Slips and surface flooding are causing havoc for motorists in the lower North Island as heavy rain and gale force winds sweep the region.

Standing on snakes and having trees fall on him are all in a day's work for the archaeologist who's been called Auckland's Indiana Jones.

The first employment case brought to court under 90-day trial laws has gone in favour of a dismissed pharmacy employee.

A machete-wielding man was shot with a Taser stun gun after threatening police in Lower Hutt last night.

Alarming administration errors led to confusion over which of an elderly woman's legs needed surgery and her being sent home, dying days later.

Police have arrested a man after they were called to an incident in Lower Hutt where he allegedly threatened someone with a knife.

The southerly which cut power to Wellington residents last night has moved north but fresh gales are expected in the lower South Island.

A gang member says he knows the identity of the officer who left a confidential document at a house during a raid last year.