Keiller MacDuff

A strike scheduled for Friday was called off at the last minute, but two further strikes are still planned for later this month.

A $55,000 reward for information leading to those responsible for killing endangered sea lions in the Catlins a year ago has been extended to cover the killing of three sea lions at the Waitaki River…

"I just do not believe that we have the system right for our highest risk and our highest threat prisoners," the country's top victim advisor says. Audio

"There is a specific onus on the police - they set high standards of integrity and they need to model it," Katherine Dalziel says.

When the NZTA signed off on an integrated national ticketing system in 2009, John Key was prime minister, Avatar ruled at the box office and a pound of butter cost around $3.60.

Education Minister Erica Stanford has announced plans to shrink the council, replace most of its members with ministerial appointees, and remove its role in teacher training. Audio

More than 700 pivot spans - worth $30,000 each - have been damaged in North Canterbury.

The house, church and other buildings at the residential respite centre were engulfed by fire in minutes, as flames and embers sped down the hillside fuelled by 150 kilometre-per-hour winds.

The school noticed more children than usual suffering from car sickness on the trip back, but didn't realise there was a gastroenteritis outbreak until parents started to phone in absences.

Amid the excitement of the opening of a new Pak'nSave, some Rolleston residents say they are facing increased noise, heavy traffic and a fall in home values.

A Fiji Airways flight was forced to circle for two hours before landing at Christchurch Airport, after it was struck by what is thought to have been a substantial flock of birds.

They're among 11 Kiwi phrases or words chosen for the dictionary's World English update.

Amid teachers strikes and calls for more resources and pay, the minister of education suddenly cancelled long-held plans to speak. Audio

A new regional council report finds nearly a quarter of monitored rivers, lakes and bays pose health risks from faecal bacteria or toxic algae.

"That's an irreplaceable collection ... Once those sheds caught fire, it was game over," says Ben Lappage after a fire tore through his property. Audio

Christchurch city councillors have been presented with a plan to build a multi-million-dollar pump for Wairewa Lake Forsyth to improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding.

The ban is going into place around the Otago Peninsula to protect the threatened penguin population.

Federated Mountain Clubs has launched a last-minute bid to halt a controversial West Coast hydro scheme.

It's been revealed the defence minister has met her Ukrainian counterpart and other officials in Kyiv.

"We acknowledge that refusing this request was not appropriate and may have contributed to delays in the important work you are undertaking on behalf of our kaimahi."

More than 36,000 workers are walking off the job again today, demanding better pay and increased staffing.

A community board heard impassioned pleas in front of a packed public gallery.

The fate of one of the world's rarest penguins is on a knife-edge as breeding season gets underway.

The study found men and women who experienced violence were more likely to be hospitalised for a range of reasons - including cancer, respiratory illness, and nervous system and digestive disorders.

One is on the banks of the Avon River in the central city, the other nestled in a Cashmere Hills reserve with views of the Southern Alps.