Fire danger remains high in many parts of the South Island because of high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds.

Police have released CCTV footage of the pair, who forced their way through a small side door at the Springlands Tavern overnight.

Police have released a sketch of a man who sexually assaulted a female jogger in Christchurch earlier this month.

Police have arrested a 56-year-old man in relation to an assault of a female cyclist on a Dunedin street.

The off-duty police constable was with her partner and their children when she spotted a hand in the air in the ocean frantically waving for help.

A Chinese driver has been convicted and ordered to pay immediately to a motorcyclist he hit with his rental car near Wanaka, causing serious injuries.

Friends and family of a young soldier killed in a vehicle crash in South Otago have posted tributes following his death.

Police are seeking information about an aggravated robbery in Christchurch yesterday afternoon.

The community of Haast's sole police officer was assaulted and his car damaged before he was able to taser a man.

The deaths of three foreign tourists should act as a catalyst for an increased safety focus at known danger areas on Southern roads, a Coroner has recommended.

Te Runanga o Ngati Waewae has welcomed the bell to its Arahura Marae north of Hokitika.

A family left gutted after thieves stole the wheels of car they use to get their baby to and from hospital are touched by the offers of support coming in.

The streets of Christchurch have been painted white with hail. Met Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for Christchurch and the surrounding areas just after 2pm this afternoon.

A man is being spoken to by police after a person was spotted filming up women's skirts in Christchurch today.

Around 1200ha of pine forest and grassland have been destroyed in a forest fire that continues to burn out of control in Marlborough.

A woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing her partner in Christchurch.

Colin Andrew Craig, a 65-year-old from Christchurch, died in hospital after the accident at GVI Logistics in Ivan Jamieson Place, near Christchurch Airport.

Trees are in flames in Brighton, near Dunedin, after a controlled burn spread. Source: ODT

Two paragliders carrying customers collided in mid-air above Queenstown yesterday before crashing into trees.

A 20-year-old man has been arrested with the murder of Dunedin woman Karin Ann Ross.

A man crushed between two trucks at a Christchurch work site this morning has died in hospital, police have confirmed.

Pixie Town is back at the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, but in a slightly edgier format, partly inspired by American film director Tim Burton. The show, featuring mechanical pixies, started last Saturday and runs until January 3. Adding to the usual attractions this year are a five-minute-long musical composition by museum exhibitions designer Tim Cornelius, and a visual display, showing pixies in trees with a full moon above.

Six fire crews and a helicopter are battling a large forestry fire in North Canterbury.

Dunedin's 113-year-old courthouse will be saved, strengthened, restored and have all its court service returned to it. The decision was made during yesterday's final Cabinet meeting of 2015 and was announced shortly afterwards. It means more than $15 million will be spent over a two-year strengthening project. Source: ODT

Mid-Summer Lights event organiser Paul Smith sorts lanterns in the Loan and Mercantile Agency Company Ltd building in Dunedin. Source: ODT

Six people, including two children, have been flown to hospital after a serious two-vehicle crash on the Te Anau-Milford Highway.

An 89-year-old New Zealand man accused of historical sex charges dating back 52 years has been arrested after allegedly fleeing to Australia.

Supporters of convicted murderer, Scott Watson, who maintains his innocence for the deaths of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, have set up a fundraising page to help him appeal his conviction.

A Christchurch Alzheimer's patient seen "behaving strangely" a day before his body was found floating in a river mouth had drowned accidentally, a coroner has concluded.

A road rage incident which ended in a Christchurch pensioner falling from a car's bonnet, knocking his head, and later dying in hospital has not resulted in criminal charges.