Twenty people from the small rural settlement of Frasertown near Wairoa have joined a quit-smoking competition.

Editorial: Expectations about the Government's food-in-schools programme have waxed and waned in the past few weeks.

The Government's plan to ensure children don't go hungry at school will go beyond providing them with food, Prime Minister John Key says.

National will announce a food-in-schools programme early this week to prevent children becoming victims of learning problems.

While the stakes may be small in the immediate case, this is about as big a deal as it gets in terms of our constitution, writes Andrew Geddis.

A shift in attitudes towards drink-driving was the major change seen by retired police superintendent Paula Rose in her 27 years in road policing.

The Pacific community has stamped its mark firmly on New Zealand society. There are 20,000 more Niueans living here than in Niue.

Auckland Transport has had to ticket one of its own vehicles after an employee parked illegally in a mobility space.

About 3000 long-term state house tenants will be moved out into the private housing market under a surprise Budget move to put all existing tenants on fixed-term contracts.

The Government has agreed to develop a warrant of fitness scheme to require rental housing to be warm, dry and safe.

Pastor Kafeba Mundele and his family may be pushed out of their state house because he earns too much money - but his income may be halved in September.

People who look after their highly disabled adult family members are at last in line to be paid by the Government - but only the minimum wage.

A disabled passenger says he was barred from boarding a flight after he missed check-in by three minutes when his electric wheelchair broke down.

Editorial: The benefits in terms of new business, growth and jobs are readily apparent. The other side of the story is, however, less alluring.

Police need to be able to pursue drivers "otherwise we turn the roads over to the criminals," says New Zealand Police Association vice-president Stuart Mills.

After a riot at Perth's Banksia Hill juvenile detention centre, more than 140 teenage inmates were moved to Hakea high security prison

KiwiRail has accepted responsibility, apologised and admitted "failures" over an accident in which a train hit a woman in a wheelchair at a level crossing in Auckland.

It is for those who appointed her to justify their decision and the process that was followed, writes Rajen Prasad. It is for them to explain their understanding of the contemporary race relations challenges for NZ.

Budgeting services have been given a last-minute funding reprieve which means they are now unlikely to have to lay off staff.

Philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn has recruited four more big names for his inquiry into child abuse and domestic violence.

Children in Britain can now text their teachers to report bullying, in an initiative that makes it safer to come forward.

The majority of migrants to New Zealand feel they belong here, according to new analysis from Statistics New Zealand.

Korean Aucklanders are hoping that their new $1.5 million community centre will help to keep their culture alive in New Zealand.

The number of hungry people seeking food at night in my diocese has doubled in the past two months, writes Bishop Denis Browne.