Documenting Innocence
Director Peter Jackson believes former Death Row inmate Damien Echols would be dead now if not for 1996 documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, that cast doubt on the man’s guilt…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Maiden Into Milford
“My first sighting of New Zealand is from the balcony of my cabin as Sun Princess sidles up to the rugged cliffs of Fiordland,” The Australian’s Helen McKenzie describes from aboard the ship for her maiden…
Good For American Cinemas
Dunedin director Mike Wallis’ budget western Good for Nothing will become the first self-funded New Zealand film to be released in United States cinemas from next month. Wallis used the landscapes of Central Otago…
Mega Auckland Police Sting
New Zealand police arrested four of seven file-sharing firm Megaupload executives, including founder Kim Dotcom, 37, in an early morning sting at his $30 million rented mansion in Coatesville, 30km north of Auckland. The…
Fully-Booked And Beautiful
“Why if the is so fully-booked, expensive, and logistically unfriendly, would so many people choose to trek it?” asks Gadling blogger Kyle Ellison. “Because, to put it simply, it might actually be…
Pale Ale Goes Digital
When you purchase a bottle of New Zealand’s Yeastie Boys Digital IPA you can scan in a code from the bottle onto your smartphone, and it will immediately send you to a website where…
National Treasure On Tour
“Beloved at home but never exactly part of the mainstream, McGlashan has maintained a level of consistency over both group and solo releases, which has earned him great respect within his peer group…
These Cats Kick A**
New Zealand heavy metal band Legacy of Disorder are an “exception” to the “formulaic” and “pointless growls” of the last decade or so according to the Examiner’s David Garlow. “This band has parts Pantera,…
Big Investments In Little Bank
Kiwibank’s announcement it will purchase Gareth Morgan Investments for an undisclosed sum is expected to bring high-net-worth investors to the New Zealand government-owned bank and improve its margins. Kiwibank Group, with around $14 billion…
Scouted And Signed
Seventeen-year-old first baseman Pita Rona is the first New Zealander to sign with an American Major League Baseball team. Auckland-born Rona has signed a seven-year deal with the Baltimore Orioles. Rona, who has played…
Investing Big In Hotspots
New Zealand-born Renaissance Group founder Stephen Jennings is betting big on Africa becoming the next global investment hotspot. Having fought through a number of corporate close shaves to amass a fortune worth an estimated…
Sticks And Stones
On tour in “the luscious land of New Zealand,” British comedian Ed Byrne writes his weekly column for Metro. “They’re a bit fed-up at the moment over here: earthquake-ravaged Christchurch continues to be a drain…
Wooly Olympic Potential
New Zealand Federated Farmers says sheep shearing has the potential to become an Olympic demonstration sport. The “time has come to elevate shearing’s sporting status to the ultimate world stage,” the organisation said. New…
With A Cryptic Brusqueness
New Zealand actor Sam Neill, 64, stars in Lost creator J. J. Abrams’ drama series Alcatraz, which premiered on American channel Fox this month. “The premise: The orderly closing of the prison on Alcatraz in 1963 was…
Hi There To The United States
Fashion designer Karen Walker’s Hi There clothing range will sell in up to 164 Anthropologie stores in the United States from February. Landing in stores for the American summer, the deal has a retail value…
Twin Imaginings
As well as remembering things differently, siblings often fight over ownership of the same memory writes the Guardian’s Charles Fernyhough in an article about shared memories and the problems they cause. “A study by Mercedes Sheen…
Latham Takes Gold
Te Awamutu-born Peter Latham, 28, has won the men’s 4000m individual pursuit race at the UCI World Cup event in Beijing. Latham produced a time of 4:25.964 to beat Mitchell Mulhern (4:26.267) from Australia…
Small, Green And Phenomenal
“What’s small, green, comes from New Zealand and is incredibly popular with Britain’s brewers?” The Independent’s Will Hawkes asks. “No, not Kiwi fruits, although someone will surely make a beer with them sooner or later. The…
Lads On Film Make Festival
Duncan Sarkies’ film Two Little Boys, featuring Bret McKenzie and Australian actor Hamish Blake, will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, screening in the Generation section, in February. The film is described as an irreverent…
Innovation Nets Branson Time
Takapuna business FaceMe has won time with billionaire Sir Richard Branson after winning top entrepreneurial competition, BNZ Presents: The Virgin Business Challenge. FaceMe has developed a video conference system that is compatible with any…
Critic’s Choose McKenzie
Wellington-born comedian Bret McKenzie, 35, has trumped Elton John and Mary J. Blige to win the Critics’ Choice best song award for ‘Life’s a Happy Song’, which he penned for the recently-released The Muppets movie as…
Ribboned Rakaia From Space
An image of the braided Rakaia River has won an online vote through Facebook for best satellite image of 2011. The image was captured by American commercial satellite imaging firm DigitalGlobe. The river, shown…
International Cluster Deal
University of Waikato computer science doctoral student Paul Hunkin’s software has been picked up by Google and NASA. Hunkin created ClusterGL to connect multiple screens to form one huge image for the university’s display…
Spinning For Sixes
Dunedin-born Black Cap right-arm spinner, and “more than handy batsman,” Nathan McCullum, 31, has signed with the Sydney Sixers for the remainder of the Big Bash League as a replacement for West Indian import…
Hungry Lion Fascinates Toddler
A video of three-year-old Sofia Walker coming face to face with Wellington Zoo’s lion, Malik, has captivated international news media. The Daily Mail described her encounter: “Brave Sofia Walker refuses to back down and instead stares…
Inspiring A City’s Renaissance
Christchurch, “New Zealand’s bravest and most resilient communities … is re-emerging as one of most exciting cities,” according to Lonely Planet author Brett Atkinson. “If you’re heading to the South Island, definitely…
Ship Splits In The Rough
A Maritime New Zealand image of the stricken container ship Rena split in two features in the Seattle Post Intelligencer ‘News of the world in photos’ series. The Greek-owned ship ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off…
Blogging About Bollywood
New Zealand-based Vanessa Barnes, who comes from an un-named “small provincial town”, loves Indian film, so she writes about it on her blog ‘Shahrukh is Love’, which includes reviews of over 130 Bollywood…
Carterton’s Hot Air Balloon Tragedy
New Zealand is in mourning following a fiery hot air balloon crash in the Wairarapa that left eleven people dead. The tragedy occurred when the balloon came entangled in power lines, causing the basket…
Justice Reserved For
Justice is the name most often refused by New Zealand registrars in the past ten years, with 49 sets of parents prevented from doing so according to the department for internal affairs. Next on…
Friendliest Place On The Planet
New Zealand is the world’s friendliest place according to the results of HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey. “New Zealanders as a whole seem like happy people, and that translates into friendly, helpful and kind people,”…
Dreaming Of A Bach Life
New Zealanders and Australians could easily develop hospitality schools that would give Lausanne and Cornell a thumping reflects Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé after his “most wonderful eight-day holiday.” “ are good at hosting, selling, serving…
Region Of Potheads
“New Zealand and Australia have a proud history of co-operation, but now it seems the nations have achieved a more dubious honour: the world’s biggest pot-heads,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Amy Corderoy writes. “Together the countries…
Kawa Kawa Infused
Fine-dining Mokoia Restaurant at Rotorua’s award-winning Wai Ora Spa is reviewed by Australia’s favourite food blogger, Not Quite Nigella for Business Spectator. She begins with rewana, served with whipped garlic butter and a mango and…
Secret Poi Swinging In NY
New York fire poi dancers are flouting fire restrictions and meeting stealthily on top of city rooftops to attend secret classes, where students are careful to remove any traces of their activity afterward….
Electrifying In The Tropics
The Naked and Famous play Bangkok’s Moonstar Studio on 17 January and are “set to electrify Thai audiences with alternative pop and rock songs, including Young Blood and Punching in a Dream.” “The quintet…
Real Life Evil On Wheels
The other half of comedy duo Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement’s “delightfully bizarre taste in costumes carries on,” Huffington Post correspondent Jordan Zakarin writes, describing Clement’s latest get-up for his role as the evil Boris…
Kindness Donated By Strangers
Donors from across the globe have helped fund a New Zealand English teacher’s life-saving liver transplant, which was carried out at Pusan National University Hospital in Yangsan, South Korea. Mick Milne, 47, who has…
Sheffield Gets Real Coffee
New Zealander Jonathan Perry has recently opened a coffee shop, called Tamper Coffee, in Sheffield. At 16, Perry moved to South Yorkshire with dreams of a football career but after five years of…
Auckland’s Movie Coup
Filming begins in Auckland on Hollywood blockbuster, WWII political-thriller Emperor this month at Henderson’s Auckland Film Studios. Lost heartthrob Matthew Fox, 45, stars. Inspired by true events, Emperor is an epic story of love and understanding set amidst the uncertainties…
Thank You New Zealand
“Once again I am pleased to thank New Zealand. No country, outside of my native United States, has treated me better than New Zealand. New Zealand has added me to a list of many…
Rugby Rules In North Carolina
New Zealander Geoffrey Maw, who lives in North Carolina’s Elizabeth City, is starting a rugby club for high school-age players in Elizabeth City and Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties. Maw — a real estate agent…
Low On Brands, High On Beauty
For the first time, New Zealand is included in Monocle’s index of the top 30 soft power nations, coming in at number 17 and introduced as: “Low on brands, high on beauty and in between on…
Startup And Power On
New Zealand electricity provider Powershop, a startup company owned by Meridian Energy, the largest electricity generator and retailer in the country, is like eBay for electricity, according to CEO Ari Sargent. Powershop is built…
Excellent Website Banner
American Tom Peters, writer on business management practices and best-known for In Search of Excellence, is so enamoured with New Zealand, his website features a New Zealand-themed banner. The site announced: “Tom and his wife,…
Toward A Takeaway Solution
Head of purchasing at pioneer Wellington coffee roaster Cafe L’Affare Zeke Alley says New Zealand is “screaming out for a solution” to the ever-increasing problem of disposing of paper takeaway coffee cups. Cafe L’Affare’s…
Henry Receives Knighthood
Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks coach Graham Henry, 65, has been awarded a knighthood in New Zealand’s annual New Year Honours List. Henry, a former school teacher, who resigned the All Blacks coaching job…
Motorcycling’s Ultimate Race
New Zealand’s top motor sports rider Chris Birch, 31, who recently took second place at the 2011 Roof of Africa race, will ride in the 34th running of the Dakar Rally, which begins 1…
Orca vs Shark vs Dog
On Boxing Day at Blue Cliffs Beach near Tuatapere, residents witnessed a group of orca whales attacking a shoal of sharks. One shark desperate to escape from the enormous beasts even beached itself on…
Spencer Drives The Thing
The glamorous 48.5m super yacht T6, custom built for New Zealand paper magnate John Spencer, creates a fuss wherever it goes, whether Monaco, the Caribbean or the hazardous North-West Passage in the Arctic. On…
Underworld Holistics
Rotorua’s Tikitere looks so much like a trip to the underworld that when Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw set his eyes on the area he immediately dubbed it “Hellsgate”. “It is said that Shaw,…
Feel And Scale Of Earlier Times
“ downtown is dominated by 21st century high-rises, but neighbourhoods like Ponsonby retain the feel and scale of earlier times,” Allan Seiden writes for the Hawaii Reporter, “with galleries and boutiques to browse and eateries…
Tracing A Seabird Legacy
Dunedin-born author and photographer Neville Peat’s latest book Seabird Genius: The Story of L.E. Richdale, the Royal Albatross, and the Yellow-eyed Penguin, is included in the Guardian’s Christmas ‘Birdbooker Report’. “ the first biography…
Taste For The Finer Things
The intestinal transplant New Zealander Matisse Reid, 11, received a year ago at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh came with an unexpected surprise. The fifth-grader (Year 6) developed a sophisticated palate: a taste for…
Mining Australian Opportunities
A record number of New Zealanders has crossed the Tasman lured by high salaries in mining and agriculture, breaking the 50,000 barrier for the first time, with 50,115 people making the trip to Australia…
Time Is Really Money
Kapiti-born screenwriter, producer, and director Andrew Niccol’s latest blockbuster In Time, “a fiendishly clever sci-fi concept,” starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, is reviewed in the Cyprus Mail. “The setting’s the thing, a world where time…
