A decision has been made on the Rena wreck, with a panel ruling it can stay on the Astrolabe Reef but under strict monitoring.

A man who stabbed his wife to death and then turned the knife on those who tried to save her planned the killing six weeks earlier, a judge has ruled. Outside court Detective Inspector Kevin Hooper paid tribute to the "stoic" family of the victim, whose emotions were too raw for them to address media.

Police speak to three youths and confiscate BB gun after school bus was shot at in the Waikato town of Morrinsville.

Two dangerous criminals wanted by police are on the loose in New Zealand in relation to two separate incidents.

When she saw her little girl alive and well, after fearing she had drowned, Ali Wharehinga thought she was looking at a ghost.

Brent Scott murdered his wife and then turned the knife on those who tried to save her. He has been jailed for at least 17 years.

A handful of Upper Hutt city councillors are in the firing line after making the city a TPP-free zone.

Cristobal Pérez Salas from Chile says all he knows about Tokoroa is from Google.

Mayor hopeful doesn't care that the Prime Minister plays there.

A 54-year-old man was taken into custody after he fired a .303 rifle when police were called to a house in Carterton.

The 3-year-old girl who was inside a car stolen from a West Auckland supermarket last night is afraid of going outside in case "the baddies" come, her father says.

Drug's effects include hallucinations, erratic and aggressive behaviour, seizures and loss of consciousness.

An American tourist whose wife was killed in a crash in South Waikato is now in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital.

Stewart Brodie's assault on man in Hastings pub loses him police contract.

A two-month-old kitten has survived a hot trip from Papamoa to Auckland after stowing away under the bonnet of a car.

A man in his 60s was flown to hospital after a near-drowning at New Chums Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula this afternoon.

A woman in her eighties has been taken to hospital after she drove into a McDonald's restaurant in Northland, along with a pedestrian she hit.

They are the unlikeliest bunch of "vandals" - the members of Gonville Knitting Group.

Helicopter pilot Todd Dunham had a day to remember yesterday, rescuing two men attacked by animals in separate incidents in the Bay of Plenty.

An American couple involved in a fatal crash in South Waikato had been travelling on New Zealand roads for only a few days before the collision.

Baby trapped inside car parked outside Auckland public library.

Brennan Racing couple Grant and Lorraine Brennan jailed.

Latvian arrested after two women and a dog stabbed in Hawke's Bay, with witness claiming he saw dog run off with weapon still embedded in its body.

William Clague makes the most of yesterday's sunny weather, leaping into the cool waters of Pilot Bay in Tauranga Harbour.

A Tauranga City councillor has described threats to burn the alternative NZ flag design if it is flown from a flag pole as "feral behaviour".

A Police spokeswoman said the suspicious item in Mission Bay was a small blue chilly bin with suspicious contents.

A Wairoa pharmacist refuses to sell the emergency contraceptive pill over her counter because of personal beliefs.

The garage is part of a $2.3 million home which features a swimming pool and expansive harbour views.

VIDEO: Rotorua police ask woman who allegedly stole restaurant tip jar to hand herself in and "get it over with".