Helicopters airlifted 40 people to safety overnight, as slips and flooding cut off trapped motorists at Waioeka Gorge; after heavy rain hammered the area between Matawai and Ōpōtiki and as conditions rapidly deteriorated State Highway 2 remains closed

NZ doctors are increasingly finding themselves caring for patients who require medical help following gastric bypass and gastric sleeve procedures undergone abroad; medical tourism is posing new threats as post-op complications cases rise

A judge voided a South Auckland election result over voter fraud claims and the private company running the polls has admitted to a separate privacy breach; the Electoral Services MD released to councillor election results with confidential information

A kauri cross from St. Patrick's Church in Napier was returned 44 years after it fell during the 1981 fire that destroyed the steeple, one of Hawke's Bay's largest; the artifact was recovered and has now been returned to the church