Canterbury

St Bede's College students have shown "bad judgment" after choosing a "Wife Beater Wednesday" dressup theme that was shut down 24 hours before going ahead, the school says.

GP Angus Chambers says people are struggling to enrol into medical centres or get appointments at his clinic.

Much of the country is in for blue skies this afternoon, with MetService forecasting Christchurch will reach an unseasonably high of 24 degrees.

One person has been critically injured following a serious crash in Christchurch this morning.

It's more than 20 years since a community garden began helping Canterbury University students grow vegetables.

Police are thanking the public after a teenage girl missing from her home near Christchurch was found.

People who work in the Christchurch's CBD say they don't feel safe in parts of the central city where brawls, assaults and theft have become more frequent.

A University of Canterbury paper titled "The x-minute city" found that in Wellington, 35 percent of residents lived within a 10-minute walk of all amenities.

Voter returns in North Canterbury were higher than the New Zealand average, with Kaikōura leading the way.

New drinking water rules are creating a headache for Waimakariri District Council staff.

The next phase of the Mycoplasma bovis response begins today with a controlled area notice being enforced around infected farms.

The government is putting $25 million towards seismic strengthening for the Canterbury Museum's $205 million redevelopment.

A light aircraft had to make an emergency landing in Rangiora this morning, police say.

Christchurch is to host the next Special Olympics National Summer Games in 2025.

Phil Mauger has won the Christchurch mayoral race and is on track to be joined by seven new councillors and nine returning councillors.

Police say two men, both aged 19, have been charged in relation to a smash-and-grab in the suburb of Merivale.

Police say a man who tried to kidnap a woman out jogging in Christchurch early on Monday also attempted to approach another woman that morning.

The director of the M. bovis eradication programme, Simon Andrew, says testing for the cattle disease will be stepped up because of the discovery.

Private water supplies could come under greater scrutiny, amid concerns about nitrates in drinking water.