Latest from Matthew Backhouse

The truck driver who narrowly escaped being buried in the quake won't be in the dog box for calling his boss before his partner.

A crater lake in Central Otago has given a Kiwi scientist a unique insight into how quickly climate change could cause the Antarctic ice sheet to melt.

Four months later, baby Carsen has defied all the odds - and now surgeons are planning a never-before-performed operation to give him the best shot at life.

The Maori Party is calling for a "long overdue" law change to establish Maori wards on every district council in New Zealand.

Six teams of Kiwi explorers will attempt to become the first to climb challenging new routes on some of the most precarious peaks on Earth.

A prisoner kept in solitary confinement at Mt Eden prison has died this week.

Russell Crowe made a poignant tribute to his late cousin Martin by visiting the club where he developed into New Zealand's greatest batsman.

The nurse who threw a dildo at Cabinet Minister Steven Joyce has returned.

11 permits refused in the past months alone due to sex offences, but agency says most of those new applicants.

Pene Pati has tied the knot with his sweetheart at the venue where he publicly proposed to her a year earlier.

From extreme weather to a ponytail-pulling Prime Minister, it's been an eventful year in NZ. We take a look back at some of the biggest stories.

This year's weird and wonderful tales range from mystery pool poos to a Nelson couple's surprise baby.

2015 saw a lot of strange news and strange headlines come through the New Zealand Herald.

Floods, fires, thunderstorms and tornadoes all wreaked havoc this year as New Zealand shivered and sweltered through another 12 months of climatic extremes.

Here's four things I've learned about quitting.

Quitting smoking? Actually pretty easy.

I was, as they say in Palmerston North, totally maggot.

One week to go - only one week until I can go back to smoking 20 cigarettes a day.

Today, I look like a cartoonish stoner in a suit.

When you deprive your body of a substance it's addicted to, some pretty weird sh** starts to happen.