Teen dies while scuba diving

Police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old boy after he apparently drowned at Tatapouri Beach close to Gisborne.

The youngster from Hastings had been scuba diving with a family member as the drowning occurred around 6pm last evening.

Police say the youngster was brought to shore in a boat and attended to by ambulance staff, but he had already died.

More details will be released once next of kin have been advised.

Body found in New Brighton

Christchurch police say they found the body of a man in South Brighton on Thursday afternoon.

Detective Senior Sergeant Virginia Le Bas says she was unable to prove the man was Peter Graham, 51, a tourism operator missing from his Christchurch home since Sunday, or if there had been any foul play involved.

"We're just going through our investigations and should know more after a post mortem tomorrow," she told NZPA tonight.

Graham had not contacted family or friends since the weekend and those who knew him described this as out of character.

The body was found in Blighs Gardens, South Brighton.

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Beach skull has bullet hole in it

A human skull discovered in sand hills at a Northland beach last month had suffered a gunshot wound but a guitar pick and strings found nearby are not thought to be related to the find, police say.

The skull was found by Australian tourists near Glinks Gully, a holiday settlement on the coast southwest of Dargaville.

No other bones were recovered and police confirmed today the skull had a bullet hole in it.

A pathologist's examination revealed it had been subject to an autopsy before being placed in the sand hills - which indicated it originated from an historical coroner's case and/or a police investigation.

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Bain most Googled-Kiwi in 2009

David Bain was the most searched-for New Zealander this year on Google, narrowly edging out David Tua, the internet's dominant search engine disclosed.

Following Bain, who was acquitted in June of murdering five members of his family in 1994, and heavyweight boxer Tua, who pulverised his New Zealand rival Shane Cameron in October, was rugby league star Sonny Fai - tragically swept out to sea in January - with Rachel Whitwell, the Auckland teacher who posed nude for Penthouse, in fourth place.

The top news search in 2009 was swine flu, with Scottish singer Susan Boyle's rise to stardom and David Bain's retrial in second and third place respectively.

Social networking site Facebook was the most searched for term overall, ahead of YouTube, Trade Me and Bebo in that order.

Huntly coal miners end strike

Four hundred workers at Solid Energy's Huntly East and nearby Rotowaro coalmines have voted to accept an 8.5% pay increase after a month of industrial action.

They will return to work on Tuesday.

The offer was similar to one rejected last week but removed clawbacks which would have left workers worse off, said Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union spokesman Rob Egan.

The base pay rate for miners and maintenance staff would increase from $78,832 to $85,600.

About 730 workers at Solid Energy's West Coast mines at Stockton and Spring Creek were due to vote on a new offer on Monday night.

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Police investigate Bay of Plenty death

A Bay of Plenty house has been cordoned off as police investigate the death of a female there on Friday.

The house in Kaingaroa, 50km southeast of Rotorua, was cordoned off on Friday evening and a scene examination continued overnight.

Police would not specify the age of the dead person, nor the time they were found.

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Evacuations as Nelson scrub fire threatens

Residents are being evacuated from a rural area surrounding a major scrub fire at Tapawera, near Nelson.

Sixty hectares are ablaze and there are six helicopters and 30 forestry appliances on the scene.

Three structures are under threat from the fire which started around 4:15pm on Thursday.

The blaze is burning along an 800 metre front, and strong southerly winds are fanning the flames.

A Fire Service spokesman says the smoke is so thick they have had multiple calls from people saying it's blocking the sun.

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Air NZ slams Pero Erebus flight plan

There is a major stoush brewing as New Zealand gets ready to honor the 30th anniversary of the country's worst air disaster.

Air New Zealand has released a scathing statement after learning of plans by mortgage broker Mike Pero, to charter a flight to Mt Erebus .

Pero announced on Wednesday that he would charter a Boeing 747 in January for 307 people who wished to travel to Antarctica to pay their respects.

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Drownings cause serious concern

There are concerns that the rise in drownings in New Zealand is linked to schools closing their pools.

New Zealand has one of the highest drowning rates in the world.

Last weekend a man in his 50s lost his life at sea as part the Ocean Swim Series. He's not the first, similar tragedies marked the event in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Water Safety New Zealand says it's because children are not being taught to swim anymore.

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Southland jolted by quake

Southland was rocked by a 5.3 magnitude earthquake early on Tuesday.

The quake was centred 190km west of Tuatapere, was 12km deep and hit at 12.53am, GNS Science reported.

The jolt was possibly felt in Southland and Fiordland

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Former boyfriend quizzed in Opotiki trial

The former boyfriend of a teen accused of murder leapt to his feet and pointed his finger at her defence lawyer while being questioned about alleged assaults on her.

"What are you trying to say?" Nga Falani demanded in the High Court at Rotorua on Friday.

Justice Geoffrey Venning ordered him to sit down as police in the public gallery moved into the body of the court.

Falani had repeatedly said he couldn't remember, when questioned on various matters by the Crown prosecutor Duncan McWilliam and defence counsel Paul Mabey, QC.

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Police investigate Queenstown death

Police are investigating the death of a man outside a popular night-spot in Queenstown overnight.

The body was found in one of the main streets town late Thursday night.

Witnesses say the man was earlier concerned in a physical altercation.

Police have not confirmed the cause of death. They are expected to release more information later Friday morning.

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All protester detached from freighter

All 14 Greenpeace protesters who boarded a goods ship carrying palm kernel in the Port of Tauranga on Wednesday have been removed, police say.

The protesters boarded the Hong Kong-registered freighter East Ambition from a small boat on Wednesday morning, heavy themselves to cranes and the anchor , preventing the ship from docking.

They were protesting Fonterra's importation of palm kernel (PKE) for use as stock feed because of its role in the obliteration of rainforests, predominantly in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Police used a crane and cage and were raised to the height of four storeys to cut the cables that joined the protesters to the ship's steel cables extending from its cranes.

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Murder teams wait to speak to wounded mother

Police investigating the murder of a Kenyan man in a Christchurch house are waiting to speak to a mother-of-two who was found badly hurt by his side.

The woman's estranged husband flew out of the country to Kenya on Saturday soon after dropping off the children, aged 9 and 13, at the home of a friend and police have alerted Interpol to try to track him down.

The woman was yesterday in Christchurch Hospital in a steady condition with harsh head injuries while the dead man's body remained at the Burrows Place, Ilam, house as police tried to piece together what happened.

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Amphibious van sells for $9100

An amphibious van that manage to sail across the Cook Strait has sold for more than $9000 on the auction website TradeMe on Monday night.

The winning punter, whose username was "fyfie1" placed a winning bid of $9100 that beat 141 others for the duel-action vehicle.

A $1 hold back had been placed on the auction.

The matt black DIY diesel boatvan, called "Roofliss - the Toyota Townace Interisland Van" by its builders Adam Turnbull and Dan Melling, crossed Cook Strait on September 6.

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Undie 500 keeps authority on edge

Reports are coming in of fires being lit in Dunedin as students arrive in the annual Undie 500 car rally from Christchurch.

Six hundred students have been travelling in group from Christchurch to Dunedin, watched closely by police.

There are reports of at least two couches burning on the streets of North Dunedin, the area that has been the sight of riots sparked by the rally previously.

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Moko make home in Tologa Bay

Moko, the famous Mahia dolphin, is now making himself fairly at home at Tolaga Bay, north of Gisborne.

Moko turned up in the Bay on Thursday and spent some time with local fishermen.

DOC received reports that he was in performance near the piles on the historic Tolaga Bay wharf.

Since then, he's taken up residence at the seaward end of the long wharf and steady streams of people have been trekking out to see him.

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Name suppression for toddler's accuse killer

A Far North woman charged with the kill of a Kaitaia toddler will have name suppression until at least September 23.

The 34-year-old, who has not entered a plea, appear in Kaitaia District Court on Wednesday and was remanded in protection until November 12.

The woman, understood to be the child's mother, was initially charged with attack, but this was raised on Wednesday to murder following a homicide inquiry by Far North and Auckland police.

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Forensic specialist to assemble in Wellington

Forensic identification specialist from around the world will gather in Wellington on Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of New Zealand's forensic dentistry body.

The New Zealand Society of Forensic Dentistry (NZSFD) was established in 1984 - five years after an Air New Zealand DC10 bang into Mt Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 crew and passengers aboard.

US service personnel based in Antarctica were called to help with body identification.

NZSFD members have since undertaken human recognition work in Thailand after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and in Australia after the Victorian bushfires earlier this year.

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Human trafficking an subject in NZ

Two Ukrainian victims of human trafficking have been prosecuted for passport deception when they should be receiving help from New Zealand authorities, their lawyer says.

Jeremy Bioletti said he had defended one woman who was brought into the country by a Ukrainian gang, then required to work in an Auckland brothel to pay off a $10,000 debt.

A second, similar case was at present before the courts.

Bioletti said the women were among up to 15 people brought to New Zealand by the gang and he believed the practice was extensive.

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