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.

Increased alcohol consumption and higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety have been linked to residents living in some areas of quake-hit Christchurch.

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.

What are the benefits, if any? And is it inevitable? Two views from opposite sides of the argument from Agram chief executive Graeme Peters and university researcher Professor Jack Heinemann.

Christchurch's Student Volunteer Army - created to respond to the city's devastating earthquakes - is this evening being presented the RSA's prestigious Anzac of the Year award, the first time the honour has been given to non-military personnel.

Flat Man creeps around the shadows of the Canterbury University campus and halls to come to the aid of students in need.