For 22 New Zealand teenagers, it was the trip of a lifetime: three weeks in Mexico practicing Spanish and visiting the pyramids of Oaxaca and other famous sites.

New Zealand’s health minister and an Israeli hospital are reporting the first confirmed cases of swine flu to hit the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific regions.

New Zealand’s health minister said Sunday 10 students who just returned from Mexico have tested positive for influenza. He said the cases are “likely” to be swine flu.

New Zealand’s health minister says 10 students who were recently in Mexico have tested positive for influenza. He said the cases are “likely” to be swine flu.

Twenty-five students and teachers in New Zealand, some with flu-like symptoms, were quarantined and tested for swine flu after returning from a trip to Mexico, officials said Sunday, as Asia stepped up surveillance for the deadly virus.

Twenty-five students and teachers in New Zealand, some with flu-like symptoms, were quarantined and tested for swine flu after returning from a trip to Mexico, officials said Sunday, as Asia stepped up surveillance for the deadly virus.

The veterinarian who injected 21 elite polo horses with a supplement before a championship match in Florida and then watched them die says the grief is unbearable.

Florida authorities have begun a criminal investigation into the deaths of 21 polo horses from a Venezuelan-owned team preparing to play a match over the weekend.

Experts searching for alternative Maori names for New Zealand’s two main islands were startled to find their commonly used English names _ North Island and South Island _ were never made legal, officials said Tuesday.

Experts searching for alternative Maori names for New Zealand’s two main islands were startled to find their commonly used English names _ North Island and South Island _ were never made legal, officials said Tuesday.