Two men are lucky to be alive after missing explosive gel and a box of detonators by half an inch while ploughing with a rotary hoe.

A teen was abducted from a street in a small Hawke's Bay town and driven to a remote field where she sexually assaulted by two masked men.

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by two men in Dannevirke last night, then left in a paddock.

A horror seven days has seen 18 people die in 12 road accidents and has left police blaming speed and alcohol as a factor in many of them.

David Bourke is remanded for a psychiatric report after making no plea in the Palmerston North District Court.

Friends are concerned for the missing brother of alleged gunman David John Bourke as police delay identifying the body found in his crashed car.

Police tackled and disarmed a hypothermic fugitive who had been on the run for about 48 hours in Hawkes Bay today.

Police are this morning resuming their search for a gunman who shot at two people - one a policeman - and fled, leaving a dead body in his car.

Police launch a murder inquiry over a body found in the back of an accused Hawkes Bay gunman's car.

A Hawke's Bay gunman who shot at police and threatened farmers has gone to ground.

A severe weather warning is issued for the lower North Island while police warn of surface flooding in Auckland.