To mark the Herald relaunch we're taking an in-depth, week-long look at what it means to be Kiwi. Today - why we choose NZ over anywhere else on the globe.

Clear cut results are thin on the ground but Prime Minister John Key said today he was happy with this year's Apec economic meeting in Vladivostok, Russia.

Boozy fun in Laos comes laced with danger, writes Belinda Merhab.

Getting a tattoo in Japan means forever entering the world of other people with tattoos and staying within it.

The steady life in sales and prices started in the central Auckland suburbs over a year ago and has now spread across the new supercity. But as Bruce Morris reports, it's still tough going out in the provinces.

Kristin Edge unwinds in style at the Chintamani Bali Retreat and Spa.

New Zealand photographer Amos Chapple visited the remote, near-vertical Iranian-Kurdish village of Palangan last winter. The images he captured paint a picture of life in this remote region, which is one of the main routes for smugglers seeking to bring alcohol across the mountain passes from Iraq into Iran.

A trip to Bali is also a social lesson for the whole family, finds Donna McIntyre.