Auckland bus drivers working 13 hour shifts to cover staff shortages say their employers needs to take a hard look at the poor pay and "terrible" working conditions they offer.

The release of a police progress report on bias is being met with muted approval, but fears remain the exercise could come to nothing.

Two board members proposed using a mothballed private facility in place of the quake-prone hospital's Heretaunga Building.

A millionaire investor from China who watched his once-lucrative New Zealand businesses fail after moving to Auckland has been found guilty of stabbing to death the woman he blamed for his huge financial losses.

Maraenui in Napier, one of the city's poorest suburbs, is in desperate need of new homes.

The leader of a church accused of persistent hate speech, and exploiting members for thousands of dollars of tithes and weekly unpaid work - has told parishioners he has no intention of standing down.

TVNZ's head of news and current affairs Paul Yurisich has gone on leave while a review into recruitment processes is underway.

New Zealand's police watchdog says an officer should not have arrested a youth using a police dog that went on to bite the 17-year-old.

Dunedin Hospital's wards will be closed to all visitors from 6pm due to the strain of Covid-19 on the health system.

Another 13 people with Covid-19 have died and another 7870 community cases have been notified, the Ministry of Health says.

A Napier man has been sentenced to more than five years in jail for possessing and distributing thousands of files of "serious and depraved" child pornography.

Volunteer firefighters say they support withdrawing a new type of fire hose that has been failing.

The final hurdle allowing New Zealand Rugby to sign a $200 million deal with US private equity firm Silver Lake has been cleared.

Diana Sarfati has been named the acting Director-General of Health to replace Ashley Bloomfield.

Police have released a progress report on their work on bias, but 15 months after the programme started there are few concrete findings or definitive actions.

Experts say the Clean Slate scheme, which gives some offenders the right to not disclose their criminal convictions, isn't working and some people who deserve to can't put their past behind them.

A number of officials are supporting a push for the Hutt Valley District Health Board to shift its earthquake-prone maternity ward to one nearby that was mothballed last year.

A new national national intelligence and security agency has not yet been established despite it being a key recommendation from the Christchurch mosque attacks inquiry.