Despite multiple failures - including untreated sewage polluting a popular swimming beach - the company running Wellington's four wastewater treatment plants is keeping its multi-million dollar contract for now.

Regional leaders in Hawke's Bay have decided to oppose the decision to drop the speed limit on the highway between Napier and Taupō.

Some New Zealanders have jumped at the chance to reunite with loved ones and travel overseas, after learning the country's borders will slowly creak open this year.

There are 147 new cases of Covid-19 in the community and 44 at the border today, the Ministry of Health is reporting.

Police continue to appeal for information as a homicide investigation into the 19-month-old's death is ongoing.

Police Detective Sergeant Dan Isherwood significant investigative work had been carried out by North Canterbury CIB and the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he was satisfied building a new school was in the best interests of south-west Hamilton.

Community Law Aotearoa blames the government for blocking scores of people from getting the official help that is available to other Afghans with visas.

An Independent Police Conduct Authority staff member has lost a USB stick with information on complainants and police, in what is being treated as a security and privacy breach.

MetService is forecasting more severe rain on the South Island's West Coast - which could cause dangerous river conditions and flooding in Buller.

A 12-year-old accused of murdering a man near Kaikohe has pleaded not guilty in the High Court in Whangārei this morning.

There is concern New Zealand's pandemic-driven brain gain of skilled workers is turning into a "brain drain" as young people head overseas.

The Capital and Coast DHB has confirmed a person tested positive for Covid-19 while at Wellington Hospital yesterday.

Longlasting pollutants linked to health scares overseas have been found in this country's urban water systems for the first time.

The move was inspired by the results of a study which found most pupils spent more than five hours a day on screens outside school time.

The man was reportedly swimming with a friend on Tuesday night and got into trouble.

Some families are enduring five-week managed isolation and quarantine stays after testing positive to Covid-19, and purposely trying to speed up infecting each other.

Nelson's Rotomairewhenua/Blue Lake, which has the clearest water in the world, is facing a threat from an invasive diatom that blooms into a slimy, clinging algae-like substance.