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.
MetService has issued orange heavy rain warnings for the Tasman, Marlborough, Buller and Westland districts, along with Mt Taranaki in the North Island.
A woman who claims she was raped by a man she did not know after a night of heavy drinking in Christchurch has been accused of acting out of character by having consensual sex with a stranger.
Emergency services struggled to find a seriously hurt cyclist on the Dunedin to Port Chalmers cycleway - but it is hoped new signs will prevent a repeat.
A proposed condition to protect nesting native birds during vegetation clearance at Green Island landfill has been described as "pretty full on" by an independent commissioner.