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.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in the Coromandel following a manhunt for an allegedly armed gang member.

Mother and child were standing in line waiting to pick up a birthday cake when car knocked them into display case.

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.

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".

Highways are clogging up north of Wellington as motorists head off for the city's anniversary weekend.

How many police officers does it take to undo a Nutri-Bullet blender?

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.

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.

Police investigating the death of Cunxiu Tian believe her killer will have likely been covered in blood when he left the scene.

Former world surf lifesaving Ironman champion Cory Hutchings and his partner Shelley woke up to the early morning attack.

A truck carrying a cargo of booze has blocked State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa, after it rolled into a ditch.

Friends of the teenager who was killed in a crash in central Auckland have described him as a keen comedian and an aspiring radio broadcaster.

Plans to re-establish an award-winning restaurant on Auckland's Long Bay Beach have been halted "indefinitely" after the discovery of historic human remains.