The government is undecided on withdrawing the Defence Force from the Solomons if Chinese soldiers are stationed there, the prime minister says.

Nearly 20,000 people have signed a petition to save one of Christchurch's birthing units.

How often do Kiwis in the film industry get recognised by the Academy? New Zealand's history with the golden statue goes all the way back to 1980.

Christ Church Cathedral restorers hope construction workers can venture inside the building by Christmas.

A heavy rain watch remains in place for the North Island's East Coast as the sodden district recovers from last week's flooding.

Water rates are to potentially climb by more than 30 percent as Whangārei District Council faces a $3.4 million double hit from the end of Marsden Point oil refining and extra three waters costs.

Wellington clinicians say the capital's youth mental health service is desperately short staffed and has all but collapsed.

Health officials are reporting that 11 more people with Covid-19 have died in New Zealand today, with 12,882 new community cases reported.

The Health and Disability Commissioner has found a radiologist failed to spot malignant growths on a woman's lung.

There is now an open fire season in most parts of the upper North Island.

Police have confiscated more than $7 million in assets in relation to New Zealand's largest meth bust, when 613kg of the drug was seized at Auckland Airport this month.

Police have charged a 20-year-old woman with carrying a fake gun with criminal intent and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm, after a video surfaced of a school fight in which a woman is seen waving what appears to be a gun.

Bay of Plenty doctor David Holland, 31, did not show up for work on 11 March after he was believed to have gone swimming.

The Covid-19 death toll stands at 258 as of Sunday evening, but a modeller says hundreds more people could die in the first wave of the Omicron outbreak.

Dame Jane Campion has received the Academy Award for best director for "The Power of the Dog," becoming the third woman in the Oscars' 94-year history to take home the prize.

Site preparation began for the Auckland-based memorial in December.

Taranaki has been averaging more than 600 new Covid-19 cases a day and there are about 4500 active cases in the community - 10 percent of which need support to isolate safely.

Huge cranes are towering above the flat Manawatū countryside as construction of two hangars for new Air Force aircraft cruises at altitude.