Six more people have died with Covid, and there are 4429 new community cases of the virus in New Zealand today, the Ministry of Health says.There are also 332 people in hospital with the virus, seven of whom are in intensive care.Three…

Will scientists ever be able to accurately pick New Zealand’s next big volcanic eruption? While GeoNet has long been providing eruption forecasts – as it’s been doing lately with an unsettled Mt Ruapehu – it remains virtually…

A young family has lost “absolutely everything” after a fire burned down the home they have been renting for two and a half years.Flames and thick black smoke could be seen across Welcome Bay just before 9.30pm on Friday after firefighters…

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fly to Europe today to attend the NATO summit in Spain as the world confronts the fallout from the war in Ukraine and its impacts on the global economy. 

It is the first time an Australian leader will attend a NATO meeting since Kevin Rudd in 2008. 

Aside from discussing rising fuel and food costs caused in part by the war between Russia and Ukraine, Albanese is expected to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.

READ MORE: NASA to launch rocket from Arnhem Land tonight

Australia has had strained relations with France since it pulled out of a $90 billion deal submarine deal.

Meanwhile, the prime minister looks set to come back to a storm of his own making after angering crossbenchers by cutting staff allocations to members of parliament.

Two crossbenchers, ACT Senator David Pocock and Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, have threatened to vote against Labor government legislation over the move, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Lambie said the staff cuts would mean she would struggle to get across the detail of proposed Labor bills.

"I thought Labor were supposed to be the grown-ups?" she said.

"If we can't go through the legislation [with advisers] how can we vote on it? I'm not voting for something that I can't go through."

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Albanese has said the number of advisers allocated to MPs will be cut from four per MP to one. 

The MPs will continue to have four lesser paid advisers to deal with constituency matters.

Nine political editor Chris Uhlmann said while any protests from crossbenchers would not cause an issue for Labor in the Lower House, it could potentially be problematic when it comes to passing legislation in the Senate.

"(Albanese) doesn't need them in the Lower House because he has the numbers there. He does need them in the Senate. Labor needs to get all the Greens on board, plus one, so he needs one more senator in the Upper House," Uhlmann said.

The staffing cuts are expected to save the government around $4 million.

Kiwis outside Auckland were much more blase about wearing masks when Covid-19 wasn’t yet in their communities, despite being just as aware about health measures.A top epidemiologist says just-released study findings highlight our…

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History is in the making with American space agency NASA set to launch a rocket into the skies above east Arnhem Land tonight.

It is the first time since 1995 that a rocket will take off from Australian soil and the first time for NASA launching a commercial rocket.

NASA's rocket will take off from the red dirt at the Arnhem Space Centre outside Nhulunbuy about 10.44pm local time tonight.

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Those on the ground and in surrounding areas will be able to track the rocket as it makes its way through the skies, just seconds after lift-off until it exits the Earth's atmosphere.

The space centre is privately owned and operated by Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA).

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Tonight's launch will be the first of three the centre has scheduled with NASA over the next three weeks. 

But this is just the beginning, with ELA planning for up to 50 launches each year. 

By RNZ New polling shows most New Zealanders support changing the country’s drug laws to remove criminal penalties and instead offer education, treatment, and other health-based approaches.The new polling, conducted by The Navigators…