News of New Zealanders via Global Media

“Over the Last Five Days They Basically Outplayed Us in Most Departments.”

“Over the Last Five Days They Basically Outplayed Us in Most Departments.”

Australian batsman Justin Langer: “New Zealand proved to themselves and the cricket world that they have the credentials and determination to compete with the best.” In the final test of the series the valiant Kiwi cricketers…

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter

Dr Peter Hunter, of the University of Auckland, has created a “virtual heart” – hailed by Economist magazine as a spectacular example of in silico biology, an emerging discipline that brings computing power to bear on…

Kiwi Success Not So Ethereal in Melbourne Cup

Kiwi Success Not So Ethereal in Melbourne Cup

Melbourne Cup winner Ethereal continues a proud tradition of winning New Zealand horses as well as opening a new chapter in Cup history. For the first time a female trainer, Shelia Laxon from Cambridge, is behind…

Shakespeare Goes Maori

Shakespeare Goes Maori

The Merchant of Venice is turned into the first Maori-language film of a Shakespeare play. “Shakespeare’s use of language is not dissimilar to the ancient poetic, lyrical and metaphorical Maori style,” explains Scott Morrison,…

Holy lamb of Godzone

Holy lamb of Godzone

Two of the culinary world’s US icons, Julia Childs & Emeril Lagasse, dined on the finest lamb in the world, courtesy of Newport Beach, California-based Noel “King of New Zealand gourmet food” Turner…

Marlborough: An Inauguration of the Senses

Marlborough: An Inauguration of the Senses

NBC editor-at-large pontificates on Marlborough: “what a place I found!  It was a delicious way to finish four days of active travel in the near-anonymous adventure axis of the Pacific. It seemed a place beyond…

Penning Style

Penning Style

New York-based Kiwi designer Sally Penn is making her mark on the international fashion scene with her range of innovative, urban designer clothing. At 31, Penn has come a long way from her small…

Wheels of steel

Wheels of steel

Aotearoa’s premier hip-hop DJ P-Money aka Pete Wadhams wins 3rd place in the DMC World Championships at London’s Apollo Theatre. “When he dropped his Dr Dre juggle played at 45 rpm tight!, from then…

Suburban Nirvana?

Suburban Nirvana?

After striving from Yamoussoukra to Tunis to turn trouble-spots to hot-spots aspirational living guide Wallpaper magazine strolls down the “1930s model of modern living” – Savage Crescent, Palmerston North. Named after the then Prime Minister,…

Internet Oscars

Internet Oscars

Wellington web firm Click Suite scoops the internet equivalent of an Oscar at the European Multimedia Awards. The company won the business training award for its ‘Find the Lady’ CD-Rom, designed to inspire…

Hemorrhaging Talent

Hemorrhaging Talent

A disturbing survey of New Zealand’s graduating medical students reveals four out of five plan to depart overseas within two years. The survey makes clear the importance of addressing issues like student loans and remuneration to…

Feast of epiphanies

Feast of epiphanies

The praise has not ceased for No.2, New Zealand playwright Toa Fraser’s play, currently touring the world. “The play has been a triumph wherever it has shown, jumping cultural barriers with its universal themes”,…

NZ Rugby Back at #1

NZ Rugby Back at #1

You might not know it from the reaction of local fans, but the All Blacks are No.1, at least according to French Centre Thomas Castaignede in the Guardian. “They have the perfect mix.” With England No.2 the Aussies…

Coal Ignites NZ Dinosaur Theory

Coal Ignites NZ Dinosaur Theory

Scientists think coal from the West Coast of New Zealand provides new evidence that an asteroid caused the extinction of dinosaurs.

Camera ‘on the Ball’

Camera ‘on the Ball’

Developers at Otago Polytech say they are close to producing a practical version of a video camera capable of being fitted inside a rugby ball. “We thought, wouldn’t it be good to see on the screen…

This is Your Life: Jonah Lomu

This is Your Life: Jonah Lomu

Jonah Lomu is lost for words when Michael Aspel accosts him at rugby training in England with the red “This is your Life” book, before taking him to the BBC studios. A long list of rugby…

Shining White Antarctic

Shining White Antarctic

The environmental state of Antarctica’s Ross Sea region is in pristine condition – “exceptionally so by global standards” – according to a new report from the New Zealand Antarctic Institute. However the reports also points out “significant…

Garden-shed Grenade Guru

Garden-shed Grenade Guru

The reputation of the garden-shed inventor is upheld thanks to New Zealand entrepreneur Bill Sharplin who, operating in a “rough as guts” garage, wins a bid to build and supply practice grenades to the New Zealand Army.

Finn’s food for the gods

Finn’s food for the gods

Tim Finn takes matters into his own hands with his sixth solo album, “Feeding the Gods. “I’m realising how much of a classicist I am,” he says. “For a long time experimentation with sound…

Paquin comes of age

Paquin comes of age

Anna Paquin has blossomed from child prodigy to multi-talented star. She is receiving rave reviews for her role in the Broadway play ‘The Glory of the Living’, directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. “This is…

NZ Hydro Pioneer Passes On

NZ Hydro Pioneer Passes On

“Each time a switch is thrown on a toaster, in a woolshed or in a steel mill, there is an odds-on chance that John Malcolmson will have had a hand in generating the necessary electricity.” Malcolmson, originally…

NZ’s Edge-provoking Entrepreneurial Spirit

NZ’s Edge-provoking Entrepreneurial Spirit

New Zealand has the second most dynamic entrepreneurial activity of 29 countries surveyed, according to a study conducted amongst others by the Kauffman Centre, IBM and the London Business School. New Zealand’s vibrant independent business culture composed of…

NZ Wine’s Quantum Leap

NZ Wine’s Quantum Leap

In the 21st century, on-the-edge New Zealand towers on the global wine map with what is acknowledged as some of the world’s best sauvignon blanc (pinot noir is on the way). Europeans sit stunned by the…

An Iron Wool

An Iron Wool

John Milner, a New Zealander noted for successfully opening the Eastern Bloc to the international wool trade, dies aged 84. During the cold war, a period when bureaucracy and suspicion were rife, Milner’s “exceptional charm and approachability”…

Tattoo Culture

Tattoo Culture

Renowned photographer Chris Rainier travels to New Zealand for his latest project on the culture of tattooing and scarification. Rainer features Maori tattoo art in his latest National Geographic spread.  

Apocraphylactic Realism

Apocraphylactic Realism

Another Aussie icon from Godzone: NZ-born Reg Mombassa is best known for the distinctive designs he creates for the Mambo surf-wear brand: bright, surreal visions of suburban life and beach culture. He is frequently…

More than Mansfield in Bloomsbury Group

More than Mansfield in Bloomsbury Group

Liz Calder, the NZedged head of Bloomsbury publishing (publishers of such literary luminaries as Michael Ondaatje, Will Self and John Irving), talks to The Guardian about the touted blockbuster battle, book and film drawn…

NZ Dominates Transatlantic Race

NZ Dominates Transatlantic Race

New Zealand continues its domination of long distance rowing with two outstanding results from the Ward Evans Atlantic Rowing Challenge. Matt Goodman and Steve Westlake arrive in Barbados after 42 days at sea. They were greeted by…

Lego Abandons Maori Names

Lego Abandons Maori Names

Danish toymaker Lego is to stop making a multi-million-dollar range of toys after protests from New Zealand Maori groups, claiming the company had appropriated their language and images for the toy range. “Future launches of Bionicle sets…

Jackson Wizard Director

Jackson Wizard Director

Kiwi film guru Peter Jackson is in Empire Magazine’s poll of the top 50 directors.

Land of the Safe White Cloud

Land of the Safe White Cloud

In a survey of travelers carried out by Condé Nast, New Zealand scores the highest for safety, with a reassuring 94.69. It is also voted the ninth most popular destination, beating out traditional favourites like Greece,…

South Sea’s Cruising

South Sea’s Cruising

“… Come aboard … we’re expecting you”. NZ makes the Top Ten Winter Cruise destination listing in November’s Condé Nast Traveller.

East side story

East side story

The famously diffuse art scene in LA seems to have finally found a centre, with galleries and artists increasingly coalescing around the east-side regions of Highland Park and Mount Washington. Much of the east-side’s…

Photography Master

Photography Master

American Photo Magazine lists New Zealander Regan Cameron as one of ten “photographic masters” throughout the world alongside such legends of the lens as Irving Penn and Annie Leibovitz. The October edition features Cameron’s…

Upside down-under architect

Upside down-under architect

Paris-based Brendan MacFarlane and partner Dominique Jakob talk concept with Interview magazine. “At Georges (the applauded restaurant atop the Pompidou Center), we deformed the floor”, says MacFarlane. “Here … [referring to the duo’s concept…

Jet-powered Beer Cooler

Jet-powered Beer Cooler

Washington Post columnist Dave Barry raves about Kiwi inventor Simon Jansen: “this guy, using science, has found a new, innovative and, above all, loud way to cool beer, by using a jet engine.”

Frucor’s “V” for Victory

Frucor’s “V” for Victory

The fast-growing Kiwi success story Frucor is showing no signs of slowing. Forbes declares it among the top 20 small companies in the world – “the cream of the crop”. This international exposure garners international interest with…

Adopted Lambs for Japan

Adopted Lambs for Japan

School children in Amagase, Japan have adopted lambs resident in Dunedin, Amagase’s sister city in New Zealand. The lambs have their own websites for the children to access and catch up on what’s happening with their…

“Gale From the Sea” Laid to Rest

“Gale From the Sea” Laid to Rest

More than 6ft tall, handsome and with the build of a rugby lock forward (which he was), John Platts-Mills blew into the English House of Commons as Labour MP in 1945 “like a gale…

NZ Leads “Twist and Sip”

NZ Leads “Twist and Sip”

Connoisseurs who once turned their noses up at screw-top wines rethink their opinions after early results from the Australian Wine Research Institute prove categorically that screwcapped wines suffer the least oxidation and are fresher and fruitier than…

Green Party Turns Red

Green Party Turns Red

The Green Party briefly turns red after the party swallows a report posing as part of a campaign to ban the substance Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO). Convinced it was genuine the party responds enthusiastically requesting more information to…

Kiwi Couture

Kiwi Couture

Kiwi fashion editor of the Daily Telegraph, Hilary Alexander, pushes the New Zealand Edge into euro fashion: ” may be half a world away from Europe and America, but its half a year ahead…

Greener Than You Think

Greener Than You Think

University of Canterbury’s Professor Denis Dutton (Arts and Letters Daily) reviews Bjorn Lomborg’s controversial new book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, in the Washington Post: Dutton concludes that the “richly informative, lucid book” containing “bad news for Green…

Deals Abound in New Zealand

Deals Abound in New Zealand

“Wow,” exclaims an article written by an American tourist holidaying in Auckland and the Bay of Islands. Americans are catching onto the favourable exchange rate and the relative equality of prices, making NZ “an adventure playground…

NZ Among Ten Most Competitive

NZ Among Ten Most Competitive

New Zealand ranks amongst the ten most competitive countries in the world, according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). New Zealand perches at #10 on the index, which the WEF argues is…

Maori 3G Deal Secured

Maori 3G Deal Secured

Pan-African cell phone operator, Econet Wireless, signs a deal with Maori to operate their license for running third generation mobile phones. The license was set aside last year by the New Zealand government for…

Stella food in New York

Stella food in New York

Stella, a dark, candlelit bistro garnering acclaim in New York, is owned by Anna Weinberg and Paul Masters, a husband-and-wife team from New Zealand. “It has a comforting niceness about it,” writes food critic…

Adding Inspiration to Education

Adding Inspiration to Education

Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of Saatchi&Saatchi, is appointed “CEO in Residence” at Cambridge University’s Judge Institute of Management Studies. “My role is to encourage and inspire young people to dream, to believe and to achieve – to…

Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap

The Computers in Homes initiative based in Wellington has received international recognition for helping bridge the digital divide. So far, over 300 computers have been distributed to those who would most benefit. The Stockholm…

Her Majesty

Her Majesty

A preteen girl’s obsessive quest to cross paths with young Queen Elizabeth during latter’s 1953 New Zealand tour provides the charming focus for Her Majesty, L.A based director Mark Gordon’s polished feature debut. New…

Kiwi Designers Spruce Up

Kiwi Designers Spruce Up

Zeitgiest wunderkind Tyler Brule, founder of the phenomenally successful Wallpaper magazine, launches an even more exclusive title: Spruce. A bi-annual publication focusing on the very best of global fashion, it’s no suprise that two…

New Inventions Limits Environmental Damage

New Inventions Limits Environmental Damage

New Zealand, long recognised for its environmental innovation, makes another advance. Researches at Massey University have found a unique technique for the quick and safe treatment and removal of hazardous chemical spills. The portable unit draws effluent…

America’s Cup 2003

America’s Cup 2003

See the ranking of the announced and unannounced contenders for the next America’s Cup as judged by ESPN celeb Gary Jobson. Team New Zealand is the favourite and is ranked number one based on management, funding, design,…

PDF Copy

PDF Copy

Ceci n’est pas le hype New Zealander Jennifer Flay, owner of one of Paris’s “edgiest contemporary art establishments” – Galerie Jennifer Flay – talks to Interview magazine’s October French flair special. Flay has gathered a…

Author graced with further award

Author graced with further award

Author Patricia Grace is honoured with the 21 Kiriyama Pacific Rim book prize for her novel Dogside Stories. The award was established to promote cross-cultural understanding.

More Margaret Mahy Magic

More Margaret Mahy Magic

The multi-award-winning author, who was first published and praised in the United States over 30 years ago, has had her books translated into 15 languages. She has won literary prizes in the UK, Italy…