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Rescue crews waited impatiently outside one of New Zealand's largest coal mines Friday night for the all-clear to begin a search for 27 men missing after a powerful gas explosion struck deep underground.

"The Hobbit's" New Zealand saga finally appears to be over. The nation's prime minister, John Key, announced Wednesday that his government had reached an agreement with the producers of the two "Hobbit" movies to keep the $500-million production in his country.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are seen as having the least corruption in the world, according to a just-published global survey.

Talks between New Zealand's prime minister and Warner Brothers over the filming of The Hobbit end with no decision on where filming will take place.

Australia and New Zealand shared first place, and the United States tied for fifth, in a first-of-its kind survey ranking 153 nations on the willingness of their citizens to donate time and money to charity.

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck much of New Zealand's South Island early Saturday.

A Tokyo court on Wednesday convicted a New Zealand activist of obstructing the Japanese whaling mission in the Antarctic Ocean, sentencing him to a suspended prison term.

"It probably was the most important goal of my life," Reid said Tuesday after scoring in second-half injury time to lift New Zealand into a 1-1 draw with Slovakia in Group F. "I didn't see the ball until late. I knew that if I got it on-target and didn't hit it too hard, I could just guide it in."

New Zealand is preparing for some rare spring visitors.

James Cameron himself wasn’t happy that the Avatar online trailer preceded the Avatar Day IMAX 3-D screenings on Friday. The reason that happened, according to Fox, is that the trailer went out at the same time as the first 10 AM screenings in New Zealand on the other side of the world. It was a synchronous global release. The Apple site was so overwhelmed with clicks that it crashed at first.