"Stay proud, Ella. You're a hell of an artist and feminist." That is the kind of support I hope Lorde is getting from her family, friends, manager and Joel Little, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

About 30 boys are being pulled out of class and made to sit in the school hall while staff at Whangarei Boys' High School chase up outstanding fees.

With her long, straight platinum blonde hair, 10cm heels, miniskirt and bronzed skin, the woman was a striking presence as she made her way to the witnesses' chair.

When his time comes, Stephen Wealthall would like to be at his Greenhithe home feeding the ducks and chickens or simply watching the stands of trees on his property swaying in the breeze.

Writer Jamie Whyte looks set to become the new Act leader tomorrow.

Customers are being tracked by bugging devices fixed to their shopping trolleys and baskets as they shop in an Auckland supermarket.

As a patriotic nibble, Anzac biscuits are second to none. For years New Zealand has had a better claim to the original recipe and name.

Jennifer Doolabh knows her battle against breast cancer began too late. 'Cancer never crossed my mind because I was only 25.'

More than 200,000 Chinese and Koreans here joined over a billion others around the globe in welcoming the Year of the Horse overnight.

Kiwi toddler Kahlei Stone-Kelly is taking the world by storm with his skateboarding skills, but it's nothing new for him - he's been doing it since well before his first birthday.

The Herald looks back at some of the most high-profile unsolved murder and missing person files - all of which are still under active investigation by police, but remain "cold cases".

New Zealand's hottest act will tour America from early March, with all 16 shows sold out.

Lorde wore a gown from French fashion house Balenciaga for the Grammys ceremony.

A cast of the foot of an emperor penguin dubbed New Zealand's 'Happy Feet' has spent more than a year travelling around the world to members of a unique group.

Chinese businessman who arrived as a boy in 1939 can look back on 75 years of fruitful life in NZ as a proud Kiwi.

The battle lines are drawn in the race for 7pm current affairs viewers when rivals Seven Sharp and Campbell Live return tonight after the summer break.

Twelve Chinese-manufactured sleepouts, designed to be cheaper than renting for Aucklanders.

A top Auckland secondary school is asking parents to shell out more than $1000 when their sons return to class in two weeks' time.

Cold, hard statistics insist Stanislas Wawrinka cannot win the Australian Open over world No1 Rafael Nadal at Melbourne Park tonight.

Tomorrow Paul Little will be sitting in the gold section of the Staples Center in Downtown LA with his fingers crossed.

A former top gay rugby player says life inside NZ's NPC environment was "suffocating and emotionally draining" and a gay All Black represents an important "last hurdle" for the sport.

A misdiagnosis led to a woman continuing to give her partner medicine that masked the presence of meningococcal disease, which killed him days later.

NZ and India produced one of the most epic one-day encounters on these shores with a tied third match, meaning the series stays alive into the final two games.

As the nation heads back to work after the summer break, it’s time to consider how many of us really need to be in the office at all.

In a case with similarities to the Roast Busters, two teens had sex with a girl who was "almost comatose" from alcohol, but still say it wasn't rape as they were not violent.

Dr Jared Noel’s one wish was to meet his baby daughter before he died. Now he has helped deliver her.

The PM's about-turn on working with Peters was utterly predictable, writes John Armstrong.

A state primary school has recommended that children have an iPad for the upcoming school year, as an increasing number of schools add tablets or laptops to their back-to-school lists.