Tying the knot is positive for the mental health of both men and women, according to a New Zealand-led international study.

A drink-driver nine months pregnant was among those caught in a transtasman blitz on alcohol and violence at the weekend.

A coroner is calling for a national legal help phone line for prisoners in police custody after a lawyer could not be found for a man who later hanged himself.

As a sexual violence taskforce report languishes in the Government's in-tray, support agencies for survivors are reeling from ACC funding cutbacks.

Police in New Zealand and Australia are cracking down on alcohol related crime this weekend in the first joint operation between the two countries.

ACC board chairman John Judge today rejected an allegation he had acted politically over levy proposals.

The Govt's ACC levy increases are less than were recommended by the ACC board but still about $200 a year for an average income worker with a car.

A study of NZers shows kids who suffer psychological or social adversity are at greater risk of suffering long-lasting health problems.

The Labour caucus backs "the tone and content" of a speech in which Phil Goff accused the Govt of reopening old racial wounds.

Drug dealers will use new and innovative ways to combat the Government's attempts at stopping smuggling, customs and drugs experts warn.

John Key says a new review gives parents the go-ahead to lightly smack their children without the fear of prosecution.

Following a south Auckland booze blitz which nabbed 81 alleged drink-drivers on Saturday night, nzherald.co.nz today followed those and other offenders through the courts.

Prime Minister John Key today said New Zealand is winning the war on the drug P.

"The number of women [caught] was just amazing. Years ago, it was just men who were dumb enough to drink drive," a road policing manager says.

Eight families who say they need help to look after their disabled children have been left waiting almost a year for a decision by the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Preventing two-year-olds witnessing family violence is at the heart of a new First Response pilot launched today.