Top 5 stories this week: April 5-11

1. Royal visit

Prince William, his wife Kate and their son Prince George are touring around New Zealand, as part of their tour Down Under. We've been bringing you all the latest updates, images, video and social media highlights as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit NZ and Australia.

• Cheeky challenge sets off global media frenzy

• Topless cover-up claim an 'infantile prank'

2. Peaches Geldof dies aged 25

Live Aid founder Bob Geldof said his family was "beyond pain" at the death of his socialite daughter Peaches at the age of 25.

Police were called to her secluded home outside Wrotham in Kent, southeast England, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

3. Ian Thorpe in intensive care

Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe is "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital after contracting two potentially deadly infections and will never swim again competitively, his agent says.

The 31-year-old five-time Olympic gold medallist contracted the bugs after undergoing a series of surgeries on his shoulder at a hospital near his home in the Swiss town of Ronco sopra Ascona.

4. Double tragedy ends out-of-control driver's chaotic trip

Police want the power to remove incompetent or inexperienced drivers - including overseas tourists - from New Zealand roads, after a crash in which two people died.

The issue emerged at the inquest into the deaths of motorcyclists Grant John Roberts, 43, of Timaru, and Dennis Michael Pederson, 54, of Tauranga, who were hit by a rental car driven by a woman with little driving experience.

5. The hunt for missing Flight MH370

Searchers looking for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane have discovered new signals consistent with those emitted by so-called black boxes in the Indian Ocean, but they do not want to send a submersible down yet to look for the plane.

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- nzherald.co.nz, APNZ, AP