Police officer facing 33 smuggling charges

A police officer has appeared in court this afternoon charged with smuggling items into a number of Auckland prisons.

• Govt accused of bias with debt collection

  The Government is being accused of being tougher on beneficiaries than tax payers when it comes to collecting debt.

• Council debates saving Chch Town Hall

  Repairs to the earthquake damaged Christchurch Town Hall have been estimated at $127 million and will take four years to complete.

• Dental experts challenge Hamilton fluoride info

  The Dental Association is outraged the Hamilton City Council is giving out information about fluoride which it says is wrong.

• Politician puts up billboard on private home without asking

  Former National MP Arthur Anae had a billboard screwed onto a stranger's private property without asking for permission.

• Dunne's party re-registered

  United Future has officially been re-registered as a party and its leader now wants online party memberships to be a legitimate way of measuring party registration.

• Officer praised for bravery after saving man

  A police officer has been praised for plunging into a strong current as night fell to save a drowning man.

• 'Sweeping' changes to child abuse laws

  Parents who kill or seriously harm their children will need to prove they're fit to be parents again under new proposed legislation.

• VIDEO: Police special tactics group train in red zone

  One of the country's most dangerous police squads stormed a Christchurch house today, blowing the front door off the home to get to a hostage victim inside.

• Body recovered after bridge crash

  Police have recovered the body of man who went missing in Tauranga Harbour after a three-car crash on Maungatapu Bridge last night.

• 'Bit of everything' on the way - MetService

  MetService meteorologist Daniel Corbett says there's a "bit of everything" on the way.

• Environment not pure since 'cavemen' - Key

  John Key says no environment in the world has been '100 percent pure' since the day "cavemen turned up and started burning fires".

• Police dive squad to search for missing driver

  A police dive squad is heading to Tauranga this morning to help search for a man missing after a serious crash overnight.

• What do Kiwis think of the GCSB bill?

  This week the Campbell Live team are travelling the country to see whether New Zealanders are for or against the Governmentas controversial GCSB bill.

• Drink driving charge after bus crash

  The Valley Flyer bus left the road and crashed into a large hedge in Upper Hutt around 11:40am.

• Cop accused of supplying meth loses name suppression

  The identity of a former top Whangarei cop accused of taking drugs from the police exhibits locker can finally be revealed.

• Policy 'won't help first home buyers'

  The Opposition is describing the Government's new housing policy as tinkering around the margins.

• Search continues 'dangerous' suspected abductor

  Alone and scared, two-year-old Gabriel Donnelly was found in a shed.

• Auckland Mayor learns to drive electric train

  Mayor Len Brown took Auckland's upcoming electric trains for a trial spin this morning, courtesy of a simulator at the newly built train depot in Wiri.

• Police still hunting suspected toddler abductor

  Police are still looking for the man who's believed to have abducted a toddler in Auckland yesterday.

• Charity moving houses out of the red zone

  Houses in Christchurchas residential red zone are being bought for a bargain and then relocated to better land.