Christchurch has been stripped of its seven Rugby World Cup matches due to damage at AMI Stadium following last month’s earthquake, Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully has announced with "great regret".

Smoke is billowing from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese media report, after the Government assured a fire that broke out at one of the plant's reactors earlier today was under control.

The latest fire to break out at a quake-hit Japanese nuclear power plant is under control, with the government saying the "fire and smoke is now invisible and it appears to have gone out of its own accord," following a report from the plant

An announcement on whether Rugby World Cup games can be held in Christchurch is expected at

A group of workers - dubbed the Fukushima 50 - are working around the clock at the crippled nuclear complex to save Japan from a national..

Christchurch's AMI stadium could be capable of hosting Rugby World Cup matches, Prime Minister John Key said today as the Government studied reports on damage caused by the February 22 earthquake.

A secret report into the state of Christchurch's AMI Stadium reportedly reveals it won't be able to host RWC games, a British news website says.

The Japan quake was 8000 times stronger than Christchurch's and unzipped a faultline half the size of the North Island, a NZ scientist says.