A truck and car were involved in a serious accident north of Christchurch this morning.

Two Kiwis are aboard a fishing trawler missing off the coast of Queensland.

An airport quarantine officer got a horrifying surprise when he opened a passenger's chilly bin.

The signs of summer are among us with pohutakawa trees flowering already and forecasters say the official first day of the season on Thursday will be calm and dry.

Eleven men were thrown into the rough seas of the Kaipara Harbour on Saturday. Three survived, seven bodies have been recovered and one is still missing.

COMMENT: I think what Phil Goff is doing is absolutely right - a visitor levy is a good way to generate income, but it needs to go beyond Auckland.

32-year-old spent three years working in NZ as an arborist and dreamed of creating a self-sufficient eco-village here - but tragedy struck while on a visit to UK.

Otaki sisters Maizy and Philadelphia are polar opposites, but they share a talent for film-making. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

NCEA maths exams have been hit with mistakes at every level, the Herald can reveal.

A teenager faces a court hearing for allegedly saying "this teacher is mean as f***" in a public place.

Ena Lai Dung died in a pool of her own urine and faeces, starved, dehydrated, neglected and in extreme pain. Today Cindy Taylor was sentenced for Ena's death.

Murderer George Baker was involved in a stand-off with police at Auckland's North Shore Hospital after he was uncuffed by Corrections staff and "smashed up his room".

Waitemata Police have stopped prosecuting small-time P dealers. Does the Government agree?

Up to 50 Palmerston North Boys' High School pupils and teachers were sent home on Friday.

A woman who got her teenage lover to murder her partner has been refused parole and will stay in prison for at least the next six months.

The Government will urgently pass quake recovery laws which allow landslips in the South Island to be cleared into the ocean without consent.

Plans for an expansion of the parliamentary complex in Wellington, which will involve two new buildings at a cost of at least $100 million, have been unveiled.

Central Hawke's Bay College is on lockdown due to the threat of toxic smoke from a fire at the derelict Waipukurau Hospital's nurses' quarters.

"Essentially you breathe life into something that is dead material" Puppeteer Norbert Hausberg exhibits his lifelong passion. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

Gore's art gallery is the magnet, but other delights abound too, writes Eleanor Ainge Roy.

The Western Bay District Council has brought in a security firm to patrol camping hotspots such as Waihi Beach and Bowentown's Anzac

COMMENT: That a skipper with so much experience attempted to tackle that bar in such a huge swell just doesn't make sense.

Residents tell of fear after eight water eruptions of up to 30m on the lake this morning - the first geothermal activity in the area for about 15 years.

A survivor of the Kaipara Harbour disaster was too big for the lifejackets, and desperately clung to the flotation devices while he swam to shore badly injured.

Online descriptions of houses to rent are reaching remarkable heights, prompting questions about truth in advertising, and whether the law is being broken.

A member of the public stopped an armed robber yesterday afternoon in what police are calling a "brave action by a community minded person".

Everyone left with a smile on their faces after this year's annual Farmers Santa Parade in Auckland, an organiser said.

A 40-year-old pregnant woman critically injured in a car crash on Friday is now in a serious condition in hospital.

A man who burned his friend to death over $30,000 made a jailhouse confession to two police officers posing as fellow prisoners after police set up an elaborate sting.

A motorcyclist has died in a crash with a car on State Highway 25, south of Tairua, this afternoon.