Friendliness and a can-do attitude top a list of traits that New Zealanders think reflect our national identity.

An Otago University scientist may have unravelled a 2000-year-old mystery of what killed Alexander the Great.

A fight has erupted in Britain over the cause of World War 1, pitting Conservatives against Labour, academic against academic and Boris against Blackadder's Baldrick.

'Nothing was located.' A jet-skier's reported sighting of a World War Two sea mine sparked a fruitless search in Lyttelton Harbour.

The original Christian saint of secret gift-giving and children was St Nicholas, a fourth-century Greek bishop, whose feast day is December 6.

Three members of New Zealand’s delegation will not be able to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral after the South African government imposed a strict two-person limit.

PM John Key says a 'good blend' of people will represent NZ at Nelson Mandela's funeral - despite criticism anti-apartheid campaigner John Minto's not one of them.

President Barack Obama gave a sombre address at the White House on the loss of Nelson Mandela, with whom he shares the distinction of being his nation's first black president:

Bassett Rd machinegun murders 50 years ago solved swiftly but mystery remains over one of the gunmen

A US court says negligence was not to blame for a third World Trade Center tower collapse on September 11, absolving a developer of the building's destruction.

As the centenary of the crossword approaches, Gyles Brandreth and his daughter Saethryd explain why the word puzzle is still so popular.

Philip Temple asks: "A waste of time. A waste of money. The government takes no notice. What's the point of non-binding referendums? How come we have them anyway?"

Do you remember where you were when you heard my father had died, asks Holly Donald, daughter of Rod.

Forget the horned helmet warrior image, archaeologists say early Norsemen were farmers with refined tastes.

The battle of Rangiriri - one of the decisive battles of the Waikato War - took place on November 20, 1863, and the 150th anniversary of the battle is being commemorated at the battle site.

At first reluctant to don the flowing frocks, four North Shore teenagers were soon parading around Takapuna in their fancy dress.

From resident ghosts to kegs hidden in mud, Danielle Wright finds intriguing history at our historic hotels.

The ballot opens at midday today for those wanting to attend the centenary Anzac Day commemorations in Gallipoli in 2015.

When German tax authorities entered the home of a recluse collector and found a trove of art that could include works stolen by the Nazis, they stepped into a legal quagmire - one that may end up being resolved by politics as much as the law.

A website featuring artworks from among a massive trove discovered in a Munich apartment crashed because of heavy traffic, officials said, as a handful of potential heirs came forward to claim art possibly looted by the Nazis.

"We will remember them," says the "Ode of Remembrance" recited around the world each Armistice Day.

Old soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder with serving troops this morning to commemorate Armistice Day on the 95th anniversary of the end of World War I.