The heroic actions of a farmer who pulled a 17-year-old man from a burning car following a crash, have been praised by police.

A new police code of conduct sets out the high expectations for all police staff, the commissioner says.

One person was seriously burned and taken to hospital after a house fire this morning.

Forensic scientist defends the method used to gather and test evidence during the Christine and Amber murder inquiry.

An officer who was criticised for his decision to not call 111 following the collapse of a soldier has stood by his actions at a coronial inquest today.

Mark Lundy told police a silver bracelet found in his car after the brutal murder of his wife and daughter must have been left there when his wife accompanied him on a business trip.

A police expert is defending her analysis of the distances Mark Lundy travelled in the days before his wife and daughter were murdered in their Palmerston North home.

Air New Zealand has confirmed it will operate its next $29 Night Rider service between Palmerston North and Auckland.

Police have named the man who died in a crash on SH3 near Bulls this morning. He was Shane Edgecombe, 20, of Wanganui.

A pedestrian has died near Tauranga, one man was found dead in his car near Palmerston North and four people were injured in a head-on collision in south Waikato.

One person died and another suffered serious injuries following a crash west of Palmerston North yesterday, which saw a car flip onto its roof.

A Pahiatua man who took part in the organised killing of 16 sheep has pleaded guilty today in the Palmerston North District Court.

A residential street in Bulls will be cordoned off after it was discovered a mortar bomb had been used as a garden ornament for about a year.

There are increasing hotel sales and new hotel construction activity, with the industry showing signs of renewed optimism that is expected to continue into 2015, says Dean Humphries, national director of hotels at Colliers International.

A man who indecently abused young boys over nearly a decade has narrowly avoided a sentence of preventive detention.

A woman was killed and a cyclist seriously injured in two serious crashes in the central North Island early this morning.

Ports of Auckland, Napier Port and cold storage specialist Icepak have formed a joint venture to develop a new $20 million inland port and freight hub at Longburn, near Palmerston North.

Police say a "huge cup of good luck" is all that stopped what has been described as a "random" shooting in Fielding becoming a homicide.

A man was killed after being hit by a car in Palmerston North early this morning.

A Palmerston North man who was caught twice with child sex abuse material has been sentenced to 18 months intensive supervision and 100 hours community work.

A young woman wept as she admitted causing the death of her preschool-age child in a hearing at the Palmerston North High Court today.