WELLINGTON -- The volume of building activity in New Zealand rose 2 percent in the June 2021 quarter, compared with the March 2021 quarter, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Monday.

"The June quarter showed high levels of building activity volume, and follows a 4.1-percent increase in the March quarter," construction statistics manager Michael Heslop said in a statement.

Residential building activity drove the increase, rising 4.2 percent in the June 2021 quarter, while non-residential building activity fell 1.5 percent, Heslop said. (New Zealand-Building Activity)

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LOS ANGELES -- Disney and Marvel Studios' superhero film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" led ticket sales at the North American box office with an estimated 71.4 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.

The theater-only release's three-day box office figure is the second best since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, only behind another Marvel Studios' film "Black Widow" which opened simultaneously in theaters and on Disney Plus in July with an 80.3-million-dollar debut.

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is the 25th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel's first film with an Asian lead and cast. (US-Disney Films-Box Office)

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INTERLAKEN, Switzerland -- The 111-year-old family-owned Swiss biscuit company Kambly, which has epitomized the local tradition of fine baked goods for four generations, has weathered the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to their customers wanting to enjoy the "good things in life" and to steady demand on the Chinese market.

"Business is going fine because we are a food company," Dania and Nils Kambly told Xinhua on the sidelines of the Swiss Economic Forum (SEF), one of the country's leading annual business events that took place in the Swiss tourist town of Interlaken this week.

"We produce biscuits, and you need to eat and you need to enjoy as well. From that point of view, it's fine for our business," Dania Kambly said. "But many things have changed, socially, especially for our team, and some markets didn't order any products. But still, the market on the whole has grown." (Switzerland-Biscuit Business) Enditem

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