Hurricane Melissa has barrelled through the Caribbean, unleashing devastation in Jamaica and drenching Haiti, where at least 25 people were killed.

Air New Zealand, emergency services and Cook Strait ferries have been affected by a global Microsoft outage this morning.

British actress Prunella Scales, best known for playing the formidable Sybil Fawlty in comedy show Fawlty Towers, has died at the age of 93.

A small insurer headquartered in New Zealand is suspected of helping in the trade of tens of billions of dollars of Iranian and Russian oil by providing vessels skirting Western sanctions with the insurance they need to enter ports.

Category 5 storm Hurricane Melissa, packing sustained winds of up to 282 kph, is on course to barrel into Jamaica, in what could be the largest storm on record for the Caribbean island.