A person has died in a fatal accident at Kauri, north of Whangārei.

It’s expected charter schools will be open from the start of 2025.

The UN is worried the country's rural areas will not be able to cope with the influx of refugees.

Forbes has released its top 200 billionaires list for the year, noting there are more of the super-wealthy than ever before.

Police found the injured woman at an address in nearby Greenhithe.

J.K. Rowling did not break the law with tweets criticising Scotland's new hate speech law and referring to transgender women as men, the police said on Tuesday.

The Harry Potter author opposes the law, which came into force on Monday and makes it illegal to stir up hatred on the basis of characteristics such as age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and transgender identity.

Rowling is among critics who say the legislation could be used to silence so-called "gender-critical" feminists, who argue that rights for trans women should not come at the expense of those who are born biologically female.

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In a series of posts on X, Rowling referred to several prominent trans women as men. Misgendering could be an offense under the new law, in some circumstances.

Rowling posted that "if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested."

"Freedom of speech and belief are at an end in Scotland if the accurate description of biological sex is deemed criminal," she said.

Police in Scotland said the force had received complaints, but that "the comments are not assessed to be criminal and no further action will be taken."

Scotland's semi-autonomous government says the new legislation — known as the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act — will help tackle hatred and abuse.

Critics, however, say it will have a chilling effect on free speech.

Shane Reti says preferential entry schemes address his priority – doctor shortages,

At least 29 people have died in a blaze which started during daytime repair work at a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey, state media reported on Tuesday.

A further eight people were injured, with seven of those in serious condition, the Istanbul governor's office said.

The governor's office said the fire started in the Besiktas district in central Istanbul on the European side of the city, and that all of the victims were construction workers.

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The fire began shortly before 1pm local time (9pm AEDT), state media reported, at a 16-story block on Gonenoglu Street, a busy part of Istanbul's Gayrettepe neighbourhood.

The nightclub is called Masquerade Club, according to CNN's producer at the scene.

The blaze started during renovations at the site, which is located underground, says Anadolu, the Turkish news state agency.

Turkish authorities have detained eight people in connection with the fire, including the business manager of the nightclub, its accountant and partners, as well as the person responsible for the metal workers related to the renovation, TRT News reported.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said authorities were collecting evidence from the site.

"A team of three experts specialising in occupational safety and fire is also continuing their work to determine the cause of the fire," he wrote on X.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, sent his condolences on social media.

"May God have mercy on our citizens who lost their lives," he wrote on X.

Imamoglu, of the opposition Republic People's Party (CHP), was re-elected as mayor on Sunday in local elections that marked the biggest election defeat to date for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development (AK) Party.

Details of latest accident come after the Easter weekend road toll hit a record high.

Māori Health Authority given its last rites as its doors are closed.