An 18-year-old female and a 47-year-old male have died following a head-on collision south of Whanganui.

A Northland woman was home alone when, at 2 o'clock this morning, she heard footsteps on her deck.

Police are looking for a good Samaritan named Kate who helped another woman in Wellington.

A Bay of Plenty hotel was held up at gunpoint, with an armed man threatening drinkers and making off with the night's takings.

Napier's mayor has defended the city's much-criticised $700,000 "pier to nowhere".

Families invented 12 children for booking so they could have hut all to themselves.

A year ago Kauri went missing from his home in suburban Panmure; last week, she turned up at Te Hapara School in Gisborne.

One man is dead and another is in custody following a suspected homicide just north of Whangarei tonight.

Neighbours have described the moment a search turned to tragedy when a 1-year-old boy was found drowned last night.

Jaden Lee Stroobant charged with murdering and sexually violating Cun Tian in her home.

Geoffroy de Saint Germain took a big breath and dived back under the water for a third time, knowing it would be his last shot to save a drowning man.

A person whose fireworks led to a large blaze at Paritutu Rock on Friday night has been tracked down by police.

The motorcycle community is shocked and saddened after losing one of its members in a fatal crash involving a tourist driver in Hawkes Bay yesterday.

There are reports of a large shark swimming off the coast of Mount Maunganui today.

Animal activists have gathered at today's Warkworth Rodeo protesting the event as cruel entertainment.

There are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the sudden death of a man despite initial reports of a neighbour claiming she heard someone yelling "I killed him".

A teenager is in hospital with critical head injuries, after falling off a cliff on Auckland's North Shore.

An attempt to firebomb Social Development Minister Anne Tolley's office to protest the TPP is likely to result in arrests, she says.

Mother's grief as man who ended her daughter's life sentenced to 250 hours community work.

Hundreds of locals and emergency service workers attended the funeral of Anne Talijancich, who died in a road crash on Saturday.

Did you get off the bus in Henderson and find your wallet was a light a couple of bills?

WATCH: An Auckland man has footage of a driver who damaged his motorcycle in a hit-and-run incident - and he wants your help to identify him.

Armed Offenders Squad hunting for man who riddled police car with bullets.

More arrests have been made in relation to the murder of Lee Rata on New Year's Eve in Kaitaia.

An elderly woman who fell asleep at the wheel veered off a road and crashed in to a ditch in Hawke's Bay.

Police in Wellington will continue to speak to residents in the suburb of Newtown today after a woman's body was found in a house last night.

Onlooker at long weekend display at wharf says a pontoon site might have avoided injuries.

All people feared to be inside a house that was on fire in Hamilton are safe and accounted for.

As most Kiwis head home, some have no homes to go to - but that is changing in Hamilton, which aims to end homelessness this year.