Heavy rain resulted in dozens of callouts to slips and flooding around homes in Wellington overnight. * Have you been affected by Wellington's weather? Send us your photos here.

A killer who licked blood from a knife after stabbing a young father of two in the chest could be sentenced for murder as early as this week.

Murder accused Shayd Robinson was seen to wipe a knife across his mouth and call out something like "your blood tastes sweet", a court heard today.

Tag along with Sharon Stephenson as she samples the tastiest treats New Zealand's answer to Hollywood has to offer.

Drivers returning home from the Easter break can expect a long, slow drive on congested, wet roads in many parts of the country.

An elderly woman was seriously injured in a three-car crash which closed northbound traffic on State Highway 2 between Wellington and Lower Hutt.

A climate expert believes summers like this one will become the new norm for New Zealand. Droughts have already been declared across much of the North Island.

A shortage of water across the Wellington region means there is now a ban on garden sprinklers and irrigation systems.

The drought is working its way down the country, and with with no change predicted until at least mid-March, farmers from Northland to Southland are suffering.

Fourteen jobs have been cut at Wairarapa DHB to create one management team across the Wairarapa and Hutt Valley DHBs.

A discarded cigarette butt has been blamed for a blaze that wreaked $250,000 worth of damage to a shed, vehicles and equipment at a Masterton garden supply firm.

About eight hectares of forest has been burned by a blaze in rural Masterton, with crews still on site last night to keep the fire under control.

A drunk man who walked behind the counter at a McDonald's Restaurant in Masterton last week clutching a black-handled kitchen knife was convicted of possession of a knife in a public place at Masterton District Court yesterday.

A Wanganui fireman is now heading the country's firefighters union and says he wants to develop much closer and clearer relationships with the Fire Service on his watch.

Swallowing a sneaking suspicion she's a culture cougar, Catherine Smith is wowed by the wearable arts.

Looks like details of the long-awaited Mighty River Power float are set to be released on Monday with the Government raring to go after receiving the all clear from the Supreme Court.

A former national jetski champion and the brother of former Commonwealth Games athlete Simon Poelman has reappeared in court facing drugs charges.

Sharon Stephenson discovers returning from an expat life can be a bittersweet homecoming.

A coroner says high visibility clothing should be compulsory for cyclists after the death of a senior police officer who was hit by a truck while riding his bike.

Conservationists fear an expressway planned for the Kapiti Coast will run through the habitat of a critically endangered duck.