A panel of experts has recommended retaining neurosurgery services at both Dunedin and Christchurch hospitals - a verdict met by cheering crowds.

The New Zealand national team threw down the gauntlet early on the opening day of the cycling Tour of Southland.

An Invercargill teenager, who set three men alight after he threw petrol on a fire, was given a warning under the three strikes law today.

A former Child, Youth and Family caregiver is accused of sexual abuse of girls spanning 23 years in a two-week trial starting today.

The wreck of the helicopter that crashed, killing two people on Thursday, has been recovered from Bluff Harbour.

The flight instructor who died in a helicopter crash "ate, drank and slept" aviation, a friend says.

The bodies of an instructor and a trainee pilot were this afternoon removed from the wreckage of the helicopter which crashed into Bluff Harbour yesterday.

The helicopter missing since yesterday has been found submerged in Bluff Harbour along with the bodies of the chopper's two crew.

A major search underway in Southland for a missing helicopter with a pilot and instructor on board will continue into the night.

She was the southern singer who knew the lyrics to Funny Face; he, well, just had one.

Jess Hamill added to New Zealand's medal tally overnight when she finished second in the parasport shot put.