A West Auckland principal is taking a zero-tolerance attitude to unruly students at his new school - and winning hearts and minds in the process.

Rose McIver is a rare talent: a child star emerging unscathed into adulthood - with a fan in Peter Jackson, no less. She tells Rebecca Barry about her grown-up new role, her desire for dysfunction and why she won't move to Hollywood.

Three men have been arrested and charged in connection with the alleged arson and burglary of a west Auckland discount store gutted in a fire early today.

At least one man is "helping police with inquiries" after a suspicious blaze gutted a West Auckland discount shop overnight.

Labour's nominations for the Te Atatu seat have been reopened in the wake of disciplinary action against sitting MP Chris Carter.

A man shot by police after allegedly presenting an airgun at them last month says he thought he was playing a joke on his brother.

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Police have named the 22-month-old girl killed when she was hit be a reversing car in her family's driveway.

A young woman bitten by a rottweiler in a store promotion gone wrong wants to apologise to the dog's owner.

A pet store assistant lost her lip in a dog attack at a "bring in your Rottweilers" promotion in West Auckland yesterday.

A west Auckland school has a message of thanks for the men who refused to use a brothel which opened across the road earlier this year.

Police have admitted a man they gunned down pointed a stolen air rifle but never fired before they started shooting. And the man's brother says it wasn't loaded.

Shannon Lawson, 38, who was shot by police in west Auckland on Sunday, has been remanded in custody after a brief appearance in court today.

A West Auckland man seriously wounded when police shot him was armed with an air rifle he had allegedly stolen from a neighbour.