The government has unveiled its shake-up of planning controls, promising property owners will have more freedom to do more with their own land.

Transpower says that allowing the major South Island hydro lakes to be drawn down further would leave the country exposed to rolling blackouts, in a worst-case scenario.

There's been world cup draws in rugby and football, and in cricket New Zealand and England fail to deliver in their respective test matches.

Brian Stoddart on his book Outcast: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Etienne Jean Brocher - about the 1896 double murder of an elderly shopkeeping couple in Petone.

Calida Stuart-Menteath on the prefab home builder Nook going under and continued trouble at the Financial Markets Authority - with chair Craig Stobo now being investigated.

Tess reports on Woolworths in Dunedin South pleading guilty over a rat infestation, Dunedin Council agrees to a housing outreach service and super snowmakers on the way for Coronet Peak.

Gail Pittaway reviews The Way to Spell Love by Nina Nola, published by The Cuba Press.

The Auckland Tramping Club has a new book out celebrating its centenary. It's packed with tales from the huts, trails and picnic spots discovered by the club since 1925.

President Trump is facing bipartisan outrage after video showed U.S. military "double-tap" strikes killing unarmed survivors in alleged cartel boats, raising questions about possible war crimes.

A New Zealand entrepreneur is working to tackle a major bottleneck in robotics - testing artificial intelligence in the physical world - with his software programme called Antioch that lets companies building robots test them in real world scenarios.