The survival of the most endangered kiwi species is being pinned on a feisty young kiwi chick which was released to its new home on a predator-free island today.

A kiwi hit by a car in the Waitotara Valley, Taranaki, last week is getting a health check-up from Massey University vets.

Tauranga Art Gallery has come under fire for displaying two photos that feature coarsely worded messages scrawled in ballpoint beside images of a 1974 gay liberation dance.

Maori elders blessed the scene of a fatal car crash in South Wairarapa this morning where the body of the 17-year-old crash victim lay covered on the road.

Police are urging motorists to drive to the conditions after three people died on New Zealand's roads within 11 hours in separate crashes.

A flooring company which sent texts to a competitor trying to fix prices for sanding and polishing services has been handed a formal warning by the Commerce Commission.

A suspected tornado damaged two houses and scattered debris in Taranaki last night.

Residents of a tiny rural community will gather this Tuesday to ponder its status as one of the most intensively drilled places in the country.

The unusual death of a 10-month-old boy who was run over by a trailer has prompted a coroner to renew calls for vigilance around driveways.

A 13-year-old murderer jailed for 18 years for murdering his caregiver will need to be treated humanely, a legal expert and youth advocate says.

Investigations are underway into the sudden death of 120 cows on a farm in south Taranaki.

Alcohol doesn't tend to make you see more clearly, but in Denis Duthie's case a bottle of whisky literally saved his sight.

A New Plymouth man is dead and another had to be cut out from a car after losing control while drag racing on a rural Taranaki road last night.

A 13-year-old has pleaded guilty to murdering his caregiver who died almost instantly after being shot at her rural Taranaki house in April.

Kathy Gulliver, owner, Mud Bay Cafe, Urenui, Taranaki.