A five-year-old girl died in a fatal crash in North Otago last night.

Two people have been injured in a head-on collision on a country road.

Four men were jailed for at least 17 years for murdering a farmhand in North Otago but sentencing marred by hurling of abuse.

Most of the 25 cats owned by Invercargill woman Averil Gardiner have been rehomed to meet a court's deadline.

Dunedin residents are angry after they lost power for eight hours a week earlier than expected - saying the power company's attitude to the mistake was 'cavalier'.

An annual party at a sponsored student flat has been cancelled after more than 3000 people indicated they would attend.

Kiwi fugitive Paul Bennett has appeared in a Sydney court today and entered no plea after 10 months on the run ended in Australia last night.

A heated argument between two men acting "like a couple of strutting peacocks" which ended in a chase with a chainsaw at a petrol station is condemned by a judge.

The victim of an alleged sexual assault by fugitive Paul Bennett has spoken of her relief at hearing he was in police custody after 10 months on the run.

''I try to pick up the broken glass every Sunday morning, but it was just too bad.'' 1000 revellers helped plaster a Dunedin street in glass - to residents' disgust.

A man who fell from a van travelling at 100km/h between Clyde and Cromwell last weekend has died in hospital.

The twin sisters of Cromwell teen Rachel Clark have had genetic tests after the head girl's sudden death.

Two Korean nationals are dead after a horror smash at Blackhead, Dunedin, yesterday.

A 40 metre elm tree is driving its owner and neighbours mad - but Dunedin's Council says "nuisance factors" aren't sufficient justification for taking it down.

Plans for a huge expansion of New Zealand's most luxurious golfing and lifestyle resort have been unveiled today.

A fugitive couple on the run from police sold their getaway vehicle in Dunedin, the man offering a $50,000 bounty for their capture says.

A young man is in critical condition after falling from a van on a "joy ride" travelling at 100 kmh through the Cromwell Gorge.

Horse racing trainer Steve Anderton has died in hospital after a freak accident at the family stables near Mosgiel yesterday.

No charges will be laid in relation to the death of a man in Otago Corrections Facility four years ago.

Shandelle Battersby checks into a remote Central Otago lodge that's worth the journey.

The death of a puppy found inside a suitcase in a Milton cemetery is being treated as suspicious, a SPCA Otago inspector says.

Trouble has again hit the Melilla 201. It's been tied up at a Dunedin wharf for two years, and nearly ran aground as it tried to leave yesterday.

'The time has come for reality to sink in,' said a judge as he ordered an Invercargill woman to dispose of 22 of cats.