Health officials have issued an apology after a Palmerston North woman in her 80s waited almost a day in the city hospital's overcrowded emergency department until she was moved to a ward.

A woman has been charged with careless driving after five people were hit and badly injured by a car in the Manukau Westfield this afternoon.

A law expert says the government's move to allow unvaccinated New Zealanders to skip MIQ show the rules are changing with the country's evolving Omicron outbreak.

North Island residents are being warned to take care on the roads today, with heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast and the possibility of tornadoes.

Police say the man who yesterday was shot by police in Invercargill had approached officers with a knife after confronting motorists on State Highway 1 near Dacre.

There have been nine new deaths of people with Covid-19 reported today, with the number of new community cases dropping sharply from more than 18,000 to 12,020.

Two men who were attacked by a man with a weapon in Upper Hutt last night - leaving one with life-threatening injuries - had called police before the assault to say they were being filmed.

As a Palmerston North woman lay in hospital in a coma while an insidious infection took over her body's organs, her family were told to prepare for the worst.

Search teams looking for missing man Wayne Taylor have found a body at the base of a cliff north of Kaikōura.

One of New Zealand's greatest composers, Lyell Cresswell, has died at age 77 after battling cancer.

Travellers arriving from Samoa to New Zealand on four specific flights will be required to complete two rapid antigen tests after they arrive.

Police are appealing for witnesses after blood was found at an East Tamaki address this morning.

A spruced-up basketball court in Christchurch has been caught up in a flurry of Facebook comments claiming it played into gender stereotypes.

Harnesses should be mandatory for hot air balloon pilots during take-off and landing to stop them being flung from baskets, transport investigators say.

There have been 10 new deaths of people with Covid-19 reported today - including a person in their 40s - with the number of new community cases rising to 18,514.

International visitors could soon be pouring across the border in similar numbers to pre-pandemic times - but that might not be a good thing, according to one tourism expert.

New Zealand has dropped one place to tenth on the UN's annual survey of the world's happiest countries.

A man is undergoing surgery in hospital after he was shot by police on State Highway 1 at Dacre, north of Invercargill.