Wind gusts of nearly 100kph have reached Northland, as bad weather begins to drench the country.

Aiken Hakes, who represented New Zealand at croquet and was a Halberg sportsman of the year nominee, was seen withdrawing cash at an ATM on Saturday.

Dannevirke truck driver Scott Judd still can't get a local GP and has to get his prescriptions sent up from a previous doctor in Christchurch.

Portable toilets provided for drivers are open to public and "wholly unsuitable and unsanitary".

The tiny island nation's departure from a gathering of the Pacific's key diplomatic body is not a “wider sign of disunity”, Jacinda Ardern says.

Thieves targeted the store three times in just six weeks, causing thousands of dollars of damage - just to take ice cream and chewing gum.

The driver – a father of two – was “very, very badly injured” and there was a lot of blood on the ground where he fell, his boss says.

The van driver was forced to take evasive action to avoid a ute attempting a risky overtake of a logging truck on SH1, south of Dunedin.

Dr Luke Bradford is in favour of reforming the creaking health system, he just wants to know what these reforms will mean for primary care

While formal identification is yet to be completed, police believe a body found by a member of the public on Monday is Dion Gifkins, who was reported missing on July 4.

Officials are tight-lipped about the nature of the allegation, which is thought to have surfaced at Cashmere High School in recent weeks.

It comes as airlines battle wild weather, crew sickness and engineering issues, coupled with “the busiest period of travel” seen since pre-Covid.

Auckland dad found not guilty of murder after baby died from catastrophic head injuries.

An updated plan, which could cost up to $100m, shows priority for buses and pedestrians and more space on footpaths for street furniture and trees.

Every dog has a job, and knowing what that job is will keep it - and your family - happy.

The temporary move of 60 low-security Invercargill prisoners to Otago Corrections Facility has been delayed because of a shortage of beds.

The district council is giving out more than 26 tonnes of sand to help residents protect their properties, but homeowners say action should have been taken sooner.

At one stage, about 40 cars were backed up over the hill while contractors cleared the slip.

Business and home owners targeted in a spate of break-ins across Manawatū say police are under-resourced to deal with the crimes.

China's growing influence in the Pacific has raised eyebrows in the West. But NZ's associate foreign minister says our ties with the Pacific are strong enough to address any real threat posed by Beijing.