Otago Daily Times: National News

Just when summer couldn't get any worse, heavy downpours are forecast to pound central and upper North Island tomorrow.

Almost one year on from the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, buildings still lie in ruins in the red zone at the city's centre.

Former Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall was a "dodgy git'' and a "megalomaniac'' who blamed others for his mistakes, the Royal Commission of Inquiry was told today.

An extensive land and aerial search has failed to find any sign of a missing yachtie, whose unmanned vessel was found doing circles in the Bay of Plenty yesterday.

A 30-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with murder after a man was stabbed to death in Gisborne last night.

A schoolgirl driver was taken to hospital after her car and a bus collided in Wanganui this afternoon.