Three divers needed rescuing after drifting out to sea on an inflatable boat without lifejackets, a radio, cellphones or an anchor.

A hunter was winched out of a steep ravine by a rescue helicopter after being stranded for a night in bush on the East Coast.

Canadian oil company Apache has been talking up the prospects for onshore oil finds on the North Island's East Coast and is trying to play concerns about fracking and the local environment.

A Dannevirke man has been told by a local health board his stomach pain may have been caused by a hysterectomy - the surgical removal of a woman's uterus.

A Palmerston North jury has found David Bourke not guilty of murdering his brother Timothy while on the run from police last year.

The trial has begun of a freezing worker accused of shooting dead his brother and driving around the lower North Island with him in the back seat, avoiding police during a two-day manhunt.

A legal loophole has allowed an unregistered teacher back in the classroom after having sex with a 16-year-old student.

Slips and surface flooding are causing havoc for motorists in the lower North Island as heavy rain and gale force winds sweep the region.

A referee in a schoolboy rugby game was threatened by players and had to be accompanied off the field, after a game marred by brawling.