NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

Female Guru

Fay Weldon and why we love those wise big women Maddening, sexy, inconsistent, irascible, solipsistic, profound, perplexing and provocative … and we love her. New Zealand-raised Fay Weldon joins the female-guru big-time along with…

Campbell Puts Merit in Order

“The Maori’s return to form shows it was no fluke the first time. Currently third in the order of merit, Campbell’s outstanding recovery is illustrated perfectly in the Maori proverb: “I te tu oho koe/ Hei…

Buttery New Zealand invention Spreads the word

As British consumers have become more concerned about food safety, Anchor has taken advantage of New Zealand’s clean, green image to promote its spreadable butter – a product invented by the New Zealand Dairy Board.

Aussies Tell Flightless Kiwis: “You Can Be My Wing-man Anyday”

If New Zealand looks to emulate Iceland or Costa Rica, and do away with its combat air-force and emphasise its peacekeeping role, its best pilots can rest safely in the knowledge that the Australian air-force will…

Kea Aura: Cool Queenstown is a Hot Destination

Tipped to be the hottest destination for trendsetters travelling Down Under this summer – not just because of its Winter Ice festival, when the whole community goes crazy with street parties, jazz parades and night skiing, but…

Tua to Lewis: “It’s Time to Face the Music”

“The fans need to see David Tua destroy Lennox Lewis. He’s tailor-made for me. I Respect what he’s accomplished, but I believe I have the style to knock Lennox Lewis out” …

Fresh Crowe Conquers in Revival of Old-genre

“I just thought he was fresh, a new generation, he’s a man who’s on his way up,” says Ridley Scott, of Russell Crowe, the Gladiator’s 36-year-old New Zealand star.

Kiwi Innovation Helps Blind See the Future

A Christchurch company has taken computers for braille users from the age of the typewriter to the age of the super-computer, with Braillenote, the first notebook computer for the blind. Asiaweek (CNN) profiles the innovation in its…

Famous Kiwi Face-offs Remembered

Times anniversary page remembers the birth of Sir Archibald McIndoe, Plastic Surgeon born in Dunedin; and the beginning of the Maori uprising against the British in 1863. …

Cincinnati Hearts Warm to Kiwi Cockles

“If you’re not in the mood for raw fish, or even for cold seafood, there’s always the New Zealand cockles appetizer, which I can’t resist ordering every time I visit Prime and Wine.

New Zealand Spreads No-nukes Message

In a letter to the editor of the Financial Times spokesperson for the New Agenda Coalition, Mexican Ambassador Antonio de Icaza, expressed concern at current developments “whereby nuclear weapons are being re-rationalised for the foreseeable future; indeed…

Kiwi Kosovo Peacekeeper Threatens UN Withdrawal as Violence Escalates

Dennis McNamara, the UN High Comissioner for Refugees top official in Kosovo, threatened to suspend UN activities in the Kosovo city of Mitovica, if attacks on its staff and vehicles did not cease.

New Zealand Yorkies

Global Soccer show Futbol Mundial profiles three young New Zealanders who’ve made the long journey to the English town of Barnsley in the hope of launching a professional career.

“She is Right Mate” New Zealand Sheep and Cattle Reap Benefit of Revolution

Immense changes under way in NZ farming, ranging from challenges of e-commerce and overseas trade restraints, to the costly introduction of organic produce and changing market demands, mean that NZ farming is poised for one of its…

Management Executives on the Move

Tim Corcoran, who studied law at Canterbury University, New Zealand, is to become chief financial officer of Prolifix Ltd, a privately owned pharmaceutical company that is a leader in cell cycle research.

Talk the walk: From a Maori grave in Crete to dithering dons at Oxford

Times review: “CK Stead’s eigth novel Talking about O’Dwyer is an inticate interrogation of the past … The sweep of Stead’s narrative pays dividends: there’s almost a wistful nostalgia, a sense that hanging onto…

Hard Work Starts to Pay off for Kiwi Organic Pioneers

At first farmers were concerned labeling certain products ‘organic’ would tarnish others as inferior, but many are beginning to see that increasing demand from consumers, home and abroad cannot be ignored, as New Zealand pioneers like Angela Aitchison…

Even Better than the Real Thing:

When Ridley Scott wanted to recreate the Colosseum he stayed well clear of Rome, preferring to leave the real Colosseum to the tourists. Instead he used computer imaging and sets in Malta and Surrey….

Down-Under achievers: Which actor wasn’t born in Australia quiz? Answer: Russell Crowe is originally from New Zealand.

Answer: Russell Crowe is originally from New Zealand. (4 May 2000)

Edge living: Roman style

From whistle-blower to tiger-slayer, countless billboards are proclaiming a new hero. But despite the many high-tech advances made since the earlier cinematic days of the wide-screen Roman Empire, at least one fact remains the same:…

Singapore looks to New Zealand Model in Fair Trading Laws Debate

Edmund Baker, Executive Director of the Consumers Association of Singapore is pushing the Kiwi and Australian Fair Trading Acts as model examples in debates over fair trade legislation in Singapore.

Davids and Goliaths: Coalition Says Nuclear States Fall Short of Goals

United Nations: the “New Agenda Coalition”, of which New Zealand is a key member, criticised the ‘big guns’ (US, Russia, France, Britain and China) for making an empty pledge to eliminate nuclear weapons but falling short…

The Future is Kiwi

“Helen Clark met Tony Blair in Downing Street last month. Apparently he asked her lots of questions about her flying start in government: let’s hope he was taking notes”. New Zealand’s Labour government looked upon as role-model…

Canterbury University Professor Gets Back to the Streets in Response to “Black Bill of Rights”

Dr. Vernon L. Andrews, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, responds to Byron Bain’s article ‘Walking While Black’ (on racial profiling by police in the US) and the difficulties he has convincing students…

Mr. Electric and the Superdudes body-rock at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Up and down South Peters Street, a group of fun-loving folk calling themselves the “Superdudes” led by Mr. Electric (a 30-year-old former model from New Zealand) danced, enlisting as many people as possible to…

When Love Comes to Boston

New Zealand film When Love Comes about a “group of free spirits and sexual stripes” chosen to show at Boston gay and lesbian film and video Festival at Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The…

Kiwi Miss Marple Uncovers Cult

Repairing the premises, handing out leaflets on city streets, fundraising – not your usual college curriculum. But as some sleuthing students told Michael Durham, Winestead Hall is not your usual college, but an outpost…

Australian Style the New Zealand Way

“If you look over those lists of favourite shows, as picked by two key international delegates, something even more interesting emerges: a third of the top-scoring designers were born outside Australia. Kiwi born and…

Kiwifruit Big Brand Inspiration for Malaysian Fruits

Dr Aziz Abdul Rahman claims the answer to Malaysia’s fruit marketing woes: “There is a need to internationalise our products with a brand that will be associated with the country such as ‘Sunkist’ or ‘Kiwi fruit’…

The Weigh to a Perfect Body

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter: A study from the University of Auckland has found that the secret to satisfying those hunger pains may not be calories or fat content, but how much the food weighs.

Kiwi Revolutionises Advertising Through Seamless Internet Surfing

Financial Times special report “Japanese Internet Tsumani”, looks at how the internet is making reaching customers easy: “you can be sitting in the back of a taxi in a traffic jam checking your stocks, paying bills. It…

I’m Gonna be a Contender

David Tua has the respect of World Heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis, “I think Tua deserves a shot”. A possible title fight is lined up for later this year.

Wine Wine Wine

New Zealand corks are popping all over the place: Imperiale of Goldwater Estate Waiheke Island Caberet/Merlot 1990 to be auctioned at Christies (price estimates US$2400–$3800), NZ wine featured in the Guardian and at Marks and Sparks.

Mucho Loco Baby! Children’s TV Stigmatises Mental Illness

Auckland University researchers have found that children’s television programmes create a negative stereotype of mental illness which encourages young people to develop prejudice.

Voon New Zealand Fashion Showcased at Lucire

Wellington designer Sophie Voon brings her distinctively antipodean dresses to the world; from the ‘Pavlova’ (left with buzzy bee) in white, to the ‘Southern Cross’ in mauve. Her latest edition of influential fashion magazine…

Awa Maternity Ward No Picnic

From the grass skirts and cannibals file: “When Maori women of New Zealand give birth, they deliver on the ground near a stream. The Maori word whenua means both “earth” and “placenta.”

Jonah and a Large Fish: a Biblical Sports Story?

Rugby Superstar Jonah Lomu joins Anna Kournikova and David Beckham to star in Adidas global advertising campaign. The ad was shot in New Zealand.

Urban Look and Funky Charm

Designer John Varvatos (former darling of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren) creates cozy-old look with svelte New Zealand Shearling.

Ernest Rutherford a Particle in Twentieth Century’s Great Scientific Debate

Without Quantum mechanics most of the Twentieth Century’s science and technology would not exist, yet our understanding remains vague and the debate between Einstein and Bohr over first principles was vigorous and unresolved. Bohr’s theory developed when…