Two people are dead and five others have been taken to hospital after a vehicle carrying seven people rolled this morning near Foxton.

A jury in the Palmerston North High Court has today found a man not guilty of murdering a three-year-old girl but guilty of her manslaughter. Kash McKinnon died of head injuries in Palmerston North Hospital in August 2009.

One of two teenagers charged with attempted murder after a policeman was attacked with a machete at Taihape on December 11 last year has pleaded guilty.

A spiralling shortage of doctors has sparked a warning of future "severe safety issues" in New Zealand hospitals, with predictions that patients could suffer from increasing medical mistakes and treatment delays without urgent action.

Luxury cars and motorbikes, drugs and thousands of dollars have been seized in a major police crackdown on organised crime.

A major police operation today has highlighted the fact that rival gangs are working together in the highly lucrative drugs trade, Police Minister Judith Collins says.

Anonymous tipsters responding to an appeal for information on a vandalism attack have given police new leads on the murder of Feilding farmer Scott Guy and police have reiterated that information will be treated in confidence.

Going public today with images of graffiti found on murdered Manawatu farmer Scott Guy's house has led to a number of calls to police.

Police investigating the murder of farmer Scott Guy are pursuing a new lead linked to a vandalism attack on his Feilding property.

Police are warning users of the Whanganui River to beware of a shark that has been spotted in the river.

A police search and rescue team looking for missing Pahiatua man John Campbell have found a body. Mr Campbell, 64, was last seen leaving his Pahiatua home, in the Tararua district, for work at 6.45am yesterday.