A new record has been set in the Middle Eastern equivalent of our scrap over pavlova with Aussie - with a ten ton batch of hummus

Under the gaze of the Israeli army, one man is building an extraordinary hotel.

Mfat says it is in contact with a Jordanian New Zealander sentenced to two years' hard labour by Lebanon's Military Tribunal.

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.