A man said he was at home when he heard screams for help about 100 metres from shore at his Owhiro Bay Parade home.

A king tide has created dangerous conditions and beach-goers should stay away from the water's edge.

The victim is being flown to Waikato Hospital by the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance in a serious condition.

Student Shashi Sharma brutally beaten assault and robbed as he delivered pizzas in Napier.

Woman wrapped herself around her six-year-old girl and took full brunt of crash.

COMMENT: A small and diminishing pool of people are getting wealthier by buying houses from each other, writes Shamubeel Eaqub.

A 17-year-old Taupo man was taken by helicopter to hospital today after almost drowning in the sea.

Emergency services are currently at a large blaze east of Rotorua's central city at Sulphur Flats.

Another piece of geotextile material from the artificial surf reef at Mount Maunganui has been found today.

Tensions run high in an idyllic Northland bay after multi-millionaire evangelist is accused of breaching consent.

The biker was trying get help for some stranded tourists when he came off the road.

Hamish Rieger spent his last lifeguard shift helping a 5-year-old with a blue-bottle jellyfish sting, and helping one of his mates out of the surf.

The man who built one of the country's best known tourist attractions has died, at the age of 80.

Mourners have gathered at Otamatea Marae in Northland to pay their respects to the little boy killed when he fell off his bike into the path of a milk tanker.

Police are investigating a sudden death in the leafy Auckland suburb of Epsom this morning.

A woman is in a critical condition after she was thrown from a vehicle that collided with a tree south of Auckland this morning.

A man's throat was cut while he was using a grinder on a Waikato farm this afternoon.

Relatives of a 5-year-old who died after being hit by a milk tanker in Northland are trying to come to grips with losing "the baby of the family".

An 81-year-old Whanganui man was unable to move after falling while going to the toilet and becoming jammed against the toilet door.

This proud community plays host to the best scenery - and cake - you'll find, writes Elisabeth Easther.

Surfers plucked paddlers to safety in a dramatic water rescue when a waka capsized crossing the Whakatane bar this morning.

Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze by midnight and have left the scene.

An elderly man lay injured and stranded on his bathroom floor for up to a week before being rescued.

As Northland fisherman Philip Wilson watched a 4m great white shark chomp into the decaying carcass of a whale, he was not fearful but in awe of the massive fish.

Christmas was a pretty special time for one Hastings family who celebrated the festive season with all five generations of its maternal side.

Only a handful of Porirua's 134 vacant state houses are fit for Aucklanders to live in as proposed by the Government, says the city's mayor.

Aucklanders are being urged to use a new inorganic rubbish collection service which will cost $22.77 and be added to their rates bill.

Shandelle Battersby checks into the CityLife Hotel, Central Auckland.

Roger Hall climbs aboard a golf buggy to see some isolated, but beautiful, scenery.

Terrified passengers on a White Island tour boat leaped from blazing vessel into rough waters.