When the weather is kind, the Hauraki Gulf teems with runabouts filled with fishers hoping for a catch.

One of the joys of sport is the unpredictable nature of competition - the underdog beating the odds to record a famous win, or the favourite inexplicably falling short with victory in sight.

As far as scoops go, Sean Penn's interview with the fugitive Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sensational.

Critics worry Auckland Council's shortlist of designs do not reflect brief for quiet, passive and contemplative area in the Domain.

Academic research into public health problems has an uncanny way of confirming the concerns of its funder.

A promising young rugby player with a "glittering career" ahead of him has been given a discharge without conviction after admitting an assault on a man who was at a bar with his ex-girlfriend.

The business year starts gradually and, usually, nervously. This year is no exception.

When the Christmas-New Year period ended for accident statistics on Tuesday morning, 12 more people had died on the roads.

Like most long-established Australian retailers in this country, Dick Smith felt like one of ours. How could it have failed?

The modern pre-Christmas frenzy is closely followed by sales where consumers rush to buy more stuff to clutter their lives.

A new year, 2016. Suddenly we are into the second half of the second decade of the 21st century.

In February, it will be five years since the collapse of the deficient Canterbury Television building in Christchurch.

The latest weapons in the police crime fighting arsenal are containers to gather samples from Auckland's wastewater treatment plants.

The law is clear. When it comes to search warrants, there is a line which protects all in society, and in some cases particularly the press.

Eventual ruling could have far-reaching implications for law governing use of the internet, from YouTube to Facebook.

It is time to recognise our common humanity, appreciate each other, and let us wish you, good readers, a happy Christmas.

Some believe the charge being set on the copper network was being artificially inflated, however there are a number of issues we need to reconsider.

Ko's year special by any measure and sign of what's to come but rugby heroes claim standout moment.

Search for New Zealander of Year recalls ethical dilemma of terminally-ill lawyer's legal battle for right to end her own life.

Strange and costly things can happen to an economy when a government decides its wisdom is better than the signals of a market.

The elusive surplus has disappeared again. It is just two months since John Key and Bill English were celebrating the final figure for 2014-15, an unexpected surplus.

The latest report tells us 29 per cent of children lived in poverty in 2014, up from 24 per cent the previous year. About 14 per cent live in material hardship, lacking several of the items most New Zealanders would consider essential.

Getting so many nations, including "developing" nations such as China, to sign on to emissions reductions certainly makes the agreement historic.

Climate change may still seem a distant threat, but a "Super El Nino" summer is already evident.

Two petitions are circulating for the funding of the new immunotherapy drug against melanoma, Keytruda.

The new heavyweight boxing champion of the wwooorld is going to get very boring very quickly.

What more could a national holiday do except reopen old wounds and invite continued debate? We have enough of that around Waitangi Day.

For the past year, the Office of the Ombudsman has been reviewing the Official Information Act.

Judith Collins' return to John Key's Cabinet is a credit to her. It would have been easy for someone of her temperament to have reacted differently to her dismissal.