Plans for the plaza beside the Forsyth Barr Stadium are being scaled up, after the University of Otago decided it wanted the area to "make a statement".

The increasing risk of conflict between noise sensitive residents, accommodation operators and bar owners is "Queenstown's Achilles heel", Queenstown Lakes district councillor John Mann says.

Police hunting the killer of Auckland taxi driver Hiren Mohini have boosted their numbers to 50, and say they are making constant breakthroughs.

Dual-listed L&M Energy will be going to shareholders and institutional investors within weeks to potentially raise up to $10 million - if its proposed takeover of private sister company L&M Coal Seam Gas goes ahead later this month.

Opposition parties are going to fight the Government over its plan to raise GST and don't accept assurances that the new tax regime will be fair on low income families.

British soldiers died in a bombing in southern Afghanistan, officials announced today, raising Britain's death toll in the conflict to 255 - the number of Britons lost in the Falklands war of 1982.