News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Join the Dean Barker Fan Club in San Francisco

Join the Dean Barker Fan Club in San Francisco

Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker is earning devotees at the America’s Cup, says Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I joined the Dean Barker fan club this week,” Jenkins writes. “Whether or…

Plans for Labyrinth-inspired Puppet Musical

Plans for Labyrinth-inspired Puppet Musical

Flight of the Conchords star, Academy and Grammy Award-winner Bret McKenzie, 37, wants to bring back to life the eighties classic storytelling technique of real people and puppets singing and dancing side by side…

Team New Zealand Win Louis Vuitton Cup

Team New Zealand Win Louis Vuitton Cup

Emirates Team New Zealand has won the Louis Vuitton Cup for the second consecutive time, making Team New Zealand the official challenger to Oracle Team USA in the America’s Cup challenge this September. Team…

Lydia Ko Wins Canadian Women’s Open

Lydia Ko Wins Canadian Women’s Open

16-year-old Lydia Ko has made history at the CN Canadian Women’s Open, defending her Canadian Open title with a dominating win in Alberta and becoming the first amateur in history to win two LPGA…

All Blacks Retain Bledisloe Cup

All Blacks Retain Bledisloe Cup

The All Blacks have retained the Bledisloe Cup after 27-16 trouncing of the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship clash in Wellington on Saturday night. New Zealand winger Ben Smith followed up on last weekend’s hat-trick…

Dropping Soul-Dub in to Some Far-Flung Corners

Dropping Soul-Dub in to Some Far-Flung Corners

Wellington septet Fat Freddy’s Drop “are spreading their infectious grooves all over the world,” according to The Sydney Morning Herald’s Paris Pompor. In a shrinking, fibre-connected world, the band find themselves in ever more…

Prince George Gets His Own NZ Post Stamp

Prince George Gets His Own NZ Post Stamp

For the first time in its 170-year history, New Zealand Post is issuing a stamp to celebrate a Royal birth, that of Prince George of Cambridge. While Royal children have featured on several New…

New Zealand’s Friendly Airport

New Zealand’s Friendly Airport

Airports are often the least enjoyable part of travelling – while travellers want to enjoy every last moment of their holiday, there’s only so much an airport can offer. However according to Jaunted, Auckland…

Kiwi’s 3D-Printed Cast Could Revolutionalize Recovery

Kiwi’s 3D-Printed Cast Could Revolutionalize Recovery

A new prototype cast, researched and designed by Victoria University of Wellington graduate, has been making its way onto international design blogs, and has recently just won the New Zealand leg of the James…

Icebreaker President Reflects on Path to Portland

Icebreaker President Reflects on Path to Portland

President and co-founder of Icebreaker, the Wellington-based merino wool clothing brand, Jeremy Moon recently spoke at the inaugural meeting of Athletic and Outdoor Young Professionals about the company’s roundabout route to their US home…

Recreating Iconic Doors Mural in Venice Beach

Recreating Iconic Doors Mural in Venice Beach

New Zealand-born painter and sculptor Clinton Bopp, who lives in Santa Monica Canyon, has been working on reproducing the Venice Beach mural incorporating Jim Morrison and band members who made up The Doors. Folk musician…

Ten Pounds Gets You Lots of Funny in Edinburgh

Ten Pounds Gets You Lots of Funny in Edinburgh

One of New Zealand’s youngest professional comedians, award-winning Rhys Mathewson, 22, is making his Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut, with his show “The Best £10 You’ll Ever Spend”. The List asks Mathewson: “What do you think…

New Zealand Parliament Passes Controversial Spy Bill 61-59

New Zealand Parliament Passes Controversial Spy Bill 61-59

The New Zealand parliament has narrowly passed a controversial bill that opponents say represents a fundamental threat to democratic rights and freedoms. The new legislation allows the country’s main intelligence agency, the Government Communications…

Tauranga Dog Donates Blood to Save Cat’s Life

Tauranga Dog Donates Blood to Save Cat’s Life

A Tauranga cat has a dog to thank, after a local vet gave it a transfusion of canine blood in a gamble to save the feline’s life. Kim Edwards rushed her cat, Rory, to the…

Tributes Pour in After 26-year-old New Zealand Rider Dies in ‘Tragic Accident’

Tributes Pour in After 26-year-old New Zealand Rider Dies in ‘Tragic Accident’

New Zealander Tom Gadsby, a young horse rider, died after falling from his horse during an eventing competition in Cheshire, England on Sunday. Tom, a Kerikeri native, was riding on the cross-country course at…

Kauri Forests Charm Canadian Visitor

Kauri Forests Charm Canadian Visitor

Travelling through Northland on a ten-day tour of the country, National Post writer Maryam Siddiqi decides that ultimately, “the rugged west coast and its glittering green water” left the greatest impression on her. “As…

Dame Kiri Becomes Dame Melba on Downton

Dame Kiri Becomes Dame Melba on Downton

New Zealand-born opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, who has sung for presidents and princes, including in front of a 600-million audience at Prince Charles’s wedding to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, has revealed…

Who is This ‘Lorde’ Everyone’s Talking About?

Who is This ‘Lorde’ Everyone’s Talking About?

Lorde continues to make waves internationally ahead of the launch of her debut album, with US online magazine Vulture writing giving their readers a crash course in who the 16-year-old singer is and why…

Drive Your McLaren Supercar in Retro-Chic

Drive Your McLaren Supercar in Retro-Chic

From the world of Formula One and Can-Am racing, to road-going supercars like the 3-passenger F1 and current MP4-12C, New Zealand-founded McLaren has been amongst the world’s best for five decades, Nick Kurczewski writes…

Compelling Drama Fantasy Blend to Air in US

Compelling Drama Fantasy Blend to Air in US

New Zealand television series The Almighty Johnsons has been bought by American cable channel Syfy, marking the first time a wholly New Zealand-made television drama has aired in the United States. The NBCU cabler has…

Volcano off the Bay of Plenty Coast Erupts

Volcano off the Bay of Plenty Coast Erupts

White Island, a volcano off the coast of Bay of Plenty, erupted yesterday morning, sending a plume of steam two kilometres into the air. The eruption happened about 10:23am, lasted only a few minutes…

Sneaky Egg Swap Boosts Kokako Population

Sneaky Egg Swap Boosts Kokako Population

The Department of Conservation (DOC) are working hard to save the endangered North Island kokako, using sleight of hand to trick nesting mothers into incubating the eggs of kokako from other areas to help…

New Zealand Landscape Plays Active Role in Films

New Zealand Landscape Plays Active Role in Films

“If a country could be eligible for a best actor award, New Zealand could be in the running for every gong going,” writes Megan Lane. In the piece for BBC News Magazine, Lane explores…

Local Test Flight Gets the Go-Ahead

Local Test Flight Gets the Go-Ahead

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted a permit to the Martin Aircraft company, allowing it to test jetpacks with a pilot at the helm in two uninhabited areas of New Zealand. The company…

Grand-Am Victory for Formula 1 Test Driver

Grand-Am Victory for Formula 1 Test Driver

Twenty-three-year-old Palmerston North-born Brendon Hartley has won the 70-lap GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series at Road America in Wisconsin. Starworks Motorsport team owner Peter Baron said the kid can drive. And not just theoretically. “He’s…

All Blacks Crush Wallabies in Opening Test

All Blacks Crush Wallabies in Opening Test

The All Blacks were just too good for Australia, winning 47-29 in the opening 2013 Investec Rugby Championship Test in Sydney, ensuring a torrid debut for new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie, who took over from…

Smarter Together with Hill Holliday

Smarter Together with Hill Holliday

New Zealander Graham Ritchie, 48, has been named new strategy chief for American advertising agency Hill Holliday, overseeing a department of 38 strategic planners who work on brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Bank of…

New Zealand’s First Same-Sex Marriages Occur Across the Country

New Zealand’s First Same-Sex Marriages Occur Across the Country

Just hours after same-sex marriage laws came into force, New Zealand’s first gay marriages began taking place across the country. 31 couples plan on tying the knot today, but the number is likely to…

Abandoned Sola in the Outback

Abandoned Sola in the Outback

New Zealand-born soprano Katherine Wiles is starring as Donna Elvira in an outback tour of Mozart’s Don Giovanni by Oz Opera, Opera Australia’s touring arm. Wiles said she was excited at embarking on her…

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral Opens

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral Opens

Christchurch’s ‘cardboard’ cathedral has opened, a move that is seen as a significant step in the regeneration of the city following the February 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.  Dubbed the ‘Transitional Cathedral’, the…

Kiwis top the International Tree Climbing Championship

Kiwis top the International Tree Climbing Championship

Three New Zealanders have climbed their way to the top of the 2013 International Tree Climbing Championship in Toronto. Scott Forrest, Nick Ward-Allen and James Kilpatrick (pictured) each won top places at the championship,…

New Zealand Sailing Team Wins 2013 World Womens 470 Championship

New Zealand Sailing Team Wins 2013 World Womens 470 Championship

Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have won the 470 Women’s World Champions title in La Rochelle, France, exactly a year to the day after winning Gold at the 2012 Olympics. Though the pair have…

Governor-General to Strengthen NZ-Cambodia Ties.

Governor-General to Strengthen NZ-Cambodia Ties.

The New Zealand Governor-General, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, has made a short visit to Cambodia to promote bilateral relations between the two countries. Mateparae visited the country at the request of Cambodia’s King Norodom…

‘King of Timelapse’ Captures New Zealand Landscapes and Starscapes

‘King of Timelapse’ Captures New Zealand Landscapes and Starscapes

New Zealand photographer Joseph Michael, aka the King of timelapse photography, featured on the cover Photography Monthly and spoke to them about the three months he spent capturing New Zealand starscapes and landscapes for…

New Zealand Para-Swimmer Find Success at World Championship

New Zealand Para-Swimmer Find Success at World Championship

New Zealand representatives are performing strongly at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal. Mary Fisher today received her third gold of the competition in S11 Women’s 100m Freestyle final, achieving an Oceania…

Valerie Adams Wins Fourth Straight Word Championship Title

Valerie Adams Wins Fourth Straight Word Championship Title

New Zealand Olympic champion Valerie Adams won the women’s shot put title at the world championships at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, making her the first women in history to take home four consecutive titles. …

Adding Traction to the America’s Cup

Adding Traction to the America’s Cup

“After a storied career at sea, where Russell Coutts ranked among the most successful skippers in Cup history, the New Zealander now serves as chief executive for the Oracle racing team,” Los Angeles Times’…

Evidence of Genetic Basis to Sense of Smell

Evidence of Genetic Basis to Sense of Smell

After testing some 200 volunteers in Auckland, Richard Newcomb of the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research (PFR) and his colleagues have found the most convincing evidence yet of a…

Lorde, First Woman to Top Billboard Alt Chart in 17 Years

Lorde, First Woman to Top Billboard Alt Chart in 17 Years

New Zealand singer/songwriter, Lorde, has landed the top spot on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart with her hit single ‘Royals’. Not only is she the first solo woman to top the charts in her…

How Wilson Plans to Revive Aviva

How Wilson Plans to Revive Aviva

Although the Aviva name will remain, New Zealand-born Mark Wilson is turning the British multinational insurer into is a very different company from that which his predecessor envisaged, The Telegraph’s James Quinn writes. This…

Centenarian Joins Sydney Reunion of WW2 Veterans

Centenarian Joins Sydney Reunion of WW2 Veterans

New Zealand World War II veteran Frank Harlow, 100, joined fellow New Zealanders living in Australia at their first ever reunion at the Sydney Maori Anglican Fellowship Church of Te Wairua Tapu in Redfern,…

Why You Should Retire in New Zealand

Why You Should Retire in New Zealand

The benefits of retiring in New Zealand are extolled by Catey Hill of MarketWatch, as she explains why the country is a great place to retire for active baby boomers. The “dramatic natural landscape…

Ready for the Next Leg in Nevada

Ready for the Next Leg in Nevada

New Zealander Callum Millward has placed third at Ironman 70.3 Boulder and is now focused on the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Las Vegas, which takes place on 8 September. Millward talks to triathlon…

Catton’s Favourite First Line Unfolds Breathlessly

Catton’s Favourite First Line Unfolds Breathlessly

Man Booker nominee New Zealand author Eleanor Catton chooses her favourite first line for a Guardian catalogue, and it’s from another of our own, Janet Frame’s 1961 novel Faces in the Water. Faces in the…

Shifting into Another Gear Ahead of Baltimore

Shifting into Another Gear Ahead of Baltimore

New Zealander Scott Dixon, who has the most wins (31) in the 17-year history of the Indy Racing League and who is the only driver to finish in the top five of both runnings…

America Better Watch Out

America Better Watch Out

The “unflappable” Lorde, 16, “hypnotises” at her first concert in the United States introducing “her collection of immaculately drawn pop compositions with a confidence and demeanour well beyond her years”, Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz writes…

Waiheke Island’s World’s Oldest Dance Crew Performs at World Championship

Waiheke Island’s World’s Oldest Dance Crew Performs at World Championship

New Zealand hip-hop dance crew, Hip Op-eration, have arrived in Las Vegas and performed as part of the World Hip Hop Championship. The world’s oldest hip-hip dance crew, Hip-Operation members range between the ages…

Invaluable Volunteer Helps out in Arundel

Invaluable Volunteer Helps out in Arundel

New Zealander Andrew Wood, 26, who has been in the UK for the past 18 months, has been “the stalwart” of Arundel’s annual nine-day festival, “proving an invaluable volunteer”. Originally from Christchurch where…

It XXXXX XX Up at Sydney’s MCA

It XXXXX XX Up at Sydney’s MCA

Sydney’s latest public artwork created by Dunedin-born artist Mike Hewson, 28, is certainly hard to ignore, covering more than 2000 square metres and spelled out in 14 metre-high upper-case letters on the temporary scaffolding…

“Ferocious Gander” deters Norsewood Meter Reader

“Ferocious Gander” deters Norsewood Meter Reader

The small New Zealand town of Norsewood is better known for it’s wool wear and affinity for trolls. But the small town, whose populations barely scrapes above 300, is making international news for reports…

After 150 years Mummified Maori head to Return to New Zealand

After 150 years Mummified Maori head to Return to New Zealand

After 150 years Britain’s Warrington Museum is sending back the mummified head said to be that of a New Zealand Maori chief. The Maori head, or Toi moko, was brought to Britain in the…

Fighting for Recognition in a New Field

Fighting for Recognition in a New Field

New Zealand stuntwoman Zoë Bell’s film Raze is screening at the Imperial Theatre as part of the one of the most influential genre film festivals in the world, the Fantasia International Film…

From One South to Another

From One South to Another

Formerly of Gore, singer-songwriter Jackie Bristow, who has been based in the United States for the past eight years, recently performed two shows at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse and House of Blues in New…

Artful Combinations Cross Cultures

Artful Combinations Cross Cultures

New Zealand chef, London-based Peter Gordon, “the godfather of fusion cooking,” is the inspiration behind recipes recommended in an Irish Times article, which include a frittata topped with Greek yoghurt and sumac. “Gordon really…

On a Mission to Advantage the Disadvantaged

On a Mission to Advantage the Disadvantaged

New Zealand-born Audette Exel, 50, lives a double life, Bloomberg Market Magazine reports. In New York, London, Bermuda and Sydney, she’s a company director and the owner and head of Isis (Asia Pacific) Pty,…

Big Brownie Takes Rod and Wheel World Record

Big Brownie Takes Rod and Wheel World Record

Tauranga angler Otwin Kandolf, 71, has landed an all-tackle world record for the biggest brown trout taken on a rod and reel. Kandolf caught the massive 19kg brownie in March while fishing in Ohau…