A severe thunderstorm watch that was issued for upper the North Island has been lifted.

Riki Ross Kake locked the 9-year-old boy away as "punishment" and beat him so badly his mother feared he might die.

Southern District Health Board staff 'failed to exercise sound clinical judgement' for a woman who presented at the hospital and later died, the Health and Disability Commissioner has found.

A passenger socked the driver in the face in a cheap shot out of the blue. The driver took revenge, but was slapped with a final warning.

Leonidas Tuhou Upokomanu's family are still struggling to come to terms with his death. “It's a till we die type thing,” his grandfather says.

The councillor's partner is alleged to have used an unwarranted, unregistered car displaying her parking permit to park on yellow dotted lines.

More than 8500 speeding tickets issued from Invercargill’s lone fixed speed camera will be refunded because of an error.

Video shows animals lying panting on the floor of a truck as they arrive for slaughter at the height of summer.

An Auckland mum who lost her son days before Christmas had to make the “hardest decision” to let him go as doctors sought to save him.

Kolby Heta was being restrained by four prison staff when he died.

Juliana Bonilla Herrera was a "talented and tenacious” woman, her former partner says, she had fallen in love with New Zealand after moving from Colombia 10 years ago.

The man who has been charged with murder is the woman's neighbour, and police were examining his property for the past two days, Stuff understands.

The new infections are linked to passengers who arrived on a flight from Brisbane last week.

Many major events have been cancelled and more are expected following the move to the red traffic light setting and the 100-person cap on gatherings.

The response team has been halved as fire services get a tighter grasp on a fire that has blazed through the Far North for more than a month.

Omicron could force closures of restaurants and schools if too many staff have to isolate, industry leaders warn.

Dunedin Railways has announced a planned sale of surplus rolling stock has been withdrawn, pending a decision by its owner – the Dunedin City Council.

Medical radiation technologist Peter Dooley loaned his height to a social-distancing campaign. Now it will live on half a world away.

Omicron's arrival has put on hold important celebrations for East Asian and South East Asian communities in New Zealand.

Plan an isolation room, sort out your ventilation, and think about the logistics for the whole whānau, say the experts.