A 6-year-old girl was found home alone in her Tauranga house yesterday after both of her parents had left for work.

A Wairoa policeman became the fourth officer to be attacked on the job this month after he stopped two men suspected of carrying out a series of burglaries on the East Coast.

Police are considering charging a mother who left her baby alone in a van while she went shopping on a steaming hot Christmas Eve in downtown Whangarei.

An attack on a Hamilton police officer with a machete could have been a copycat of the machete attack on a Taihape officer, Howard Broad says.

A Northland police officer has been hit over the head with his own baton after being called out to deal with a drunken fight.

Waitemata police are praising the actions of a nine-year-old Devonport girl raising money to help a victim of horrific child abuse.

Amidst the joy, celebration and festivities of Christmas and the New Year period lies the hidden horror of the holiday season, as the rates of domestic violence, alcohol abuse and road fatalities increase.

Staff at the Auckland City Mission have been rushed off their feet and will be cooking Christmas dinner for more than 2000 people tomorrow.

Former All Blacks star Doug Howlett was arrested by Irish police on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly at his Christmas party night out with his Munster teammates.

Rebecca Barry meets a group of New Zealanders for whom life means much more than material possessions.

A nine-year-old with horrific injuries never wants to see her parents again, a court has heard.

Spain has become the latest country to pass an anti-smoking law for its eateries.

The family who adopted Trooper - the puppy that was rescued after being found outside the Gate Pa shops, in Tauranga, with its ears chopped off - say he is settling in to his new home very well.

A couple accused of torturing their nine-year-old daughter appeared briefly in court this morning.

The mother of a girl, 5, found dead in her bed after an alleged assault was trying to escape violence in her life.

New claims emerged last night that the nine-year-old girl allegedly tortured by her parents was also sexually abused while in Child Youth and Family care.

Eden Park Trust is hoping the first large crowd at the stadium since the Four Nations rugby league debacle last month will be well-behaved.