New Zealand shares rose yesterday as another consumer confidence survey showed improving sentiment, especially in Auckland, even as Australian jobs data disappointed financial markets.

NZ company Pacific Edge Biotech is on track to roll out its product to the US, Australia, Spain and Portugal.

Denise Clarke is overwhelmed that the fight to have the body of her partner returned is over after it was taken by his family to be buried with his ancestors.

The family of a man, who was buried in a place against his partner's wishes has lost a five-year legal battle to have his body buried with his ancestors, the Supreme Court has ruled.

More than 100,000 New Zealanders living as "indefinite temporaries" in Australia may finally gain rights to Australian welfare and student loans.

A 9-year-old girl was led 50m away from her school by an abductor - one of at least two incidents that have alarmed schools and police.

A drug-dealing grandmother has been jailed for nearly seven years for her part in a multimillion-dollar drug syndicate.

A bill that clarifies the definition of military-style semi-automatic guns and places controls on the importation of airguns that look like real pistols has passed a third reading in Parliament today.

For the past century, since heading the first Australian-led Antarctic expedition, Sir Douglas Mawson has been considered a national hero.

As John Key wraps up an important Burma visit, he talks to Herald Political Editor Audrey Young about what he's learned and seen.

Major breweries are battling for market share as the taste for "quality" beer takes hold in supermarkets and pubs. Geoff Cumming follows the consumer-led revolution.

A man who murdered an Auckland man with a thistle grubber has been jailed for life with a non-parole period of 21 years.