Scholarship exams have been cancelled, but NCEA exams can go ahead in schools if they are not earthquake damaged, NZQA says.

Heavy rain and wind is forecast to batter the upper South Island and lower North Island this afternoon.

Primary responsibility for civil defence emergency management at a local level rests with your local council.

There are casualties following this morning's quakes, acting Civil Defence minister Gerry Brownlee says.

It's beginning to feel like summer in some parts of the country, with pohutukawa bursting into bloom. "People have been getting a

District health boards report bad stuff that happens to patients

Scott Watson has always claimed he is innocent of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope.

A man who says he was severely beaten for wearing a pink shirt has halted police investigations after he decided not to make a formal statement.

A group of Scott Watson supporters today began a series of marches to highlight their case that he is wrongly imprisoned for the Marlborough Sounds murders.

Changes undermine value of national bowel screening programme, expert says.

A man has been rescued by helicopter after his float plane crashed in the Marlborough Sounds this evening. The Nelson Marlborough

Despite law professor raising questions over perplexing Sounds double murder, convicted killer's father says "the system doesn't want to listen".

A tramper has been rescued from the bush after spending a cold and wet night high on Mt Stanley in the outer Marlborough Sounds.

A winemaker is hooked on pinot and the land where it's grown, writes Stephanie Holmes.

A housebus and sand-blasting shed have been extensively damaged by fire in Marlborough.

A woman who died after being hit by a car early on Sunday morning has been named by Marlborough Police.

With river levels rising, three women at the Thor Hut in the Kahurangi National Park were rescued by helicopter.

A 15-year-old mountain biker was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter yesterday.

The children of a boatie missing for more than two years have accepted it is more than likely that he is dead, an inquest has heard.

A tramper has been rescued after spending a freezing night in Marlborough bush.

There has been a death at a level crossing in Blenheim this afternoon.

Senior policeman admits reporting boat as stolen was 'means to an end' to access cellphone records of missing man Kerry Blair.

Marlborough police are investigating the unexplained death of an 87-year-old woman in Blenheim.

Scientists have renewed their focus on Wairau Bar off Marlborough's Cloudy Bay, which bears secrets of our earliest settlers and their paths to Aotearoa.

The magnitude 4.5 quake struck just east of Seddon shortly before 4am.

It's home to some of the country's best wine but a lot of people don't know where it is.

One man is in intensive care after a head-on crash on the main road between Blenheim and Nelson that injured seven people.

It has been burning in 25 hectares of bush in steep terrain on Vernon Station, near Blenheim.

Thirteen people are facing drug and gun charges and further arrests are expected.

The ferry journey is as lovely as the destination, writes Neil Porten.