New Zealand journalist Alexi O'Brien this morning described the scene as horrendous. O'Brien is in the Ukraine for Al Jazeera.

A fate as horrific as that of the 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 invites a thorough rethinking of a number of cherished notions.

Tensions are ramping up between two global super powers after a Malaysia Airlines passenger flight was shot down over Ukraine.

Scenes of horror, with crumpled corpses and body parts strewn amid the smouldering wreckage, greeted local villagers and pro-Russian rebels who were first on the crash site.

"We have every expectation our son will be getting off a plane in Wellington tomorrow," says Wendy Ayley, mother of Otaki man Robert Ayley, who was on flight MH17.

News organisations have forever struggled with determining the line where news value ends and shock value and sensationalism begin.

A New Zealand woman has been confirmed as being among the victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash. Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully confirmed the death and said another person, a British citizen who had been living in New Zealand, was also killed. The New Zealand woman, a longtime resident of Australia, was travelling with her husband, a Dutch citizen."Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those involved," says Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

Shane Summerfield is still "miles away" from being able to speak about the crash in which a Dutch driver ran a stop sign and killed his wife and daughter.

A special forces soldier who tumbled to his death on NZ's deadliest mountain yesterday was "unlucky", as snow and ice gave way to a deep crevasse, a rescuer says.

A Napier truck driver negotiating the steep Otira Viaduct for the first time probably experienced brake failure, a coroner has ruled.

Just over two months ago, a battered Phoenix Ruddell lay in an induced coma at Starship Hospital with injuries so serious that doctors expected a long road back to recovery.

Motocross rider Todd Mullinder is alive today because he had emergency surgery on the back of a ute.

A 28-year-old mother swept to her death in a flood-swollen Bay of Islands river screamed for five minutes as she clung to a fence but the raging waters pulled her under.

In the aftermath of the tragic death of Jordan Kemp, we examine the way parents are increasingly turning their back on rugby to keep their children safe.

An inquest in Gloucester has heard how a plane crash that killed a British pilot in the Congo may have been caused by passengers panicking over an escaped crocodile.

The family of New Zealand's top wakeboarder have been told he is a quadriplegic after a devastating accident - but remain hopeful that he will defy the odds.

Hundreds gathered in stormy weather to say haere ra to a young Northland rugby player - four days after he died from a head injury he suffered while playing for his club.

Everyone needs good neighbours - and Kevin Walker's got the best. He is alive only because Sam Woolford gave him CPR for 10 minutes after he went into cardiac arrest.

A man who fell from his ladder onto a rockery and was given painkillers by the local medical centre, died two days later of internal injuries, a coroner has found.

Labour is proposing a sweeping overhaul of New Zealand's disaster insurance regime including shifting EQC levies from insurance premiums

The daughter of a cyclist killed after being hit by a courier van on Monday said her mother was "very safety conscious" and would be "incredibly missed".

A 7-year-old boy was flown to Auckland's Starship Hospital in a serious condition last night after being hit by a car in Tauranga's Welcome Bay.

A Dutch businessman who was involved in a crash which killed three people and left one seriously injured had been caught speeding hours before the collision, it has been reported.