An Otago prison's been put in lockdown after three staff were assaulted by three inmates.

Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey are headed to New Zealand.

A woman was injured after the car she was driving hit a parked car and then "burst into the lounge'' of a Dunedin house today.

A cyclist sustained a serious head injury after being hit by a campervan in Dunedin today. A St John spokesman said an ambulance

A garage owner has defended displaying the Confederate flag after a Dunedin woman took to social media to register her shock at seeing it.

Investigators will interview 'relevant people' after yesterday's explosion that killed a crewman on board cruise ship.

A passenger aboard a cruise ship on which a crew member died has recounted the harrowing scenes which followed the incident. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT.

A drug user went to the police after swapping his car for rock salt.

Inflatable vessels were being reinflated when a gas cylinder exploded, killing one.

An ambulance and rescue helicopter are on their way to the isolated scene.

A quick check of the MyLotto app on Sunday reveals the life of a young Central Otago couple is about to change.

A man who denies indecently assaulting a girl during a school holiday programme can be named today.

AJ Hackett Bungy staff have won praise from police and their boss for their response to a serious road crash outside the company's Queenstown operation.

The sun has come out to play and is here to stay, with a scorcher of a long weekend across the country.

One lucky Lotto player has scooped $18 million in tonight's Powerball draw.

The body of a person thought to be a diver who went missing in Otago waters yesterday has been found. Police divers found the body

A new report about the collapse of a balcony at a student concert in Dunedin has revealed a number of failings.

Police have suspended the search for a diver missing in Dunedin tonight.

The weather's going to be (finally) glorious for most of the country.

A high-tech tobacco product launched in New Zealand by Philip Morris is illegal, the Ministry of Health says.

A Dunedin mother took her two sons on a family outing with a difference - to commit a burglary.

A man found out about an arsenal of weapons in a Dunedin house after his co-defendant's girlfriend had been there 'in relation to work'.

Wayne Boss' fireworks injury, which may have robbed him of sight in his right eye, has given him a ''new perspective'' on life.

While the eastern region swelters in one of the most rain-deprived Januaries in more than a century, some western areas have been drenched.

Albatross chick has lost weight after being found riddled with maggots.

A transgender man has admitted violating another man while he was walking home after a night out.

Stephanie Holmes finds a multitude of benefits after an uphill struggle.

A "dangerous" manoeuvre led to two Queenstown skydivers being seriously injured on Saturday was probably unintentional, an industry safety expert says.

A light plane has crashed at Dunedin airport.

A Mosgiel woman swindled her ailing father and intellectually disabled brother out of $65,000 while she was supposed to be caring