A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck near Taupo this afternoon and was felt along the East Coast of the North Island.

A businessman has been discharged without conviction for threatening to kill his partner with a knife after an argument broke out over his mother washing his underwear.

Aftershocks are unlikely after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake rocked much of the central and lower North Island today.

The teenagers involved in a "horrific" car crash at Waipukurau have been flooded with online messages of love and support from friends and family.

About 20 Hawkes Bay residents fought an out of control fire with spades and chilly bins of water near Mahia Beach yesterday.

Brazen thieves who pounced while a family were sleeping made off with priceless camera footage of a young Hawkes Bay woman's last years of life.

Health warnings over Lake Tutira have been extended following the detection of higher levels of cyanobacteria by the Hawke's Bay District Health Board.

A live-in caregiver who stole $35,510 from her widowed Napier employer accepted a $2500 severance payment and dinner with her victim's family when she resigned in April

Paul Rush tramps the Great Walk around the fabled 'Sea of Rippling Waters'.

A Hawke's Bay prison officer was hospitalised yesterday after being attacked by an inmate, and the incident is now being investigated by police.

The simple act of leaving a lamp on at home sparked a blaze which totally destroyed a Waipukurau home at the weekend.