Australia's fragile relations with India have taken another serious blow.

The expensive settings and cutting-edge clothes were gone.

Broadcaster Willie Jackson is making a last-ditch attempt to save a Mangere rest home slated for closure by the Counties Manukau DHB.

Just under 50 per cent of Maori women smoke, compared to 20 per cent for the whole population aged 15 to 64.

The Ministry of Health has given the clearest signal yet that the Government is likely to increase the tax on cigarettes to help slash the number of people who smoke.

The policing of a liquor ban in Whangamata has come under fire from holidaymakers who say the zero-tolerance approach is too heavy-handed and lacks common sense.

An Auckland advertising agency has apologised for sending a letter to hundreds of people, inviting them to try the drug P.

Tragedies like Brittany Murphy's death suggest the celebrity habit of prescription pill-popping is spreading.

One thousand litres of hypophosphorus acid, a key ingredient in P manufacturing, was stolen from a factory in January, it was revealed this week.

If some beneficiaries are too dangerous to be dealt with face-to-face, their benefits should be cancelled says Kerre Woodham.

Top jockey Lisa Cropp has denied calling others in the racing industry "back- stabbing pricks", as she seeks to return from disqualification for a positive methamphetamine test.