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.

For two years we have seen images of Christchurch, a broken city. Ewan McDonald visits a community picking up the pieces.

Major breweries are battling for market share as the taste for "quality" beer takes hold in supermarkets and pubs. Geoff Cumming follows the consumer-led revolution.

Christchurch's iconic Trotting Cup Day will be the biggest since the earthquakes began, organisers say.

New online job ad listings were down last month, according to a major New Zealand employment website.

Christchurch mayor Bob Parker doesn't pull any punches in a personal account of the earthquakes that rocked his city.

A search and rescue expert used Oklahoma City bombing terrorist attack rescue techniques to take control of the CTV Building collapse site, an inquest heard today.

A top doctor is urging pregnant women not to panic about high nitrate levels in Mid Canterbury water - despite earlier spotlighting the potentially fatal health risks.

A Fire Service has disagreed strongly with some earlier witnesses at the CTV inquest that there was confusion over leadership on February 22 last year.

The continuing obstinacy of courts, police and government is thankfully no match for the determination of Joe Karam, writes Sir Bob Jones.

A man has been arrested for an alleged assault which left another man with serious head injuries in the South Canterbury town of Temuka.

Search and rescue units were told to stop scouring the collapsed CTV Building's rubble for survivors within 24 hours of it coming down.