New Zealanders are being warned not to sign up for vaccine vacations, as countries with ample supplies start to advertise themselves as destinations to overseas markets.

The ransom demand for Waikato DHB's hacked data would likely be in the millions or even tens of millions of dollars, and only payable by cryptocurrency, a cyber-security expert says.

The most significant rainfall in 10 years is predicted to fall in the Canterbury region this weekend.

The Horowhenua towns of Ōpiki and Tokomaru have been denied their requests to ditch the district and become affiliated with Palmerston North City.

Contact tracers are chasing up 500 recent arrivals from Melbourne to tell them they are required to isolate and get tested for Covid-19.

Principals are demanding the Ministry of Education do more to support schools who are forced to enrol violent and dysfunctional pupils.

A new charity in Christchurch is building homes with a purpose - it is aiming to donate the profit from sales to local charities supporting disadvantaged youth.

Anyone who was in Melbourne during the infectious period of the original cases in the most recent Covid-19 outbreak, but who then flew to another state, can now not fly on to NZ without taking a pre-departure test.

The interim Māori health authority has moved another step forward with iwi leaders and Māori health experts appointed to the steering group tasked with choosing who will govern the authority.

Australians may be reluctant to book trips to New Zealand far in advance in light of the latest trans-Tasman travel pause, the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce boss says.

A third of the board of New Zealand Opera has resigned in an apparent protest against the artistic direction the company is headed in.

No new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine facilities today, as health officials continue to track down all the recent arrivals from Melbourne.

The environment watchdog has delayed by more than a year a deadline that could effectively mean a ban on the use of a toxic gas used to treat logs for export.

Waikato cancer patients can stay in New Zealand to finish their treatment, after a cyber attack crippled the region's medical systems and a lockdown in Victoria makes treatment in Australia less viable.

The teacher union the Educational Institute is mystified that the government has set aside more than $270 million to settle Holidays Act underpayments to school staff.

Rio Tinto is taking over $4 million of costs for getting rid of toxic waste from Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, but there remains a question mark over a $200m clean-up of other waste.

Kauri conservationists fear bureaucracy will suck up the $28m in new funding from Budget 2021.

Two men have been have arrested and charged with the murder of a South Auckland man in the early hours of Sunday 23 May.