The combined wealth of the 85 richest people in the world is the same as the combined wealth of the world's poorest 3.5 billion, writes Toby Manhire.

Otara teenager Sipa Deidoe had never been inside a theatre until he came into the Aotea Centre for a first meeting about a new arts project late last year.

There was one small break in protocol this morning at a major gathering of parliamentary speakers from around the world. And it was by an Aussie in red shoes.

Advocates are upset an Australian company is the big winner in Winz experiment that will pay contractors up to $12k to help beneficiaries into paid work.

I'm at the library. I haven't been at the library in years. But I'm told libraries are quiet places and I need a bit of quiet , writes Danielle Murray.

Speakers from around the world will be welcomed at Parliament today in a huge powhiri - but there won't be any women in the front row,

New Zealanders are proud of their landscape and people but acknowledge the Kiwi lifestyle comes at a cost, research shows.

Friendliness and a can-do attitude top a list of traits that New Zealanders think reflect our national identity.

Sir Colin Meads is the ultimate reflection of how many Kiwis view themselves.

First-home buyers have snapped up a quarter of the vacant state houses put up for sale by the Govt, some for under $100,000.

Monogamy is suddenly becoming popular in the gay community now same-sex couples can get married, an Auckland couple says.

CYF is investigating a video in which a boy, 6, is seen sculling from a Heineken bottle as part of a Neknominate dare.

Child Youth and Family are investigating a video in which a 6-year-old boy is seen drinking from a beer bottle as part of a Neknominate dare.

Bill in works to make domestic violence a factor at sentencing - but first, the beach.

We are a conservative society. Minority groups with abnormal inclinations are often frowned upon, writes Peter Lyons.

A drinking game played through social media which has caught on in NZ has been labelled "incredibly foolish" and "very, very harmful" by an alcohol-harm advocacy group.

Three people have been charged with giving alcohol to a 9-year-old who was filmed, apparently drunk, at a Hamilton skatepark.

It is an unlikely setting from which to launch a fightback against Egypt's new military rulers.

Oh the shame of reading the Daily Mail online and seeing two stories from New Zealand featuring prominently.

Words can hardly express the harm inflicted on a 9-year-old boy in Hamilton this week by someone who gave him enough alcohol to get very drunk.

Of 8,001 beneficiaries sent for jobs requiring drug testing, only 22 tested positive or refused to take tests, a result that has been greeted as a victory by the Social Development Minister.

Three people have been charged with giving alcohol to a 9-year-old who was filmed, apparently drunk, at a Hamilton skatepark.

A video of an apparently drunk Hamilton boy has been removed from YouTube - but not before more than half a million people watched the uncensored footage.

The mother of a Hamilton boy filmed celebrating his ninth birthday drinking at a skatepark says she was shocked and angry to discover he'd been consuming alcohol.

Police say they are appalled that adults supplied a young boy with alcohol and concerned he was re-victimised when footage of his antics was posted on YouTube.

Child care law changes sought by lobby group after children denied right to family life.

Graphic images of a couple taken after they were shot on a Libyan beach have been removed from Facebook after site administrators were inundated with angry emails.

Ill-prepared families are dumping elderly relatives at hospitals before going on their holidays in a practice known as "granny dumping".