A twenty-year-old who was missing for 24 hours on a mountain battered by severe storms has been found "walking, talking and cold", police say.

The aftershocks have all but stopped, but few in Christchurch dare mention the easing of the earth's fury.

Brian Fallow writes: "The economy has a soggier soft patch to pull out of next year after September quarter gross domestic product came in below market expectations and the statisticians revised down growth in the first half of the year."

Fletcher Construction was fined $45,000 today for a health and safety breach while workers pulled down Christchurch's quake-battered Hotel Grand Chancellor.

A 15-year-old Christchurch schoolboy drowned when his family misread a sign, assuming that because it showed a person swimming it meant the river was safe.

Denise Clarke is overwhelmed that the fight to have the body of her partner returned is over after it was taken by his family to be buried with his ancestors.

The family of a man, who was buried in a place against his partner's wishes has lost a five-year legal battle to have his body buried with his ancestors, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The murder trial for two Sri Lankans accused of killing a fellow countryman has been set down for next June.

A proposal for a major new sports hub at Canterbury Agricultural Park, Wigram, is being looked at by the city council to help sports badly hit by the earthquakes.

A coroner has recommended that the Government review its safety messages around gas appliances in caravans.

A petition signed by more than 11,000 Canterbury teachers calling for the Government's plans for the future of education in Christchurch to be stopped has been delivered.

Families of Canterbury Television building collapse victims have welcomed the findings of a royal commission into the building's collapse.

All non-residential buildings and high-rise, multi-unit apartments in NZ will be assessed for earthquake risk and the results made public under new proposals.

There's been a surprisingly big jump in building activity, with the biggest quarterly gain in the past ten years, driven by construction work in Canterbury and the upper North Island.

A four wheel drive enthusiast has described stumbling across the charred human remains of North Canterbury resident Shane Malcolm Bell in a burnt out car.

It could be several days before police determine whether the gruesome death of a car salesman was the result of foul play, an accident or self-inflicted.

Police are investigating a suspicious death after a body was found inside a burnt out car in North Canterbury yesterday.

Colin Hogg finds a southern town steeped in heritage.