An 18th birthday party set to be held after Auckland Grammar's ball has been cancelled by the venue after intervention by police and the school.

A decision on lowering the drink-drive limit should go to a select committee so the public can have a say, Labour leader Phil Goff says.

The Govt's decision to shelve plans to lower the drink-driving limit for adults and instead do more research has been attacked as gutless.

Senior students from Auckland's King's College were suspended for two days for drinking sake on a night out.

A judge says a man who killed his younger brother in a drunken car-surfing accident would be behind bars if it was 'someone else's kid'.

A new bottle store licence has angered residents of one of Auckland's poorest suburbs after it was 'sneaked through'.

A Masterton woman, who caused the death of an elderly dial-a-driver while she was three times over the legal blood alcohol limit, has escaped jail.

A prolonged heatwave across Russia combined with a prodigious consumption of vodka has led to dozens of drownings every day.

Drunk youths are turning up at Auckland emergency rooms at the rate of almost one a day, says the ADHB.

The Government is considering making it unlawful for adults to give alcohol to young people without their parents' consent.

The solicitor-general is to appeal the sentence imposed on Isaiah Tai for killing Bay of Plenty regional councillor Hawea Vercoe.