A man who drowned in front of his anguished partner and children had been up all night drinking and continued during the day before making the fatal decision to take his family to the beach.
Denise Dellabarca had been meaning to take a balloon trip for a while, but her dream turned to tragedy when she died in Saturday's fiery crash.
Two people have been treated for severe smoke inhalation after they were pulled from a large house fire in Bluff overnight.
Three Golden Bay households were evacuated overnight as heavy rain continues to batter much of the country.
The decision to seek court costs from the cameraman behind the "tea tapes'' controversy has been slammed as part of a dangerous government attack on the media.
Six teenagers have been arrested after a convoy of stolen cars went on high-speed joyride around winding rural roads near Gisborne early this morning
A man who bashed to death a seven-year-old boy, believing he had to "kill a Pakeha'' during a drug-induced psychotic episode, has been released on parole.
A Kapiti man cried out "Janice, I love you'' as he slipped under the water, never to be seen again.
A child's bag dangling from a school bus door was the first inkling the driver had of a narrowly averted tragedy.
Cabinet minister Paula Bennett has lost her Waitakere seat by 11 votes to Labour's Carmel Sepuloni after official election results were released today.
Family and colleagues of Wellington journalist Phillip Cottrell gathered this morning for a sombre blessing of the site where he was fatally beaten.
An 11-year-old boy who was dragged 30m along a gravel road by a rural school bus has been called "a brave little man''.
An Air New Zealand worker sacked for saying he would go on a shooting spree at work has failed to get his job back.
A review of all recent fires in the rural Far North has been been launched as police seek to allay fears of a serial firebug in the area.
MMP looks set to stay, with more than half the advance referendum votes in favour of the current electoral system.
United Future leader Peter Dunne says he could play a pivotal role in a challenging new Parliament after he held on to his Ohariu seat with an increased majority.
Police are grateful nobody was hurt when a rural Taranaki meth lab burst into flames during a police search this morning.
A Marton mother whose toddler drowned in a swimming pool in her absence has been discharged without conviction.
The brother of slain New Zealand nurse Michelle Beets says he relieved her killer has been found guilty.
A Christchurch high school is reeling from the death of a 13-year-old student who will be remembered as a shy and friendly high-achiever.
