Police have named the young woman who died after a suspected shark attack at Waihi beach.

A coroner says he is dumbstruck that a man's friends did little to help, when they found him collapsed in a pool of vomit after smoking synthetic cannabis.

Greymouth police are appealing for information about several suspicious fires over the New Year holiday period.

A petition calling for urgent council action on city safety and homelessness in Rotorua has garnered more than 1000 signatures in less than a week.

More than 150 undersized pāua and nearly 3000 cockles that were taken illegally were returned to the sea after operations by fisheries officers and police.

The prime minister needs to use her global standing to make an explicit condemnation of the attack on Capitol Hill, Otago University Professor of International Relations Robert Patman says.

It's going to be a wet weekend for some parts of the country, but the weather is expected to clear in most areas by Sunday.

Waihi Beach in western Bay of Plenty is still open today after a tragedy yesterday, when a woman died in what's believed to have been a shark attack at the holiday hotspot.

A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder after a man died of stab wounds in the Bay of Islands.

Marlborough harbour authorities are using a drone to send safety messages to the boaties this summer.

A NIWA research ship is leaving on a six-week voyage to Antarctica, making it one of the few full scientific expeditions to the continent since the outbreak of Covid-19.

The Mangamuka Gorge will be closed again from this weekend so work to fix a big slip last year can continue.

Police have named a man who died following a water incident in a Waikato lake.

With international travel thwarted by Covid-19, DOC expects many Kiwis will venture into public conservation land during the summer holidays.

Four young people will appear in the Waitakere Youth Court following a police pursuit in West Auckland early this morning.

An energy watchdog says Todd Energy's plans to drill new onshore gas wells in Tikorangi, north of New Plymouth, makes a mockery of the government's declaration of a climate emergency.

Wellington authorities are urging people to check before they swim and to keep dogs on leads following toxic algae blooms in fresh waterways around the region.

A woman has died at Waihi Beach in a possible shark attack today.