New Zealand universities have spent more than $250,000 dishing out honorary degrees to celebrities and visiting dignitaries, a Herald investigation into the eight institutions has found.

Festive lights, Christmas trees, a jolly Santa waving you in and carols can be the magic formula for retailers trying to lure shoppers in and seal a deal.

The highly-acclaimed Student Volunteer Army which mobilised in the immediate aftermath of the Canterbury earthquakes is moving into a new phase of community service projects, its new president says.

Mandatory emissions standards for new vehicles and an electrical "smart grid" are among a raft of ways New Zealand could tap into a global green economy.

Police have arrested 37 people in Christchurch today during an annual end of year "Tea Party'' drinking event for university students.

The Maori King and the Prime Minister drew the battle lines, with the former saying "Maori'' and the latter saying "No One''. Today, two legal academics explore the deep currents that lie beneath each claim.

About half of the businesses which left the Christchurch CBD after the Canterbury earthquakes are not likely to return, research has found.

A worldwide treaty banning aerosols 25 years ago averted a global catastrophe, New Zealand ozone layer scientists said today.