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

Satirist John Clarke aka Fred Dagg (68)

New Zealand born “celebrated satirist and comedian John Clarke has died suddenly, aged 68,” reports ABC News. Clarke, who made “his name as a comedian and political satirist in Australia after arriving in…

Sir Douglas Myers, Brewing Magnate and Business Advocate (78)

Sir Douglas Myers, long-time chief executive of Lion Breweries, business advocate and philanthropist has died in London aged 78. “It would be hard to overstate the contribution made by Sir Douglas Myers to making New…

Two-Metre Peter Retires After 16-Year Career

Former New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton has retired after a 16-year first-class career that was highlighted by two stints in the international arena. The towering 38-year-old, nicknamed ‘Two-Metre Peter’, made his first class debut…

“The Road Starts Here” New Zealand Comes Aboard China’s OBOR Initiative

“To many in New Zealand, the country looks like an isolated outpost on a map girdled by economic powerhouses a hemisphere away. It’s the end of a trail that snakes through Southeast Asia and…

Grant Rawlinson’s 12,000km Test of Endurance

New Zealander Grant Rawlinson, 42, has just finished the 4500km first leg of his epic journey from Singapore to New Zealand. Having rowed to Darwin, he will next have to cycle down to Coffs…

Soulful New Video for Singer Janine

New Zealand-born soul singer Janine, formerly known as Janine and the Mixtape, is back with a “heart-tugging visual for Don’t Love Me,” Adelle Platon reports for Billboard. “As previously heard on the emotional offerings like 2015’s…

That Wanaka Tree a Social Media Sensation

A crack willow tree, believed to have grown from an old fence post, has been photographed tens of thousands of times, with queues of photographers routinely forming on the lake’s shore to capture its…

Nothing Beats a Life-Affirming NZ Holiday

The Daily Mail’s travel editor Mark Palmer kicked off his eight-day tour in and around Queenstown, admiring Lake Wakatipu, then taking in the World Heritage Site Matukituki Valley where Lord Of The Rings was…

Baldwin Street an Ever Instagrammed Steep

“If you find yourself near Dunedin anytime soon, put on your most comfortable walking shoes and head to Baldwin Street for a seriously trippy Instagram opportunity,” Travel + Leisure journalist Nina Ruggiero recommends. “Baldwin…

David Trubridge Design Create Redwoods Nightlights

“Redwoods Treewalk and David Trubridge Design have partnered to create an iconic nocturnal tourism experience: the Redwoods Nightlights. Incorporating unique creations from Trubridge and his team; the Nightlights is…

Alluring Role for Paris Ballet’s Hannah O’Neill

Hannah O’Neill, 24, a New Zealander who joined the Paris Opéra Ballet company in 2011, is “a beguiling” Titania, Paul Jennings writes in an Observer review of the Opéra Bastille performance of A Midsummer…

Collector Patrick Pound Shows Treasured Snaps

Remember when we stopped buying family photo albums? Artist-collector New Zealand-born Patrick Pound does, Rebecca Michael writes for the Herald Sun. It was when analog became digital, when Kodak film vanished into the ether. But…

Monica Galetti Cooking as She Pleases in Fitzrovia

The spotlight is once again on Masterchef judge New Zealander Monica Galetti as she opens her first restaurant Mere in Fitzrovia, London. The Telegraph reviews. According to the newspaper’s Hilary Armstrong, Galetti’s Mere is “a…

Martyn Connell Helping At-Risk UK Youth Find Jobs

New Zealander Martyn Connell is the head of West Yorkshire recruitment firm Maze8 that aims to support the young in overcoming barriers to employment. From its semi-rural setting in Mirfield, Maze8 recruits specialist…

This is Shannon Cullen’s Journal for Mothers

When New Zealand-born Shannon Cullen had her first baby Matilda, who is now aged four, she found herself writing down random notes and doodles at all hours. This sparked the creation of

Aldous Harding Announces Party and Tour Dates

New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding will release her sophomore album, Party on 19 May. After sharing the striking single Horizon, Harding has also revealed European and US tour dates, beginning with a performance at The…

Wellington Gets the Scarlett Johansson Effect

Ghost in the Shell star Scarlett Johansson, who spent several months in Wellington filming the classic eighties sci-fi remake, says the capital is one of the best cities she has worked in. In a press…

Phil Keoghan’s LE RIDE Tours USA

Phil Keoghan, New Zealander extraordinaire, host of ten-time Emmy Award-winning show The Amazing Race, travels the U.S. in April to screen his critically-acclaimed documentary feature film LE RIDE. LE RIDE recently…

Pasifika Festival Enlightens US Student

American university student Hailey Tucker questioned her own cultural identity when she attended Auckland’s recent Pasifika Festival. “As much as studying abroad has taught me about the South Pacific and specifically New Zealand, I have…

China Honours the Spirit of Rewi Alley

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s just-concluded visit to New Zealand has charted the future of the two countries’ “special” relations, with the spirit of New Zealander Rewi Alley their guide towards an even stronger friendship,…

Farmer Eric Watson Smashes Wheat Growing Record

Ashburton farmer Eric Watson has broken the world record for the greatest wheat yield, with a “staggering” 16.91-tonnes/ha crop that left the current record of 16.5 tonnes held in the UK in its dust,…

Bruce Connew’s Body of Work Stirs Superlatives

Photographers are snipers, no question, and Bruce Connew – journalist, artist, documentarian – is an exemplar. Paint yourself into the background, disappear, wait, evaluate, breathe, stay calm, and take the shot when that moment…

Riverdale Is a Guilt-Free Pleasure to Watch

“‘Archie got hot – he has abs now!’ An actual line in the pilot episode of Riverdale,” which is Toronto Star columnist Shinan Govani’s latest innocent viewing pleasure, he admits. The lead role of…

Ambition Got Niki Caro to Where She Is Today

Picturing yourself as a successful movie director – then getting there – is notoriously tough for a woman in the United States, the epicentre of the movie industry. For a young woman in New…

How Surfing Saved Grant Trebilco’s Life

Four years ago, New Zealand-born Sydneysider Grant Trebilco combined his love for surfing with mental health, and founded a non-profit movement known as OneWave, which runs regular events known as “Fluro Friday”. The idea is…

Nathalie Boltt Joins KJ Apa in Riverdale

Wellington-based actress Nathalie Boltt has been missing fish and chips on the beach with her husband and son. The Riverdale star (she plays Penelope Blossom) is originally from South Africa but its her adopted…

Dunedin’s Big Scottish Heritage

“In Dunedin today, there is no shortage of reminders of the first Scots who settled in this part of New Zealand 169 years ago last week and wove themselves into the fabric of the…

Kea’s Laughter Positively Contagious

New Zealand’s alpine parrot the kea has become the first non-mammal to show signs of contagious “laughter,” according to a study published in the journal Current Biology. Kea aren’t quite cracking each other…

David Low’s Churchill Cartoons Live On

New Zealander David Low, “who became Winston Churchill’s favourite cartoonist”, is included in a new book documenting the iconic images of Britain’s wartime leader. “Churchill’s long career makes a history of his portraits a history…

NZ Soldier at Heart of Bloody Struggle Against Isis

In the heart of Baghdad, a formerly unnamed New Zealander living in a shipping container in a military compound is involved in the campaign against Isis at the highest levels, New Zealand Herald political…

Adam Andrews Adding Colour to London’s Bagels

“From beetroot bagels to green galettes, bread is brightening up ,” says the Evening Standard’s Phoebe Luckhurst, “and it all started started in Maltby Street Market – one of several open-air food hubs…

Deliberating on the Taika-Esqueness of Thor

Hunt for the Wilderpeople director Taika Waititi talks to the Guardian about joining the Marvel universe with his interpretation of Thor, which is due out in the United States in November. As far as whetting…

Role Model Farah Khan Serves Legal Advice

Fijian-born lawyer Farah Khan, 34, who is based in Auckland, has found her niche in life, Shahani Mala reports for the Fiji Sun. After spending 11 years dealing with the legal affairs of the…

Data Shows How Powerful Quake Shifted Parts of NZ

New data, including satellite radar imagery, shows that parts of the South Island moved 5m closer to the North Island during last November’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Information has come from observations on the ground and…

How Chef Margot Henderson Cooked and Parented

New Zealand-born Margot Henderson is one of five professional cooks featured in the Guardian discussing how having kids changed their lives, in the kitchen and at home. Henderson, 52, co-owns Rochelle Canteen and catering company…

Dunedin School Offers Same Uniform to All

Dunedin North Intermediate has abolished gendered uniforms for its pupils and replaced them with shorts, a kilt and trousers that can be worn by either sex. The move came after complaints from female students…

UBI Has Benefits Argues Scholar Max Harris

Aucklander Max Harris wants you to change your mind, according to Impolitikal co-founder Sarah Illingworth. Currently based in Oxford, United Kingdom, Harris is completing a PhD in Law at All Souls College, and has…

Aurora Australis Tourists See Lights of Their Life

The first commercial flight to view the Aurora Australis landed in Dunedin, with 130 star-struck passengers sharing the experience on social media. TVNZ reporter Mark Hathaway, who was onboard the Air New Zealand flight,…

Fast Food Exec Jason Marker has New US Role

New Zealander Jason Marker, who most recently was president of Yum! Brands’ Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) in the United States, has been named the new chief executive of CKE Restaurant Holdings, parent of another…

Tourists Outnumber Hotel Rooms

With 3.5 million short-term arrivals last year – 480,000 more than had been projected only two years earlier – a hotel shortage may end up harming New Zealand’s biggest foreign exchange earner, according to a…

New Book Questions SAS Raids in Afghanistan

A new book by journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson claims the SAS killing of civilians in raids on two villages amounts to a “dark and guilty secret of New Zealand’s recent history.” A botched…

Racer Bruce McLaren Voted into Hall of Fame

Legendary constructor and driver, New Zealander Bruce McLaren has been inducted into the Auto Racing Hall of Fame at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Museum by a panel of journalists, participants and historians. The Auto Racing…

Jude Kereama’s Cornwall Getaway Gets High Praise

New Zealand chef Jude Kereama’s Kota Restaurant with Rooms in Porthleven, Cornwall is reviewed in the Telegraph, and rates highly. “With a fantastic Asian-Cornish fusion restaurant downstairs, and Porthleven’s picturesque harbour on the doorstep, the…