The Latest Breaking News from New Zealand

The Barbarians take on a World XV at Twickenham Stadium on May 28

New Zealand police have lowered the confirmed death toll from a Wellington hostel fire from six people to five, although they haven’t finished searching the dangerous four-story building

The man accused of lighting the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in New Zealand appears in the Wellington district court, charged with two counts of arson, as police confirm they have identified five bodies in the rubble.

All the pre-budget talk of “bread and butter”, “no frills”, targeting and reprioritisation came with a sense of foreboding. History and research tell us that budgets in general – but particularly those hyper-focused on fiscal prudence – have different, often unequal impacts on women compared to men.

New Zealand's media has reviewed Labour's election year budget well but the true test will be in GDP figures and the Reserve Bank review in coming weeks.

The Govt is committed to a target of getting investment to 2% of GDP as a way to “help build a high-skill, knowledge-based and more productive economy”. This is not a Budget to get us there.

The latest Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list, described by Steve Braunias 

The flavour of the competition will never be the same and it remains to be seen if Australia and New Zealand teams can fill the gap

Police say investigation is ongoing and they have not ruled out further, more serious charges