Lower Hutt, New Zealand News

A fatal crash on the Kapiti Coast last night is the latest in a string of horrific head-on collisions a local emergency doctor has attended, and he says lives would be saved if a median barrier was put along the deadly State Highway 1 stretch.

Kapiti Police are investigating a fatal motor vehicle accident that occurred on State Highway One, Paekakariki at 9.45pm last night.

Fulbright New Zealand welcomed 22 American exchange participants to New Zealand last week with an intensive week-long orientation programme designed to outline unique attributes of New Zealand which will inform their study, research and teaching at assorted universities and government agencies over the next three to twelve months.

Four Kiwi trainee chefs are gearing up to take on Australia's best in the Fonterra Foodservices Proud to be a Chef Australasian final in Melbourne later this month [Eds: Monday 27 February – Thursday 1 March]. The chefs are: Lyle Robertson from Auckland who studies at AUT and works at Euro; William Mordido from Auckland who studies and works ... (more)

The Governor General was a bit dubious about hosting an orchestra and thousands of guests on his front lawn today.

Police investigating a Wellington murder enlisted the help of the United States Government to order Facebook to hand over the personal pages of suspects.

The waka, which was at the centre of a dispute last year involving Waiwhetu Maori, Wellington Maori and Wellington City Council, was being paddled in Wellington Harbour off Petone for the first time in two years tonight when it suddenly capsized.

Police are searching for three offenders who "aren't the brightest" and smashed into a service station and threatened the cashier before stealing cigarettes in front of witnesses and CCTV cameras.

The company is principally engages in the processing and distribution of steel products through its various business divisions.

A Wellington corporate travel agency employee charged with taking nearly $1 million over two years has been remanded for two weeks.

Updated computer modelling shows a small decrease in the probability of aftershocks in Canterbury for the next 12 months compared to figures released late last year.

Still not quite famous enough: WikiLeaks maestro Julian Assange shall appear on the 500th episode of The Simpsons .

THERE is no going back for Lower Hutt woman Tina Beznec as a tattooist began inking her backside with the logo of strip club chain Calendar Girls today.

Lower Hutt mayor Ray Wallace said 27 people had applied for the job, from both the public and private sector.

An open audition for Peter Jackson 's new The Hobbit movie had to be shut down on Saturday after more than 3,000 hopefuls turned up.

Melbourne, Jan 29 : A casting call for the movie "Hobbit" shut down early and police had to be called in after far too many people turned up for the role of extras in the movie.

The RaboDirect NZ Mountainbike Championships finished today with the Cross Country Eliminator and Downhill events contested on the slopes of Fringed Hill in the Brook Valley, Nelson.

One of the two men charged in connection with the fatal stabbing in Lower Hutt has a father who is a convicted killer.

Manufacturing in New Zealand is hard enough as it is, but Lower Hutt firm Metco Engineering manages to do it better than China.

A casting call for extras in Sir Peter Jackson's movie The Hobbit had to close its doors early today after being overwhelmed with hopefuls.