Armed men launched a dramatic coup in Fiji yesterday, storming Parliament and taking Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his cabinet hostage before declaring they had seized power on behalf of indigenous Fijians.
Motorists ran in fear for their lives as thousands of tonnes of rock crashed over State Highway 6, near Queenstown, yesterday morning, a slip that could block the road for days.
More than 4600 Otago homes may be susceptible to "leaky building syndrome", which is predicted to cost hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs nationwide.
Dunedin will have a new test cricket venue at the University Oval as part of a $5.02 million redevelopment announced yesterday.
Four air force Iroquois helicopters will arrive in the Maniototo today to help farmers save an estimated 25,000 sheep and 1500 cattle that have been stranded by snow for more than a week.
The Dunedin College of Education has approved in principle a merger with the University of Otago to reduce "ridiculous duplication" in teacher education.
After 18 months, the Government's much-debated foreshore and seabed legislation was yesterday passed by Parliament, with the Government saying that all it did was preserve the status quo.
Anger over violence which has plagued Timaru since gang warfare erupted early in November brought more than 1000 people to a public meeting at Caroline Bay yesterday afternoon.
United States and allied warplanes pummelled Iraq's air force in pre-dawn bombing raids yesterday to start a Gulf war that President George Bush vowed would free Kuwait and destroy Iraq's vast military arsenal.
The Waitangi Tribunal today declared the Ngai Tahu people have legitimate Otago land grievances.
September, 21: Details of a mixed member proportional electoral system should be available to the public before Christmas following Saturday's referendum result, the MP for Dunedin North, Mr Pete Hodgson, said yesterday.
May 28, Clyde: The Clyde power station has begun generating power into the national grid, 15 years after dam construction began, but it will not contribute enough to ease a predicted power shortage within the next two months.
May 14, Balclutha: Benhar residents watched in amazement yesterday as workers, without warning, started demolishing the historic Hoffman Kiln, the township's most famous landmark.
May 13: There is growing blackmarket demand for wild Otago rabbit meat.
APR 25: ALEXANDRA: The official opening of the Clyde dam on Saturday started with a cruise down Lake Dunstan from Cromwell for 160 of the guests.
October 19: New Zealanders should vote for first-past-the post, or FPP, the present electoral system, in the referendum next month. That is the view of this newspaper.
February 17: Telecom announced a massive staff reduction programme yesterday, which will see numbers cut by more than 5200 in four years.
JUN 21: Police are working on the theory that the five members of the Bain family found shot dead in their Andersons Bay home yesterday were the victims of a murder-suicide.
Fourteen people plunged 30 metres to their deaths late yesterday morning when a viewing platform on a track in the West Coast's Paparoa National Park collapsed.
New Zealand's defence of the America's Cup in 1999-2000 could revitalise the greatest prize in yachting.
