Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has announced a $5.5 million reconstruction package for Aitutaki following last month's cyclone.

From the Western perspective, China has been unwilling to shoulder responsibilities that go with greater international power.

NZ foreign affairs officials are checking a report that Lebanon's Military Tribunal has sentenced a Jordanian New Zealander and six others to hard labour for forming a terrorist group.

PM keen to hear Hillary Clinton's views on what progress has been made towards establishing a corruption-free Government in Afghanistan.