Wellington, Jan 29 NZPA - Prime Minister John Key has described as "dumb and hypocritical" a suggestion by Labour leader Phil Goff that public service chief executives' salaries should be capped.

By Maggie Tait of NZPA Wellington, Jan 28 NZPA - Public service chief executives' salaries should be capped, Labour leader Phil Goff said today in a speech about the need to ensure all New Zealanders benefit from improved economic times, not just the wealthy.

Wellington, Jan 26 NZPA - Talks will begin soon on a working holiday scheme for young Vietnamese and New Zealanders to travel and work in each other's countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said today.

Wellington, Jan 22 NZPA - Foreign Minister Murray McCully is to attended a high-level conference on Afghanistan in England next week, stopping off in Vietnam on the way.

Wellington, Nov 17 NZPA - The Government needs to listen and apologise to British child migrants who suffered after being repatriated to New Zealand decades ago, the Labour Party says.

Wellington, Nov 16 NZPA - The hundreds of children brought to New Zealand under British child migration schemes had a different fate than those sent to Australia, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

There is no doubt that there has been large scale and unfair vote rigging against opposition Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi in last week's elections.

Last week marked the first time that the British National Party (BNP) has made significant gains in any nationwide UK election since its founding in 1982.

Today, as Gordon Brown awakes in 10 Downing Street, he must be thinking of why he took on the job of British Prime Minister just on two years ago. Brown's head must be spinning and the thought must be racing around in his mind that 'why was I so keen to do it in the first place?'

This week Bill English put this country on a tough Budget driven diet of restricted spending, no tax cuts and minimal increases in social spending. All of this came at a time when John Key and Bill English differed over the objectives of the budget.