Police believe they have found the body of a man who has been missing since he leaped from a bridge in Hamilton last Thursday.

The death of a man hurt in a Waikato crash has brought the holiday road toll to 10. A 20-year-old died of his injuries about 4pm in Waikato Hospital. A car he was in yesterday hit a van carrying five disabled children on SH1.

The holiday road toll has risen to nine following a crash involving two motorcycles on the Coromandel peninsula this afternoon.

A woman who was allegedly violently assaulted by her partner attacked police officers who came to help her in Hamilton this morning, allowing her partner to get away.

Speed, alcohol and driver fatigue all appear to have been contributing factors in a crash on SH1 at Horotiu, north of Hamilton, today that has left two young men fighting for their lives.

Queues of New Year's Eve traffic are beginning to build around the country.

Liquor bans are in place and police numbers are being boosted in many of the traditional New Year's Eve hot spots.

Hamilton police are appealing for help in identifying a limping man who leapt from a bridge into the Waikato River today.

The wife of Ross McSheffrey, who was pinned under his own bus yesterday, has paid tribute to his rescuers.

A contractor who used his digger to lift a bus off its trapped driver, and an off-duty nurse may have saved the man's life yesterday.

The death of a man found on top of a fire heap near Hamilton today is not being treated as suspicious.

A 20-year-old man remains in a serious condition in Waikato Hospital's intensive care unit after a crash in the Waikato last night.

Residents of the Claudelands area of Hamilton East are being urged to contact Waikato Hospital if they find any medical referral letters in their rubbish.

Two boys aged 14 and 16 have been charged with attempted murder after a police officer was attacked with a knife and a machete.

Hamilton Zoo have had an early Christmas present this year - four meerkats from Auckland Zoo.

A selection of Christmas church services in the main centres.