Tairāwhiti

Dame Iritana Tāwhiwhirangi, a founder and champion of the kōhanga reo movement, is to be laid to rest this morning at Rāhui marae in Tikitiki near East Cape.

Much of the country can look forward to brighter skies this weekend, with temperatures into the 30s expected for Central Otago for Saturday.

Some of Gisborne's asphalt roads will be switched to unsealed as the district council looks to save money, and public meetings have been held to discuss the impact.

An East Coast beef station has become a test case for a habitat regeneration project offering Mahi Tokens to fund the environmental work.

A man with "severe injuries" was taken to hospital in the early hours of this morning but died soon after.

Repairs to Tokomaru Bay's leaking landfill are desperately needed, say the residents who head out to collect the rubbish it strews on their beaches during severe weather events. Local…

Gisborne police have launched a crack down on 'anti-social' drivers, who they say are damaging roads and making crank 111 calls to divert police.

Three people have been charged after painting over a rainbow pedestrian crossing in Gisborne, and police say they are pursuing it as a hate crime.

More than $6 million has been set aside to clean up four vulnerable dumps.

Masterton was the hottest in the land but scorching temperatures were felt throughout the country on Sunday with most of the country in the high 20s.

Rain warnings are in place in Tai Rāwhiti and Hawke's Bay, with minor flooding already reported and Civil Defence asking people to check on neighbours and whānau.

Urgent repairs to Gisborne's wastewater outfall pipe will close a section of Midway Beach for at least five days.

People with homes damaged by the summer storms face yet another obstacle as they learn their trust-owned properties disqualify them from accessing support. Audio

Flood-weary Gisborne and the Eastern Bay of Plenty are next in line for heavy rain - after the lower South Island was battered last week.

Cold and wet weather for much of the country has prompted weekend warnings, and calls for drivers to take care.

Orange heavy rain warnings have been issued for already sodden Northland, Bay of Plenty and parts of the East Coast, and people are being warned to be prepared.

Immediate action is needed to address unsustainable forestry practices that have put an iwi's lands and waterways at risk, they say.

New Zealand has had decades of warnings about the effects of deforestation of hillsides, draining of wetlands and building behind stopbanks, a freshwater expert says.