The Government says Petrobras is following DOC guidelines to minimise the disturbance to marine mammals while it looks for oil off the East Cape.

Tropical Cyclone Bune is making its way down to New Zealand and is expected to pass to the east of the country from Wednesday.

Tropical cyclone Bune, which is heading for Raoul Island, about 1100km northeast of New Zealand, weakened slightly this afternoon to a strong category 2. It may cause dangerous rips and surf along the east coast next week.

Police have found an American tourist who was missing in the Urewera National Park for two nights.

A tropical cyclone formed near Fiji today is on track to bring strong winds and heavy rain to New Zealand next week, forecasters predict.

Two earthquakes have rocked the East Coast area this afternoon but there have been no reports of damage.

Herald Maori affairs reporter Yvonne Tahana on the at times frustrating job of covering national kapa haka festival Te Matatini o te Ra.

Greedy "sharks" are already circling Te Runanga o Ngati Porou as it gears up to grow its $110m treaty settlement. The tribe's chairman has already received letters from outsiders promising all sorts of riches for the iwi if it would let

Two big iwi leaders met with Prime Minister John Key to discuss state assets sales today at the national Te Matatini kapa haka competition.

Your guide to Valentine's Day drinking.

It used to be deeply naff, drunk only by teens and maybe your nana; so how did cider get its fizz back to be the drink of the summer, asks Nicky Pellegrino.

A 10-month old boy is in hospital after being attacked by a dog at a Gisborne house yesterday afternoon.

An exhausted swimmer and her boyfriend have narrowly escaped drowning after being rescued by the support crew of the six lifeguards circumnavigating the country in two small rescue boats.

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake, centred 30 kilometres south of Gisborne, struck just after 10pm last night.

Gisborne and Northern Hawke's Bay were rocked by a series of earthquakes on Monday between magnitude 4.2 and 3.3 at a relatively shallow depth, but no damage has been reported.