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Malaysian Airlines flight MH-17 has been shot down over the Ukraine. What do you need to know?

A Malaysian airliner has been brought down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides.

Large flames in South Dunedin have caught the attention of social media users. 

A large rock avalanche has hit a climber's hut on Mount Cook Aoraki.

The Chiefs have kept their hopes of three consecutive Super Rugby titles alive with a win at Eden Park tonight which owed much to their ruthlessness in the wet and windy conditions and a fair bit to a Blues team who were anything but.

Highlanders fullback Ben Smith may take to the field tonight after all.

Taieri re-wrote the Dunedin premier rugby record book when it beat close neighbours Green Island 127-12 at Peter Johnstone Park today.

The Southern Steel has confirmed shooter Jodi Brown will not be returning to the franchise in 2015.

The Armed Offenders Squad was deployed following a family violence incident on the Thornbury-Waimatuku Road in Southland this morning.

Heavy rain battered a wide swathe of Japan, sending rivers over their banks and setting off a landslide as a weakened but still dangerous storm made landfall and headed east, leaving three people dead.

Four teenagers have been referred to a youth justice family group conference following a vicious assault in Dunedin that was caught on video.

For a 20-year-old who has been playing on the main tour for barely two years, Canada's Eugenie Bouchard is scarily confident and composed.

The Highlanders have named an unchanged team to take on the Waratahs in Sydeny on Sunday.

A wintry blast is expected to hit the South tonight and tomorrow, bringing snow to 300m in several areas. 

Three people have been taken to hospital with smoke inhalation injuries and possible burns after a large fire at a house in Avonhead, Christchurch this morning.

A youth who sustained a air gun injury to the head in Glenorchy this evening has been flown to Dunedin Public Hospital for treatment.

Police have named the man killed in a crash near Bluff yesterday morning.

Russia has asked Twitter to block access to a dozen accounts it deems "extremist", the head of the country's telecoms watchdog said, as Moscow seeks greater control over Internet sites based beyond its borders.