Stories by Matthew Theunissen

Iran's embassy in Wellington is calling on NZ to promote peace and security in the Middle East, after Iran launched rockets at American facilities in Iraq today.

Former New Zealand defence minister Wayne Mapp says he can't see the US and Iran coming to blows - despite Washington being reckless in killing Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

An investigation has been launched into the death of a great white shark after witnesses reported it was kicked and dragged out of the water while others tried to rescue it.

The official search for the two remaining victims of the Whakaari / White Island disaster has been called off, but that isn't stopping locals from looking for their bodies.

The Otago Daily Times cartoon joking about the Samoa measles epidemic was "gratuitously hurtful" and had a "racist quality", the Media Council has found.

Biographer Yvonne van Dongen wrote that he frequently travelled to Asia - mostly to Thailand - where she claimed he enjoyed encounters with young women.

A tour guide has been called a hero for dragging more than 20 people off Whakaari / White Island in suffocating conditions.

A man convicted of a vicious homophobic assault in Auckland during Pride Week has been sentenced to 11 months' home detention.

Students from an Auckland primary school are fed up that they're missing out on the unspoilt North Shore beaches enjoyed by locals just one generation ago.

A food fight has broken out on the streets of Auckland between vegans and meat eaters who are each vying to display their campaign messages on road signs.

Two kākāpō whose entire species was threatened by a deadly fungal disease are being returned to their island homes tomorrow - leaving only three more needing treatment on the mainland. Video

A KiwiRail worker says staff in the field are forced to regularly relieve themselves behind a tree or bush due to a lack of toilet facilities.

Tens of thousands of McDonald's workers are in for boost to their wallets after they were found to have been underpaid in a nationwide payroll bungle that's expected to cost billions of dollars to…

Aucklanders face years of disruption due to a raft of closures announced today as part of the City Rail Link project. Video

It's feared Auckland's resident leopard seal, Owha, has made some enemies due to her pastime of biting into and sinking inflatable dinghies.

The test results give some reassurance that the water pumped into Waitematā Harbour was "not particularly contaminated", an Auckland Council spokesperson says, but more testing will be carried out…

Aside from the authorities and fire crews, Auckland CBD has been eerily deserted for the past two days with most businesses having shut up shop because of the convention centre fire.

The creator of the 8chan website - used by the 15 March gunman to promote the video of the atrocity - is locked in a bitter battle with its current owner.

The defeated Auckland mayoral contender has indicated he may put himself forward as a candidate in next year's general election. Video

More than 500,000 New Zealand students drive themselves or are driven by somebody else to school every day, according to new census data.

An unusual campaign is ramping up for a Whakatāne District Council candidate who's pleading with people not to vote for her and she says this is not any sort of "reverse psychology".

A woman who came to the aid of a teenager after she was abducted and sexually assaulted says the suspect tried to run her and her family down.

Like other outlying parts of the Auckland region, Piha locals are feeling increasingly disconnected from the people calling the shots for their community in Auckland Town Hall.

For the past two days Auckland's High Court has seen some of the country's notable right-wing figures, who are bent on affirming the speaking rights of two controversial Canadians.

A court has been told that police were not aware of any threats posed by an event for two far-right Canadian speakers, despite Auckland Council claiming it had barred them due to safety concerns.