The Remuneration Authority has approved a "restrained" pay rise for MPs, giving each backbencher $3,500 more a year and raising PM John Key's salary by $9500.

In this exclusive extract from a new book written by David Fisher, Kim Dotcom relates how he met his future wife Mona - and the efforts to woo her.

Poor, elderly, small town dwellers and Maori and Pacific people are being left on the wrong side of the "digital divide", according to a new survey of NZ internet use.

A touch of Venice is about to hit Auckland as plans progress for a new canal to be dug through the centre of Auckland's Wynyard Quarter.

Kieran Read has gone global - he's the man everyone in Europe can't stop talking about and he's the man most pundits here are expecting to be named IRB Player of the Year. Read's influence is huge, as it has been pretty much all year. Think back and so many of the best bits of the All Blacks in 2013 involve Read.

Ahead of the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards, co-host and finalist Stan Walker spoke to Hugh Sundae about hosting the Critics' Choice Prize Showcase, indie crowds, and the boundaries of pop music.

In the days after the super typhoon killed thousands, 3rd Degree reporter Paula Penfold and producer Eugene Bingham travelled to the Philippines.

There was an axe in the hands of a man who was clearly upset. It wasn't an ideal situation.

He can't tweet, but it hasn't stopped John Key giving a speech at an information technology summit.

'I have just found out that my employer has not been paying my KiwiSaver contributions or employer contributions.' Now what? Helen Twose tells you.

The taxpayer, rather than developers and home buyers, should pick up the bill for connecting new homes to water, sewerage and other council infrastructure, the NZ Initiative has recommended as a measure to control house prices.

Making sure pregnant mums see a doctor within 10 weeks of conception should be a national priority, say MPs working to improve children's health.

The Government will sell 20 per cent of its stake in Air New Zealand today and tomorrow. The Herald tells you the 11 things you need to know.

PM John Key says he directly asked Sri Lanka's president about abductions in the country - but is reluctant to criticise Sri Lanka because the issues 'would take time to resolve'.

As one of life's builders, Nigel Latta enjoys meeting inspirational people - and watching zombie films.

Before Michelle Goodhew started catching babies, she was catching fish.

It's starting to feel that Dan Carter's sabbatical might be the last throw of the dice. This year he's managed just 150 minutes of rugby in the last four times he's started.

I didn't do it for charity. I didn't do it just for novelty. I really did it to irritate the girl I was seeing at the time.

An unpublished photo of former president JFK minutes before his assassination sat on a desk in a Mission Bay home for 30 years.

It was a moment of stupidity that almost cost Greg Watts his life - and made headlines around the world. We meet the man who fell from a motorised bar stool.

It's been a week since a tweeted picture of Lorde and Eleanor Catton reading in bed together in New York became a world-wide hit.

A remote group of islands notorious for shipwrecks and a massive tract of land that takes in four of our national parks have been rated among the world's most important and irreplaceable protected areas.

Of all the tributes paid to Daniel Carter this week for his 100th All Black test, none will mean more to him than that made by Jimmy Cowan.

Middle-earth mania, strong marketing campaigns and economic growth are reasons for an increase in tourists from Asia and the Americas, says a new survey.

Middle-aged men appear to be the group most at risk of being killed cycling, and wearing high-visibility clothing is no guarantee of survival.

People wanting to pay less interest and shave years off their mortgages are being advised to buy homes in "hidden-gem" suburbs.

Secret details of the United States-Pacific trade agreement have been leaked showing New Zealand in serious dispute with US negotiators on many issues.