Auditor-General Lyn Provost for the way it handled a case of wrongly claimed allowances by officers seconded to the United Nations.

By Shabnam Dastgheib and Maggie Tait of NZPA

Wellington, July 7 NZPA - New Zealand troops will be sent to the Solomon Islands to provide security during elections.

Wellington, June 29 NZPA - New Zealand defence personnel and a Television New Zealand film crew in Afghanistan were involved in a bomb scare while on bomb disposal patrol in Afghanistan overnight New Zealand time.

Wellington, June 24 NZPA - Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has confirmed that SAS troops will stay in Afghanistan until March next year. Dr Mapp was questioned about New Zealand's special forces and aid efforts in the war-torn country in a defence select committee meeting today.

Wellington, June 11 NZPA - Public submissions on the long-term future of the Defence Force have been assessed and the "Defence White Paper" review is scheduled to be complete by the end of September.

Wellington, June 4 NZPA - Unemployed young people looking for direction and discipline will get the opportunity to challenge themselves on a new Limited Service Volunteer (LSV) course at Hobsonville, Prime Minister John Key says.

Wellington, June 1 NZPA - The breakdown of the Navy's newest ship on its maiden voyage was a "teething problem" Defence Minister Wayne Mapp says.

Wellington, May 20 NZPA - A list of the main spending announcements in the 2010 budget:

Wellington, May 7 NZPA - The Government is looking at buying short-range passenger aircraft to transport dignitaries and plug a Defence Force capacity gap.