新西兰英语 333 Some earthquake facts

Here are some facts about the earthquake which struck the Canterbury region on Saturday. It measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. At first we were told it was 7.4. That would mean nearly three times stronger. Each 0.2 means double the strength. On avera

新西兰英语 354 Making The Hobbit movie

For the last month we have heard news of problems between the actors union and the people who are making the movie of The Hobbit. The book, written by Tolkien, came before The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sir Peter Jackson made those three movies and i

新西兰英语 334 Earthquake after-shocks

This mornings after-shock was an unpleasant surprise for Christchurch people. They thought the after-shocks were starting to decrease in size and frequency. Instead, just before 8am, there was a 5.1 shake. It was very near the city Heathcote Valley a

新西兰英语 415 Some earthquake facts

The Feb 22nd earthquake in Christchurch was 6.3 on the Richter scale yet it did much more damage than the 7.1 earthquake on Sept 4th 2010. There are several reasons for this but the main ones are the depth of the epi-centre and the distance from the

新西兰英语 417 Christchurch Loses Rugby World Cup

Christchurch learnt today that the rugby games as part of the World Cup will be moved to other cities. This is because of damage to the stadium. There is damage to the field and damage to the stands where people sit. Another problem is the lack of ac

新西兰英语 416 Memorial Service

Today, a memorial service was held for students and teachers from an English Language school who died following the earthquake on Feb 22nd. Their school was on the fifth floor of the CTV building which collapsed, killing 71 students and 9 teachers. 2

新西兰英语 418 Prince William arrives

Prince William arrived in Christchurch this morning. He has come here to attend the memorial service tomorrow and to visit the families of the Pike River miners in Greymouth. This is a 5-day visit to parts of New Zealand and Australia where there hav

新西兰英语 284 The Budget

Listen first to yesterdays podcast, What is the Budget? There were only a few surprises in todays Budget. One was about tax cuts. All workers, the rich and the poor, will pay less income tax. People earning less than $14,000 a year will pay 10.5% inc

新西兰英语 332 After the earthquake

After Saturdays earthquake in the Christchurch area, the main focus was at first on the central city area. There has been a huge amount of damage to older buildings. Many of these were beautiful 100-year old buildings which made the central city attr

新西兰英语 363 More Neuro-surgeons for SI

Otago University Neuro-surgery department will not close and Christchurch hospital which has four neurosurgeons will get one more. This news was announced yesterday. Neuro-surgery is brain surgery. Earlier this year, the government said it was too ex

新西兰英语 355 Agreement on “The Hobbit” movies

The problem over The Hobbit movies has been settled. Listen to Oct 22 2010 for some background to the problem. Last week, the actors union said that the real reason Warner Bros was coming to New Zealand was to try to get a tax reduction from our gove

新西兰英语 353 More Earthquake after-shocks

Yesterday, Christchurch experienced one of the strongest after-shocks, more than six weeks after the major earthquake of Sept 4th. Listen to Sept 4th 2010 and news stories the following two weeks. Although this after-shock was only 5.0 on the Richter

新西兰英语 419 Christchurch Memorial Service

Today, Christchurch held a memorial service to remember those who died following the earthquake on February 22nd. It was a public holiday for Canterbury so that many people could attend. The service was held outdoors in Hagley Park at midday and thou

新西兰英语 335 Economic Impact of the Earthquake

86 staff from the Kaiapoi supermarket have lost their jobs because the building is so badly damaged it will be demolished. Kaiapoi was badly hit by the earthquake. About 200 homes there have been badly damaged. Building inspectors will check 300 home

新西兰英语 298 IWC – International Whaling Commission

The IWC is meeting this week in Morocco to discuss whether some countries can be allowed to kill whales. New Zealand is especially interested in whaling in the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica. Japan has a quota of 935 Antarctic Minke whales each year

新西兰英语 414 Help for Japan

Japans Urban Search and Rescue (Usar) team left Christchurch today to help in the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. They have been working long hours for the last two and a half weeks and are tired. They planned to leave tomorrow but when the

新西兰英语 210 Fiji expels New Zealand diplomat

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Fiji expelled the top diplomats of Australia and New Zealand and told them to leave in 24 hours. Then New Zealand told the Fijian diplomat in Wellington that he had to leave and go home. Fiji has expelled four New Ze

新西兰英语 172 Folic Acid in Bread

On September 18th, all New Zealand bread was going to have folic acid added to it. However, now the government has decided to wait three years. New Zealand and Australia have an agreement about food standards. Australia is going to add folic acid to

新西兰英语 186 Vietnam New Zealand Co-operation

On Thursday, the Party General Secretary of Vietnam, Nong Duc Manh, visited New Zealand to have talks with our Prime Minister. Mr Manh thanked New Zealand for the support that our country has given, especially in education and training. New Zealand h

新西兰英语 187 Capital Gains Tax

The Labour Party, at their annual conference last weekend, said that they will discuss a capital gains tax. Many countries have a capital gains tax so if you buy a house then sell it at a profit, you pay tax on the profit. Some people buy houses as a