One in three people are waiting more than two weeks for a GP appointment, while more than one in six wait three or four weeks, or even longer, according to the first RNZ-Reid Research poll.

Tourists and residents have been evacuated after a volcano in Iceland began spewing lava and smoke, though flights have not been affected.

The British couple found dead in a suspected murder-suicide at a property in the Wellington suburb of Roseneath on Monday night were Ben and Claire Anderson.

The Trump administration has begun mass layoffs of 10,000 staffers at health agencies in the US, according to multiple sources, with security guards barring entry to some workers just hours after they received dismissal notices.

The agency has stopped or delayed 136 initiatives, including a much-lauded patient info system.