A judge has described the actions of a man who repeatedly hit his dog with a large square shovel, and later assaulted his daughter, as "callous and cruel treatment" of the animal.

At least five Islamic State operatives were killed in overnight airstrikes launched in a major operation by the United States-led coalition against the terrorist organisation in Syria

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin completed a suborbital joyride on Saturday with a six-person crew, including the first wheelchair user to reach space and one of SpaceX’s first engineers.

Getting into the Christmas spirit on Saturday afternoon are members of the Dunedin Rock Choir.

The stalls were filled with Nadia Reid’s loyal locals for her last show of her sell-out tour, "Enter Brightness Now".

Families braved the torrential rain to attend the Oval’s Christmas celebrations in decent numbers on Saturday.