Officials have warned strengthening winds forecast for the coming days threaten to fan wildfires burning across Los Angeles — but the city’s fire chief promises crews are “ready for this next event”.At least 24 people have died in the fires, according to an updated death toll from the County of…

A Dunedin-based cancer diagnostics company’s share price halved after a decision by a United States healthcare provider to revoke coverage for its flagship product. After a trading halt over the weekend, Pacific Edge said in an announcement to the stock exchange yesterday it “cannot believe” Medicare administrative contractor Novitas did…

Wellington will be without fan favourite David Ball after the long-time Phoenix servant brought an early end to his time at the A-League Men club.Ball announced on Monday he would be leaving the club despite six months remaining on his contract.The English forward did not elaborate on the reason after…

Drugs have been stolen in a burglary of an air ambulance in Otago.Helicopters Otago chief executive officer Graeme Gale said the theft took place from the Queenstown-based rescue helicopter which had just taken a critically ill patient to Dunedin Hospital at the weekend.“The helicopter and crew were forced to hold…

Crews had to be ferried by the Harbourmaster across to the Boulder Bank offshore of Nelson to battle a building fire this afternoon.Fire and Emergency NZ said multiple calls were received to a fire on the Boulder Bank at around 2.50pm.Two crews were deployed, but the location meant one crew…

Police say they are working to locate a man who escaped a police transport van in Taupō this evening.Samir Derek Belhajjam, 30, fled from a police transport vehicle at the Taupō District Court at around 6pm.”He was wearing green prison-issue shorts and T-shirt, along with an orange hi-vis vest,” a…

Drones with thermal imaging equipment will survey a vegetation fire on the Coromandel Peninsula tonight to identify deep seated pockets where the fire is burning, which firefighters will attack tomorrow.Multiple crews and helicopters continued to battle the vegetation fire today on the Coromandel Peninsula, after it was brought under control…

Air New Zealand has been named the world’s safest airline for the second year in a row, narrowly beating trans-Tasman rival Qantas.The Airline Ratings site rated the safety and in-flight product of 385 airlines using its own seven-star rating system.In creating its report, the site considered a wide range of…

A family friend says the death of a migrant worker at an Auckland workplace has destroyed a family.A memorial service held for Jun Jiang on Monday in the suburb of Wiri was filled with tears and emotion.The 37-year-old Chinese national came to New Zealand on a work visa to work…

Hundreds of thousands of maths books, teaching guides, and resources are being packed up for schools around the country ahead of the new school year.Education Minister Erica Stanford told 1News 450,000-plus children “will have a high-quality, curriculum aligned, internationally comparable workbook in their hand” from next year, while teachers will…