Massey University released its quarterly Home Affordability Report index today.

The mother of missing South Island teen Yuri Santana says her heart is "bleeding" for the 17-year-old.

Cell-tower data presented to a Dunedin court has raised questions over the location of a 21-year-old cleaner accused at the time of an alleged murder.

Otago's dreamland is best seen without the summer crowds, writes Mike Yardley.

Police executing a search warrant this morning discovered more than 40 cannabis plants and a large amount of methamphetamine items.

Samples taken from clippings of victim's fingernails detected DNA 430 times more likely to have come from the accused, court hears.

There are concerns for 17-year-old Yuri Santana, who hasn't been seen for a week.

Levels of arsenic higher than the acceptable level for drinking water have been found in the Hawea Flat Kindergarten's supply.

The Kurow community has lost a second sportsman in tragic circumstances within 17 months.

Police say they have arrested a 55-year-old man and charged him with arson after a house fire last night.

A 21-year-old Dunedin cleaner accused of murdering his boss allegedly told a workmate he wanted to burn the victim's family in front of her.

Elisabeth Easther explores a Central Otago hamlet, population 300, where newcomers are welcomed with a community dinner.

Otago University scientists have taken a first step towards what could eventually be a Keytruda-type drug to fight cervical cancer. They

Neighbours of a Queensberry farm are concerned about earthworks ''obliterating'' a stream...

Police are hunting for two men who fled on foot after the car they were in crashed into a power pole in the Dunedin suburb of Concord this evening.

At first she thought the body was a rubbish bag, mother of accused told the court today, before realising it was her colleague.

Two days after a Dunedin woman was found dead outside her workplace last December, the blood-soaked hammer allegedly used to bludgeon her was found in a bin outside a colleague's home.

A group of golfers playing through the mist at the St Clair Golf Club on Saturday morning came up against an unusual hazard.

Shareholders of a Central Otago winery are fighting over a share sale.

Police are investigating after a milk tanker ran off the road in North Otago, killing the driver.

An 11-year-old boy has been rushed to Dunedin hospital after falling almost four metres from a rope swing.

This will be a good weekend to check out the museum or cuddle up with a book as heavy showers and thunderstorms are forecast for parts of the country.

What was described as ''a colossal electrical storm'' has hit Millers Flat, Ettrrick and Roxburgh in Central Otago.

The Otago Regional Council fears someone is intentionally releasing wallabies in Otago and is warning the culprit they face prison time if caught.

Two New Zealand universities are among the top 100 in the world for these subjects...

A bus driver and the blind woman he knocked over have shared an unlikely embrace outside court.

We will find you and we will kill you - that is the message the Otago Regional Council is set to issue today to Bennett's wallabies that enter Otago.

A Balclutha man who stabbed a sheep to death told the farmer he did it because he was hungry.

A knife-wielding man who paraded around in public with his shirt off, challenging people to fight him, has been jailed for nearly two years.

The Minister for Primary Industries has approved a customary fishing reserve in Otago Harbour following an eight-year consultation and proposal process.