The Wellington region moved to alert level 2 at 6pm today after an Australian tourist who visited the capital on the weekend tested positive for Covid-19 on his return to Sydney.

Arthur Allan Thomas' defence has told jurors the two women accusing him of rape and assault are vengeful liars who want to destroy him.

Police are investigating threatening messages sent to a North Shore high school student via Snapchat.

A small Eastern Bay of Plenty town is considering reining in roaming horses by banning the animals.

ASB Showgrounds' liquidation after 160 years is fast becoming very public finger-pointing exercise between two major Auckland trusts.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says Wellington will move to alert level 2 from 6pm tonight until 11.59pm on Sunday.

Shirley Corles-Davis is still angry at being asked by a property developer if she wanted to sell her house just 24 hours after it was damaged in the Papatoetoe tornado.

Lawyers have addressed the jury for the final time in the Bridget Simmonds murder trial in the High Court at Whangārei.

The Medical Council has apologised to survivors of abuse in the adolescent unit at Lake Alice Hospital in the 1970s.

The Covid-19 positive traveller to Wellington visited to Te Papa, an inner city bar and a central city pharmacy, among locations of interest identified by the Ministry of Health.

As the Wellington region, including Kāpiti Coast and Wairarapa, is set to move to alert level 2, here is a reminder of what that means in terms of guidelines and restrictions.

A survivor of abuse while in the adolescent unit at Lake Alice in the 1970s has ended up spending 40 of his 60 years in jail.

Three of the four men charged in relation to the death of MMA fighter Fau Vake in central Auckland have pleaded not guilty in court.

Migrants who have waited more than five years to have their parents settle in New Zealand are calling for the government to front up on when residence applications will restart.

Waikato DHB is sending some patients to the private sector to catch up on a backlog of non-urgent operations.

A psychiatrist who worked in New Zealand in the 1970s says many people employed at psychiatric hospitals back then often had no relevant qualifications.

A former Child, Youth and Family carer has been sentenced to 10 years and two months in prison for sexually violating and indecently assaulting young boys in his care.

Southerners feel like they're paying the price for the government's Northern Pathway project, with many councils receiving less money from Waka Kotahi than expected.