London insurers have radical plans to reduce seaborne hijackings.

Reviewers are, I suppose, expected to be dispassionate but I admit to being an enthusiastic fan of Simon Winchester. I have never read a book of his that was not thoroughly rewarding and this latest, from a prolific production line, is one of the best.

The Atlantic ocean might not be the world's largest. But it is, writer Simon Winchester tells Stephen Jewell, the centre of the world and deserving of its own "biography".

The good news from the first Census of Marine Life is: New Zealand's waters are indeed teeming with wondrous creatures and plants.

The US government allowed BP to keep the cap shut on its oil well for another day despite news the well is leaking.

The brown spots run like a trail of blood down the deserted coastline near this fishing village. Just underneath a handful of sand lies spilled oil.

Polar scientists are united on the likelihood of level rises - but how much and when?

Is the attention New Zealand is getting from foreign oil prospectors accelerating?

Oil giant ExxonMobil says new rules to curb drilling should be held off until the lessons from the Gulf of Mexico disaster are fully understood.

NZ will join Australia in taking legal action over Japan's whaling programme if last minute diplomatic solutions are not found.

When it comes to fish, New Zealand is often held up as an exemplar of what happens when you get things right.