Prominent Kiwis have banded together to demand an independent inquiry into the claims of sexual and physical abuse of children in state care.

Faded - but explicit - letters found in a Paris cellar reveal an affair that still has the power to shock, says Nick Harding.

A garage owner has defended displaying the Confederate flag after a Dunedin woman took to social media to register her shock at seeing it.

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor has stoked the campaign to relocate the historic steam train the Kingston Flyer to the West Coast.

COMMENT: Tough rhetoric on terrorists is nothing new in a US leader but straight-talking style is.

COMMENT: Past atrocities can be found in the history of every culture and do not excuse wrong-doing in the present.

Your questions about Waitangi and the Treaty have been answered.

COMMENT: Waitangi is time to consider path so far and road ahead.

Jaws of death: US sailors aboard the USS Indianapolis, whose ship had been sunk by Japanese torpedoes, were picked off by sharks in the midst of the Pacific Ocean.

COMMENT: Why would a Pakeha of Irish ancestry be passionate about the Treaty of Waitangi? Two main reasons, writes Terry Dunleavy.

Since the FBI's "Top Ten" most wanted list was first created in 1950, 512 fugitives have been listed on it. Only 10 of them have been women.

It's taken travelling the world for Napier MP Stuart Nash to realise that there's no better place to raise a family than Napier; and

Former President Barack Obama could rake in more than $26 million in advance for his post-presidential memoir.

All White Houses leak. Sometimes the leaks are big, sometimes small. But there are always people willing to talk to reporters about the "real" story.

Walking tours of the Napier Cemetery, nestled within Napier's Botanical Gardens, reveals a rich history of the city between 1855 and 1917 - a Napier before the earthquake. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

The restoration of the hut included repainting it in its original bright orange and yellow colours.

Astonishing link uncovered between Kiwi soldier who died in Gallipoli and bloodied Turkish family heirloom.

Each year, our country is shifting at about the same speed our fingernails grow. Here are four other strange things you probably don't know about New Zealand.

Three shearers from different corners of the country have smashed a world shearing record - 1611 strongwool ewes between them in just eight hours. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Strongman mine disaster happened 50 years ago next week. Paul McBride catches up with the five surviving members of the Mines Rescue teams.

COMMENT: With "A grade" mysteries hard to find these days, Paul Charman jots down some of his favourite Kiwi mysteries for your summer reading pleasure.

A museum replica of the Seddon family homestead that once stood in Kumara has been suggested for the historic site.

The Fuhrer may have used a secret runway to escape his Berlin bunker and flee to South America in a Luftwaffe plane.

The impact of a large asteroid 66 million years ago, created the 'Big Chill'.

Next week's 50th anniversary of the Strongman Mine disaster may be the last opportunity for many to remember the 1967 tragedy.

A senior theatre lecturer says the historical justifications for casting only men in an upcoming Shakespeare production aren't accurate.

Organisers of the Pop-Up Globe have been accused of sexism for using an all-male cast in keeping with Elizabethan times.

Waitangi Day has provided an insight to the character of successive prime ministers ever since Norman Kirk made it a national holiday.

Deluded fans of psychopathic serial killer Charles Manson demand release of their leader as he lies, possibly near death, in a Californian hospital.

A rare undeveloped gem in the Hokianga where Polynesian settlers are first believed to have set foot on New Zealand soil is for sale in the Hokianga.