News Content

A six-year-old child is believed to be one of two people that died in the boat capsizing. Photo: File One of the two people who died when a boat capsized off the coast of South Taranaki is believed to have been a six-year-old child.

King’s High School student Archibald Valentine (left), 16, holds a tewhatewha, a Maori weapon, as he and his cousin Nikora Wiparata-Evans, 17, perform at Te Hautoka, the two-yearly Otago and Southland kapa haka competition, at the Edgar Centre yesterday. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH Performing at the Te Hautoka kapa haka contest felt a little bit sad for Archibald Valentine, 16, because he knew it was going to be his last time.

First on the chairlift at Coronet Peak are (from left) Natalie Urbani, of Queenstown, Alexa Macdonald, of Arthurs Point, David Furniss, of Arrowtown, Cameron Krauts, of Queenstown, Corin Rankin, of Queenstown, and Tony Russell, of Arrowtown. PHOTO: GUY WILLIAMS Alexa Macdonald had something more than her skifield pass giving her access to the opening weekend of the Queenstown and Wanaka ski season — an excuse note from her friend’s mum to the skifield manager.

Leith Liquorland, on the corner of Leith and Albany Sts, has had the renewal of its liquor licence opposed by the medical officer of health delegate. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH A Dunedin bottle store in the heart of the city’s student quarter has been urged to shut its doors earlier to reduce the risk of "alcohol-fuelled violence" and admissions to hospital.

REPORT: LAINE PRIESTLEY / PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH Espen Lorenz, 10, of Dunedin, holds the lanterns he and his mother made at the Lantern Workshop in the Meridian Mall on Saturday.

Dunedin cosmetic tattooist Olivia Legg took out first place in the ombre/powder eyebrow tattooing pro-division category at the 2025 New Zealand Lash and Brow Symposium, held in Napier last month. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH A Dunedin cosmetic tattooist says she was "completely shocked" to be named a winner at an international beauty competition.

A humpback whale entangled in a cray-pot line was freed yesterday after a co-ordinated effort between Department of Conservation’s expert whale disentanglement team, a local fishing crew and mana whenua Te Runaka o Moeraki. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A young humpback whale entangled in ropes and in "immediate danger" off the coast of a small fishing village north of Dunedin has been freed.

University of Otago student Indigo Faulkner (front) and her cheerleading team Dynasty at the 2025 Eclipse Showcase at Trinity Catholic College. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH Handsprings, tucks, rolls, roundoffs and high-flying stunts took over a Dunedin secondary school's gymnasium as cheerleaders from around the city showed a packed room what they could do.

About 300 people braved a frosty morning to take part in the 96th annual polar plunge at St Clair Beach yesterday.

One thousand additional walkers have trekked the Hump Ridge Track since it entered the international stage of the world’s great walks nearly a year ago.

The avalanche shelter at the Homer Tunnel has been recognised at the Concrete Construction Awards. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED A new avalanche shelter at the eastern portal of the Homer Tunnel on State Highway 94 earned a highly commended honour for its outstanding engineering, resilience, and environmental sensitivity at the 2025 Concrete Construction Awards in Auckland last week.

Ben Harris, of Wanaka, takes part in the Southern Apprentice of the Year practical challenge event at Carters Queenstown on Saturday. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Twelve of the southern region’s top apprentice tradies put it all on the line in Queenstown on Saturday.

Medsalv founder Oliver Hunt (front row, third from left) and his team have learned the supplier of remanufactured medical equipment will be added to Pharmac’s hospital medical devices list. PHOTOS: MEDSALV Medsalv Founder Oliver Hunt remains baffled it has taken so long for its remanufactured medical products to be added to Pharmac’s hospital medical devices list.

Prof Richard Green, left, and Dr Sam Schofield with the new chainsaw drone they’ve developed as part of a University of Canterbury Vision research team project. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED A chainsaw drone developed by a University of Canterbury team to cut wrist-size branches in hazardous areas may be commercialised soon.

Mr and Mrs Walter Taine, of Dunedin, and their car, were unharmed after a plunge off a flood-damaged road between Blenheim and Kaikoura. — Otago Witness, 23.6.1925 Mr and Mrs Walter Taine have returned to Dunedin from a motor trip through both islands, the pleasure of which was interfered with by only one untoward incident.

Waitaki bridge. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including buses between Dunedin and Oamaru, wildlife concerns at Oceania, and planning for an electric future.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Many ill people are receiving a raw deal, Fiona Charlton writes.

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, there was a fearsome cannibal clan who lived in a damp coastal cave in Ayrshire. 

A giant piece of gorgonian coral being hoisted out of a bottom trawl net, photographed in 2005. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF FISHERIES At the age of 99, documentary film-maker David Attenborough has achieved his greatest triumph.