An orca that washed up dead near Whakatane has been buried in a nearby Maori cemetery despite researchers wanting to perform an autopsy.

The director has agreed to become the first patron of Opotiki's De Luxe Theatre, in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

Black Power members say they want to track down the attacker of a boy, 4, so they can deal to him before police.

Police are shocked that a woman whose daughter was seriously injured by a drunk driver last year was herself caught driving while over the limit.

An eyewitness to an attack on school principal and councillor Hawea Vercoe, told a court his head was kicked like a rugby ball.

Tsunami warnings look to be cancelled as beach-goers who waited all day outside the water start heading home.

Paua fishermen are diving back into the seas and surfers are out to catch waves even as tsunami warnings stay in place.

Auckland's ferries have been cancelled and boaties warned to head for deep water as New Zealand faces a possible tsunami.