The number of high-achieving teens who go overseas after finishing school has reached an all-time high - but it is not clear why.

Residents of a Banks Peninsula town are angry and frustrated as they say opening a nearby lake to the ocean would've mitigated flooding in the area.

A Christchurch firefighter who helped pool his colleagues’ meal allowances so they could cook meals on shift has been cleared of any wrongdoing after his employer accused him of misusing the money.

A woman who damaged a piece of artwork worth $333,000 while attending a ball at Auckland Art gallery last month has been granted interim name suppression.

As pensioner Pier Raviola lay critically injured after being dumped in a Christchurch car park, the people who attacked him callously plundered his home.