A car linked to a group of international thieves who stole more than $770,000 of jewellery five years ago is still parked at Wellington Airport.

Children waved small photocopied Syrian flags as New Zealand welcomed its first extra intake of refugees from the war-torn nation at Mangere today.

WATCH: Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the "Ladder Bomb".

Holidaymakers are set to clog up the roads.

A woman caught three times over the drink-drive with three pre-schoolers in her car has lost her licence for seven months.

The North Island is in for another stormy day with heavy rain and thunderstorms as former tropical cyclone Victor sweeps past the country.

A woman who rolled her vehicle in the Waioeka Gorge near Opotiki suffered back injuries and was flown to hospital by helicopter.

Aucklanders are cranking up the air con to cope with the rising heat and humidity this week, causing a spike in electricity usage, Transpower says.

A security guard has been robbed at gunpoint outside a Whakatane supermarket this morning, police say.

Emergency workers are trying to free the driver of a truck which has "tipped over" on State Highway 1, just north of the Bryderwyn Range Hills in Northland.

John Key outlines plan to make an early start on the main works of Auckland's $2.5b city rail link. But Andrew Little says the commitment should have come long ago.

A man said he was at home when he heard screams for help about 100 metres from shore at his Owhiro Bay Parade home.

A king tide has created dangerous conditions and beach-goers should stay away from the water's edge.

The victim is being flown to Waikato Hospital by the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance in a serious condition.

Student Shashi Sharma brutally beaten assault and robbed as he delivered pizzas in Napier.

Woman wrapped herself around her six-year-old girl and took full brunt of crash.

Emergency services are currently at a large blaze east of Rotorua's central city at Sulphur Flats.

Another piece of geotextile material from the artificial surf reef at Mount Maunganui has been found today.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in the Coromandel following a manhunt for an allegedly armed gang member.

Mother and child were standing in line waiting to pick up a birthday cake when car knocked them into display case.

Tensions run high in an idyllic Northland bay after multi-millionaire evangelist is accused of breaching consent.

The biker was trying get help for some stranded tourists when he came off the road.

Hamish Rieger spent his last lifeguard shift helping a 5-year-old with a blue-bottle jellyfish sting, and helping one of his mates out of the surf.

The man who built one of the country's best known tourist attractions has died, at the age of 80.

Mourners have gathered at Otamatea Marae in Northland to pay their respects to the little boy killed when he fell off his bike into the path of a milk tanker.

Police are investigating a sudden death in the leafy Auckland suburb of Epsom this morning.

A woman is in a critical condition after she was thrown from a vehicle that collided with a tree south of Auckland this morning.

A man's throat was cut while he was using a grinder on a Waikato farm this afternoon.