This week we heard from the PM on what great shape NZ is in, thanks mainly to our extraordinary governance, writes Dita De Boni. It was a picture so incredibly rosy, I almost couldn't wait to live in that country myself.

Government ministers have upped the pressure on Ngapuhi to get on with their settlement in the lead-up to Waitangi Day - and even the Governor-General got in on the act.

A gospel singer from Hawaii has received the call-back thousands of aspiring Polynesian princesses have been hoping for for more than a month.

Women who undergo plastic surgery are wearing a "burqa made of flesh", according to a Vatican document.

In the final part of our Future Auckland series, we aim to stimulate debate.

Any hopes that this year will be less barking mad than last year on the political front are rapidly diminishing.

Opinion: The disconnect I feel on Australia Day is not a rejection of history. Rather, it is a rejection of the privileging of one version of history at the expense of another.

Late Saudi King Abdullah was hailed as "a strong advocate for women" - so why are four of his daughters reportedly under house arrest?

Philanthropist and economist Gareth Morgan has set out two challenges to the Government at his first visit to Ratana Pa.

So far we've identified the achievements of the Treaty settlement and reconciliation process, and flagged that the process is now being pushed beyond the point of being useful.

New Zealand is being urged by Thailand to revoke the passport of a Thai fugitive who has fled to this country.

Yesterday we saw how progress has been made on matters where both language versions of the Treaty say the same thing. Those areas are predominantly natural resources and cultural treasures.

Turning carparks into eateries where diners sit on plastic stools and share their table with random strangers may not sound like a recipe for success.

The intricate patterns that trickle down her hands have huge significance to Kiwi singer Aaradhna.

A controversial new play about Princess Diana claims her former lover James Hewitt is Prince Harry's father.

The Marsden Cross is known to most of us only as a photograph. It is on a remote northern shore in the Bay of Islands, not as accessible as Waitangi or Russell.

Mick Jagger strolls into a pub in Russell and the patrons, though shocked, leave him alone. Wonder if they'd be the same with our own legend, Richie McCaw?...

Multimillionaire property investor Peter Cooper helped build the country's most important new heritage structure which opens tomorrow in the Bay of Islands.

The City of Sails boasts more than 300 different ethnicities and is growing and changing every day as new immigrants arrive. Meet some of our newest citizens here.

I am quite taken by the striking Maori totems on the new Kopu and Waikato Expressway bridges. I figured the taxpayer was milked for them. There would be outrage if they were Christian crosses but somehow they are okay because they're Maori.

It's ten years today since smoking was banned in bars, but Maori are still more likely to smoke than Europeans. We map where the ethnic smoking gap lies.

Regular attendance at kava clubs can help keep young Tongan men away from drugs, alcohol and gangs, a study has found.

Destiny Church's failed attempt to set up a charter school was blocked in part because of fears about students being pressured into joining the church.

A 4-year-old Jewish boy was attacked walking home from pre-school in what has been labelled a race hate crime.

The country's second-biggest iwi, Ngati Porou, appears to be among the first in line to buy state houses, with a bid for all 600 state houses in its region estimated to be worth about $140 million.

Immigration NZ says Kim Dotcom might be deported if he has failed to disclose a dangerous driving conviction. So where could he go?

Traders at next year's Glastonbury Festival have been banned from selling Native American headdresses following an online petition that got just 65 signatures.