A charity chief executive says they are inundated with calls at this time of year from parents who cannot afford the basic necessities for sending their children to school.

Views ranged from it being an attempt to "oppress iwi Māori" to providing the chance to ease New Zealanders' anxiety over the Treaty.

Explainer: The wind speed of the Mangawhai tornado is similar to one that's occurred before - RNZ has been looking at what we know so far.

An Ashburton woman was surprised to find out the council would no longer help with the maintenance of the California Redwood tree that towers over her property.

Spud Motors in Masterton was incorrectly told it needed more loos after the council refused to grant building consent for just one unisex toilet on the premises.

Singer and actor Cher's stellar career spans six decades. She talks to RNZ's Jesse Mulligan about looking back in her new The Memoir, Part One.

Otago Fish & Game said it was the first known major outbreak of the bacterial disease in the region, while in Timaru rescuers are scrambling to respond to a suspected outbreak.

Author Neil Gaiman has been dropped by one of his publishers after he was accused of sexual assault and abuse by multiple women, including one from New Zealand.

Building inspectors have completed 90 rapid assessments of properties damaged by the Mangawhai tornado, stickering 35 of them.

Damaged homes still dot the streets in one suburb, marked for demolition after being inundated in January 2023.

The storm in Mangawhai was so powerful that power poles were snapped in half and roofs were ripped off, leaving the seaside community littered with debris.

Phones have replaced many things: computers, calculators, cameras and maps, but returning to an old-fashioned alarm clock instead of your phone might help you get up and go in the morning.

Seven charter schools are expecting to open in the coming weeks with intakes ranging from six to 60 pupils.

Otago local Julie Hall's Antique Carriages business has a starring role in the new adaptation of the John Steinbeck classic.

The Central Otago District Council said recent heavy rainfall had caused dirty river conditions, which had limited its ability to treat water to safe levels.

"I live in Cornwall Rd but in the post it said 'Pornwall Rd'. I just thought it was a joke," one local said.

A two-vehicle crash on State Highway 1 in the Whanganui region has left people with serious injuries, police say.

Two teens who allegedly tried and failed to break into a jeweller's and a service station before looting a dairy have been arrested.