Wellington and Christchurch have already had their wettest winter on record and, with a week to go, the threat of more heavy rain yet could see records for other regions fall.

The family of soldier Dominic Abelen, who was killed while fighting in Ukraine, says their hearts are broken and that Dom "sacrificed his life for others to have a life".

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta says Dominic Abelen wasn’t in Ukraine on behalf of NZ, and had made a private decision to travel there, when he was killed.

In questioning, Corrections admitted it did not have a tailored strategy or framework for state care abuse survivors.

Security guards, more onsite counsellors and "supervised safe zones" have all been put in place after a huge fight that left students bleeding.

Council staff and contractors are still at work clearing slips that caused havoc in Tawa, Karori, Melrose, Te Aro and Wilton after heavy rain.

Rain falls in northern parts of the country as the latest weather system brings potential heavy downpours to already sodden areas.

After Tupperware announced it was closing the lid on operations, thousands of Kiwis jumped on Trade Me to get their hands on the containers.

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a man's appeal against his name being added to the child sex offender register.

A hospital employee called the shortage of beds for mentally unwell offenders “totally unacceptable”, but a judge ruled the treatment was justified.

A prisoner set to be sentenced for attempted murder jumped the dock at Auckland High Court, trying to attack a lawyer.

A Taranaki high school has received a grant to enable its marae to start moving towards a hybrid off-grid system and to explore alternative power generation.

A new vision for transport in Christchurch proposes getting people out of cars and onto buses, bikes and footpaths, slashing emissions.

Minister of Health Andrew Little is backing a call for an independent inquiry into a patient death at Middlemore Hospital in June.

Station manager says they will march again as work conditions push staff to "breaking point".

The latest protest fell flat because many of the most active agents of misinformation have moved on to targeting local body elections. Charlie Mitchell explains.

Commuters are being asked to slow down as heavy rain pounds parts of Tāmaki Makaurau.

A drink-driver who killed his passenger in a crash was let off with a handshake from the judge. The victim's mother says there has been no justice.

Exceptional, extreme, most unusual. Devastating. What factors caused the weather system that bore down on Nelson and Marlborough?

The number of homes deemed unsafe to return to in Nelson is down from 134 to 126 on Thursday, and will fluctuate as assessments are made.