News of New Zealanders via Global Media

From Scotland with Love Narrates a Country’s Heritage

From Scotland with Love Narrates a Country’s Heritage

Compiled from hundreds of hours of archive material, director Virginia Heath’s From Scotland With Love narrates Scottish history and heritage through the lives of everyday people, to a soundtrack by native Kenny Anderson…

Hot Pools Home to Useful Bacteria

Hot Pools Home to Useful Bacteria

Researchers from the University of Waikato and GNS Science will search the country’s picturesque hot springs for the next big breakthroughs in science over two-years in what is called the 1000 Springs…

Couple’s Literary Steampunk Adventure Continues

Couple’s Literary Steampunk Adventure Continues

New Zealand’s first podcast novelist Pip Ballantine, co-author of the steampunk Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, talks to the USA Today about her and husband Tee Morris’ most recent addition to the anthology, Dawn’s…

Glass Sculptures Capture Raw Power of the Sea

Glass Sculptures Capture Raw Power of the Sea

Self-taught artist New Zealander Ben Young, 31, a boatbuilder by trade and avid surfer, has made a name for himself creating intricate glass sculptures that uncannily resemble moving water. Young crafts his sculptures – all…

Architecture Full of Romantics – Mark Wigley, Retiring Columbia Dean

Architecture Full of Romantics – Mark Wigley, Retiring Columbia Dean

New Zealand-born Mark Wigley has stepped down after 10 years as dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. Under his leadership, the school has built on its…

Kiwi Punter Makes Global News with Germany – Brazil Prediction

Kiwi Punter Makes Global News with Germany – Brazil Prediction

A New Zealander who bet $2 on the exact score between FIFA World Cup Semi-finalists Brazil and Germany has made global headlines. The semi-final, which ended 7-1 to Germany and has been called “Brazil’s worst…

Effortless New Zealand Electro Making Waves

Effortless New Zealand Electro Making Waves

Electro-pop duo Broods, comprised of brother and sister Georgia and Caleb Nott, have helped draw the eyes of the music industry to a country that had only rarely troubled the international charts, Laura Barnett…

I Love Ugly to Open Store in LA

I Love Ugly to Open Store in LA

Founders of menswear label I Love Ugly have reluctantly stepped into the spotlight as they prepare to go global. The New Zealand entrepreneurs are about to open their first international store in LA on…

Auckland’s Greatest Ruin Comes to Life

Auckland’s Greatest Ruin Comes to Life

“Creative enterprises and unique collaborations are flourishing in Auckland thanks to the dramatic renovation of a collection of 1960s city council workshops,” Monocle reports. “Until two years ago, the City Works Depot was a near-derelict…

Lorde Reminds Us of the Intensity of Being a Teen

Lorde Reminds Us of the Intensity of Being a Teen

Grammy winner 17-year-old Lorde, who has urged people to believe that teenagers are wiser than adults think, has made the Telegraph’s Radhika Sanghani pine for the passion of her younger self. “Defender of teens

NZ Security Expert – ISIS Positioned to Develop Chemical Weapons

NZ Security Expert – ISIS Positioned to Develop Chemical Weapons

In the course of its Blitzkrieg in northern Iraq, ISIS captured the Al Muthanna complex, which contains remnants of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons stock, buried in underground concrete bunkers and left undestroyed by American…

Flat White Emblematic of Berlin’s Coffee Evolution

Flat White Emblematic of Berlin’s Coffee Evolution

The flat white has transformed cafés in Germany’s capital Berlin, with the city’s “dreary drip brew and morbid Milchkaffee” fast becoming a thing of the past. New Zealander Shannon Campbell – owner of café

New York via Te Papa for Flax Art

New York via Te Papa for Flax Art

Fifty woven panels by 40 Maori artists are to hang permanently next to the entry of the General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters in New York. The tukutuku panels, a revered art form in…

Kiwi’s Photo of Star System Shortlisted for International Award

Kiwi’s Photo of Star System Shortlisted for International Award

A stunning image entitled “The Turbulent Heart of the Scorpion” by New Zealand photographer Rolf Wahl Olsen has been shortlisted in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The photograph is of the multiple star…

Berlin Keeps Acclaimed Author Under Its Spell

Berlin Keeps Acclaimed Author Under Its Spell

New Zealander Sarah Quigley initially came to Germany on a one-year writing scholarship in 2000. Quigley, the author of acclaimed novel The Conductor, arrived with no German and little knowledge of Germany, but was…

Century-Old Photographs of Tennis Star Auctioned

Century-Old Photographs of Tennis Star Auctioned

Rare photographs of New Zealand’s greatest tennis player, four-time Wimbledon champion Anthony Wilding, have emerged for the first time in more than a century, selling for an undisclosed sum to a New Zealand buyer…

Ideal Training Ground for Commonwealth Games

Ideal Training Ground for Commonwealth Games

Rising Christchurch track star Angie Smit, 22, has found a second home in Braunton, North Devon where she is training for this month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In just under four weeks Smit will…

Paralympian Athlete Motivates Essex School Kids

Paralympian Athlete Motivates Essex School Kids

New Zealander Tim Prendergast, a Paralympic gold medalist, had Essex schoolchildren entranced with his motivational speech during Clacton Coastal Academy’s first-ever sports awards evening. Prendergast, who began losing his sight at the age of eight,…

Rare Birds and Rarified Golfers Share Scenic Clifftops

Rare Birds and Rarified Golfers Share Scenic Clifftops

“The world-renowned golf course at Cape Kidnappers is ranked as the 27th-best in the world by Golf Magazine, and for good reason is a bucket-list destination for international duffers,” Janie Robinson reports in the…

Buffet of Landscapes Perfect Backdrop for Escape

Buffet of Landscapes Perfect Backdrop for Escape

New Zealand’s “veritable buffet of landscapes … each one painted with a unique palate of colour” provided the perfect setting for Huffington Post travel writer Charli Moore’s “freedom escape”. “Having just completed an epic 18-month…

Margot Henderson Remembers Childhood’s Odd Foods

Margot Henderson Remembers Childhood’s Odd Foods

“Margot Henderson is a lauded chef, cookery writer and the co-owner of Rochelle Canteen. First establishing herself at the French House in Soho, she is one of the pioneers of the seasonal…

Meet the New Zealander Who Wants to Colonise Mars

Meet the New Zealander Who Wants to Colonise Mars

Wellington-based scientist Hari Mogosanu is unperturbed by crude pop-culture imaginings of Mars, like the 1990 sci-fi classic Total Recall, writes Danielle Street for Vice. Three years ago, the she formed the New Zealand chapter of…

Will Strang’s Efforts Prevail in 21st Century?

Will Strang’s Efforts Prevail in 21st Century?

The man attributed to inventing instant coffee, New Zealander David Strang, is mentioned in a Smithsonian magazine article on the history of the beverage and about the expansion of the instant coffee market into…

App Turns Colouring Books into 3D Art

App Turns Colouring Books into 3D Art

A kiwi invention is taking the beloved pastime of colouring-in to a whole new, high-tech level, allowing kids’ colouring creations to come to life. New Zealand company Puteko’s colAR Mix app allows users to print,…

Virgin Media Chief Takes on Murdoch in Broadband Duel

Virgin Media Chief Takes on Murdoch in Broadband Duel

News Corporation trouble-shooter, Tom Mockridge, who jumped ship last year to take charge of Liberty Global’s most expensive acquisition, the $23b purchase of Britain’s cable champion Virgin Media, is now taking on his old…

Kiwi Doctor to Perform Double Arm Transplant

Kiwi Doctor to Perform Double Arm Transplant

New Zealand Doctor Simon Talbot will lead a surgical team to give a quadruple amputee both his arms back. Will Lautzenheiser, filmmaker and former BU professor, lost all four of his limbs three…

Artist Transforms iPhone Into Modern Soldier Tribute

Artist Transforms iPhone Into Modern Soldier Tribute

A leading New York based New Zealand photographer Henry Hargreaves, has created a new art series featuring Vietnam War style messages on mobile phones. In his new series “War Phones”, Hargreaves worked with a prop stylist…

Asians Flocking to New Zealand for a Better Life

Asians Flocking to New Zealand for a Better Life

New Zealand’s vibrant economy and tranquil lifestyle are attracting more migrants from Asia and elsewhere, with 40,000 newcomers expected to settle in the country this year. When Elzerie Alcaide (pictured), 33,  moved to Wellington from…

Boeing Delivers First 787-9 Dreamliner to Air New Zealand

Boeing Delivers First 787-9 Dreamliner to Air New Zealand

New Zealand will be home to the first Boeing 787-9 plane after Air New Zealand officially acquired the first of the 10 new models yesterday. “Boeing is proud to have contractually delivered the first 787-9…

Richard Branson Hosts New Zealand Scientist on Private Island

Richard Branson Hosts New Zealand Scientist on Private Island

A New Zealand scientist has spent a week with Richard Branson on his private Caribbean island playing chess, eating sushi and discussing technology and sustainability. Auckland University lecturer Dr Michelle Dickinson was one of eight…

Banking Chief Works on His Communication Skills

Banking Chief Works on His Communication Skills

ANZ Australia chief executive, New Zealander Phil Chronican, is a numbers man who freely admits the “soft skills” have been his biggest challenge. Chronican has had a stellar career in finance, starting out in Treasury…

Day-Night Test Likely Next Year

Day-Night Test Likely Next Year

Negotiations are moving closer to make the first ever day-night test cricket match between Australia and New Zealand official. Adelaide and Hobart are battling for the honour of staging the first ever Test cricket day-night…

Gibbs Adds Two-Seater To High-Speed Amphibian Range

Gibbs Adds Two-Seater To High-Speed Amphibian Range

Gibbs Sports Amphibians, founded by New Zealand entrepreneur Alan Gibbs, has added a new high-speed model to the company’s impressive range of amphibious vehicles. The Gibbs Quadski XL model will be added to the lineup…

Distinguished Service Award for Ref Bob Francis

Distinguished Service Award for Ref Bob Francis

New Zealander Bob Francis has been presented with the International Rugby Board (IRB) Referee Award for Distinguished Service. During a memorable career that began in 1961, the former Masterton mayor, made an exceptional contribution at…

Mt Isa Potter Hopes for Renewed Interest in the Art

Mt Isa Potter Hopes for Renewed Interest in the Art

New Zealand-born potter Anne Dank, who has been a member of Queensland’s Mount Isa Potters Group for over forty years, is hoping to reinvigorate the club with new branding, bringing back the glory days…

Thai Street-Food Heaven in London

Thai Street-Food Heaven in London

Owner of London restaurant The Begging Bowl, New Zealand chef Jane Alty has it “sussed” according to Independent reviewer Lisa Markwell. “We’ve got in just under the wire, as lunch is served till…

Daughter’s Homage to Father Makes US Premiere

Daughter’s Homage to Father Makes US Premiere

Filmmaker Alyx Duncan’s conservationist father is the inspiration for her latest work, a short film mixing puppetry with live action called, The Tide Keeper. The film makes its premiere at the 2014 Palm Springs…

Sculptor’s Disused Detroit Factory Background for Big

Sculptor’s Disused Detroit Factory Background for Big

The new owner of Detroit’s “hulking old” gallery 333 Midland, transplanted New Zealander Rob Onnes, bought the space last year for his studio and this month, “Big Paintings @ the Factory” opens…

Zombie Survival Game DayZ Set to Hit Consoles

Zombie Survival Game DayZ Set to Hit Consoles

Popular zombie survival horror game DayZ, designed by New Zealander Dean Hall, may be coming to Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 by the end of 2014. DayZ, which sells between 3000 to 4000…

Melbourne Singer Organises Her Artistic Impulses

Melbourne Singer Organises Her Artistic Impulses

“If you believe in the nurturing influence of parents upon their children, then Jess Cornelius is a worthy example,” says the Sydney Morning Herald’s Craig Mathieson. “The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter, who performs with Teeth…

Bright Chelsea Square Home NZ-Inspired

Bright Chelsea Square Home NZ-Inspired

Free, easy, glamorous and family-orientated is how interior designer and architect Alison Henry sums up her style, and because she is originally from New Zealand, she says she always opts for “open,…

Jackson to Be Honoured with Walk of Fame Star

Jackson to Be Honoured with Walk of Fame Star

Sir Peter Jackson will be immortalised in brass as one of the movie world’s greats with the director set to get his name on a Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame star. “Being honoured with a…

Leaders Discuss Progress Report on Trans-Pacific Trade

Leaders Discuss Progress Report on Trans-Pacific Trade

At the White House meeting between Prime Minister John Key and President Barack Obama this week, the two leaders discussed a timeline to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade deal agreement by November when the…

Drysdale Powers to World Cup Gold

Drysdale Powers to World Cup Gold

Mahe Drysdale has won gold in the single sculls at the Rowing World Cup, one of New Zealand’s five gold medals at the regatta in France. Drysdale produced a storming finish in the single sculls…

Lydia Ko Pairs with Famed Caddy at Pinehurst

Lydia Ko Pairs with Famed Caddy at Pinehurst

Professional golfer Lydia Ko, 17, ranked No 3 in the world, has been keeping good company of late, playing a nine-hole practice round at Pinehurst recently with sexagenarian caddie Mike Cowan, who worked for…

Hell Is Love Now Sleeve Catches Grouper’s Eye

Hell Is Love Now Sleeve Catches Grouper’s Eye

New Zealand rockers Dead C are rated highly by Portland musician Grouper in his Inner Sleeve column for Wire magazine. “I bought this 7” because it was by Dead C, whose music I love; also, honestly,…

Literature and the Shopping Cart

Literature and the Shopping Cart

“In a brilliant essay in New Zealand’s Metro, the writer Eleanor Catton, winner of last year’s Man Booker prize for The Luminaries – a remarkable and groundbreaking novel – defines the incompatibility of art…

Gatland Made an OBE in Queen’s Birthday List

Gatland Made an OBE in Queen’s Birthday List

Wales rugby union coach Warren Gatland, who last year guided the British and Irish Lions to a 2-1 series victory in Australia and Wales to the Six Nations title, has been made an OBE…

Journalist Gives His Take on Japanese Cinema

Journalist Gives His Take on Japanese Cinema

Auckland-born Don Brown, journalist and fluent Japanese speaker, is writing a new bi-monthly column for the Asahi Shimbun on Japanese cinema. Brown studied journalism and Japanese at the Auckland University of Technology before moving to…

Princess Anne Unveils Archie McIndoe Statue

Princess Anne Unveils Archie McIndoe Statue

A bronze statue of plastic surgeon pioneer, New Zealander Sir Archibald McIndoe, has been unveiled by Princess Anne in East Grinstead, West Sussex, a short drive from Queen Victoria Hospital where he made his…

Dale Murray’s Secret-Sauce Idea for New-Thinking

Dale Murray’s Secret-Sauce Idea for New-Thinking

New Zealand-born entrepreneur Dale Murray found inspiration for her UK mobile phone top-up company, Omega Logic over drinks one night discussing the shortcomings of the IT industry with one of her co-founders. Murray quit a senior…

First Place with iPhone Travel Photograph

First Place with iPhone Travel Photograph

New Zealand travel, portrait and lifestyle photographer Adrienne Pitts has won 1st place in the travel category at the 2014 iPhone Photography Awards. “My iPhone is the camera that is always on me, and is…

Whittaker’s Chocolate Officially Enters Malaysian Market

Whittaker’s Chocolate Officially Enters Malaysian Market

Iconic Kiwi company, Whittaker’s Chocolate, is confident they will be the leader in Malaysia’s premium chocolate segment in two years. Whittaker’s, which has been sold in duty-free stores in Malaysia for the past 10 years,…

IT Expert Joins Growing Group of Female Tech Leaders

IT Expert Joins Growing Group of Female Tech Leaders

Dell Australia and New Zealand has appointed Angela Fox as the managing director, making her part of the growing list of female leaders of big technology companies in Australia, including Twitter’s Karen Stocks, Google’s Maile…

On Form Willis Sets New Zealand 3000m Best

On Form Willis Sets New Zealand 3000m Best

Kiwi middle distance star Nick Willis continued his outstanding build-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with his second personal best inside a week. Willis broke the New Zealand record for the 3000m, clocking 7:36.91 and…

Fyfe a Great Fit for Icebreaker

Fyfe a Great Fit for Icebreaker

Rob Fyfe, the man who engineered the turnaround of Air New Zealand after the airline’s Government bailout, is the ideal candidate to take over the reins at Kiwi global outdoor clothing retailer, Icebreaker, says…