The men involved with a multimillion-dollar cannabis-growing ring in the South Island wore balaclavas and carried firearms while harvesting hundreds of plants, a judge said in the High Court in Invercargill.

Police have charged a woman with attempted murder after a 3-week-old baby was critically injured in Invercargill last week.

The hospital care received by an Invercargill mother just a day before her baby girl suffered critical injuries is under review.

The 3-week-old baby left fighting for its life after a violent incident at her Invercargill home was so badly injured that a policeman had to drive the ambulance to hospital.

A 3-week-old baby left fighting for its life after a violent incident in Invercargill this morning has been transferred to Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland.

The taxi driver racially abused in an alarming outburst caught on camera has returned to work, but the unsavoury incident has persuaded him to leave the industry.

A Pakistan-born taxi driver was subjected to a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse - and it's all been caught on camera.

A "neighbourly dispute" involving a gun sparked a callout for members of the Armed Offenders Squad in Invercargill.

An alarming increase in thieves breaking car windows in broad daylight to steal valuables has sparked a warning from police that iPods and laptops left on seats are an "open invitation".

The trial of a Bluff woman who has denied charges laid after the sinking of her fishing boat Easy Rider last year will probably take one week.

An Invercargill high school has lost two new classrooms and a vehicle, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, in a large fire today.

An octogenarian from Canterbury says her Lotto First Division win this week was written in the stars, but the astrological advice for today is not to spend up large.

A young man has been killed following a serious car crash in Southland this morning.

The Bluff woman whose company owned the fishing boat Easy Rider, has been remanded again on charges relating to the vessel's sinking in March.

New Zealand can be a small place when you have a secret to hide - so imagine having one worth $20.5 million.

A vintage motorcycle buff kept his $20.5 million-winning Lotto ticket hidden in his sock drawer before claiming the prize because he "wanted the magic" to continue.

A huge fire that raged for almost 24 hours south east of Invercargill has destroyed more than 400ha of an internationally recognised scientific reserve.

Helicopters will join efforts to control a large bushfire this morning that has already burned more than 400ha of conservation land near Invercargill.

A sexual assault victim faced her attacker in court and described how his "depravity" had robbed her of her childhood.

An Invercargill meat company has been ordered to pay its former chief executive more than $100,000 in unpaid bonuses, compensation and other costs.