Review: Auckland’s Nathan Club near the waterfront has the sombre atmosphere of a funeral home. People stroll around in near silence, arms clasped behind their backs. Only an occasional mutter or exclamation punctuates the hush. An example of this is the instantly recognisable World Press Photo of the Year – a shawled and fierce-looking Afghan [...]

It looks like good news for the Christchurch economy, with three big companies announcing plans to make major investments in the city. Lion Nathan, Coca-Cola and Kathmandu Holdings are all committing to large-scale building projects in the city. Lion’s Canterbury Brewery was damaged beyond repair by the quake and the company has struggled with its [...]

Fiordland’s tourist industry is predicting hard times ahead as a result of the February 22 Christchurch earthquake. Destination Fiordland’s Toni Ellis says the quake has had a detrimental effect on visitors travelling to Fiordland. “It has particularly affected the international visitors travelling in the group market, which means that areas traditionally strong in this market [...]

A not-for-profit architecture firm is using “urban acupuncture” to rejuvenate communities in Christchurch and the young people affected by the February 22 earthquake. Architecture for Humanity’s Auckland Chapter is run by Alexandra JaYeun Lee, who says its design services target a specific area – like acupuncture – in the hope that a greater number of [...]

Just six hours of social media marketing lead to a Christchurch fundraising haul of $2000 last Tuesday. A Twitter message at about noon read: “Our staff are hosting a charity event at 6pm tonight at the Pioneer Womens hall, cnr of High St & Fryberg Plc, lots of cool prizes Plz RT” About 60 employees [...]

Despite uncertain times at the University of Canterbury, the vast majority of international students are sticking to their studies in earthquake-stricken Christchurch. The university is trying to make the start into the semester as smooth as possible or set up exchange programmes with other universities within New Zealand. Only about 100 of the 1200 international [...]

About 1200 international students at the University of Canterbury are looking for ways to keep studying in New Zealand after the earthquake two weeks ago. More than three quarters of them are intending to stay and help in Christchurch. Many universities around New Zealand have offered places to students who are planning to leave the stricken [...]

From Scruffy the Northern Mystics Mascot to a not-yet-released Lexus worth $69,000 – New Zealand’s sporting community is putting together a star-studded package for a Christchurch earthquake fundraiser.   Chris Gregory, programme director at Radio Sport, says the radio station didn’t anticipate its fundraising efforts for victims of the Christchurch earthquake to take off quite [...]