News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Marlon Williams: Americana Doesn’t Belong Just to America

Marlon Williams: Americana Doesn’t Belong Just to America

“If you don’t know you’re listening to a 25-year-old New Zealander, you might think you’re listening to an old recording of a crooner from the American Midwest,” writes Kierran Petersen for PRI. “The…

Rare Kiwi Hatches at US Biology Institute

Rare Kiwi Hatches at US Biology Institute

A brown kiwi – a rare flightless New Zealand bird, has hatched at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia, as reported in The Washington Post. When the chick’s parents Ngati Hine Rua…

Monaco Full of McLaren Memories for Dave Ryan

Monaco Full of McLaren Memories for Dave Ryan

When Manor racing director Dave Ryan started working for the McLaren Formula One team in 1974, the New Zealander was handed a mop and told to clean the floor. The job got more complicated…

NZ Is One of The Places to Feel Like a Kid Again

NZ Is One of The Places to Feel Like a Kid Again

Rotorua and Queenstown are featured in a list of holiday destinations where you can feel like a big kid again. Rotorua, “the birthplace of Zorbing has plenty of other ludicrously fun things to do aside…

Kiwi Teen Creates Ball Gowns Using Rubbish Bags

Kiwi Teen Creates Ball Gowns Using Rubbish Bags

Pukekohe teen Havilah Koledoye has created elaborate ball gowns using plastic bags, as reported in The Daily Mail. Plastic “is quite durable, you can stretch it to anything, it doesn’t rip or tear…

New Zealand’s Mystical Caves

New Zealand’s Mystical Caves

“One of the most stunning natural wonders exists within” New Zealand’s mystical Waitomo Caves, writes Kat Romero in an article on Express.co.uk. The caves on their own are amazing, but the glow-worms, which…

Stunning Kiwi Model Sets Out To Inspire Others

Stunning Kiwi Model Sets Out To Inspire Others

Jessica Quinn, who lost part of her leg, “is determined to challenge the modeling industry as to what is perceived as beautiful,” writes Leigh Campbell for The Huffington Post Australia. As a child,…

Lydia Ko Named in ESPN World Fame 100 Ranking

Lydia Ko Named in ESPN World Fame 100 Ranking

Lydia Ko has been ranked 81st in ESPN’s World Fame 100 List. She is the only New Zealander among the Top 100 Most Famous athletes and one of only eight women on the list. “Ko…

Former PM Jim Bolger Calls for Inter-Korean Talk

Former PM Jim Bolger Calls for Inter-Korean Talk

While ramping up global pressure is key to hampering Pyongyang’s nuclear development, Seoul should chart a path to restart denuclearisation talks to defuse tension and move toward an ultimate reunification, former New Zealand prime…

Tash Pericic Takes 10 in New Croatia Eco Push

Tash Pericic Takes 10 in New Croatia Eco Push

New Zealander Tash Pericic, who lives in Split, Croatia, is the founder of the TAKE 10 initiative – whereby when you are out for a walk, you take 10 pieces of rubbish, or take…

Kiwi Blogger Shares Travelling With Toddler Tips

Kiwi Blogger Shares Travelling With Toddler Tips

In an amusing video popular Kiwi blogger How to Dad has shared his tips for travelling with a baby. His clip, which has been viewed over 13,400 times, shows a variety of techniques…

Maori Emotiki Join Emoji Crowd

Maori Emotiki Join Emoji Crowd

People wanting to text in a Maori “accent” will be able to do so in July with the release of a special set of distinctive green emoji in New Zealand, called “emotiki”. Along with more…

Singer Tiny Ruins Earning Noted Admirers

Singer Tiny Ruins Earning Noted Admirers

Since alternative-folk singer-songwriter Hollie Fullbrook’s debut as Tiny Ruins in 2010 with the Little Notes EP, the Aucklander has forged both an identifiable sound and a career built on faithful and growing followings in…

Anna Paquin Returns to the South in Roots

Anna Paquin Returns to the South in Roots

Forty years after the original Roots gripped half the United States, a more violent and more accurate remake is here, the Hollywood Reporter’s Marissa Guthrie writes, gambling on big stars including New Zealander Anna…

NZ Ranked Fourth in Global Prosperity Index

NZ Ranked Fourth in Global Prosperity Index

New Zealand has been ranked fourth in the annual global Prosperity Index, which ranks countries based on how wealthy, healthy and happy they are. NZ was identified as “the most prosperous non-European nation” thanks to…

Stuart Thrush Introduces Meat Pies to Danes

Stuart Thrush Introduces Meat Pies to Danes

In an instalment of “My Danish Career”, The Local speaks with New Zealander Stuart Thrush, who traded out the corporate life with shipping giant Mærsk for a Copenhagen pie adventure. Wild Kiwi Pies opened…

Top of the Lake Two Never Meant to Be Says Campion

Top of the Lake Two Never Meant to Be Says Campion

New Zealand-born director Jane Campion has said she never expected to be working on Top Of The Lake again and that she was surprised by the success of the original 2013 BBC miniseries that…

US Returns Remains of 54 Indigenous People to NZ

US Returns Remains of 54 Indigenous People to NZ

Four mummified Maori heads have been returned to New Zealand, following five years of negotiations with the Smithsonian Institution in the United States. The objects are part of the second-largest repatriation of indigenous remains…

McLaren Lauds Its Hero 50 Years On

McLaren Lauds Its Hero 50 Years On

McLaren is celebrating its Formula 1 heroes and history with a 50th anniversary campaign. An online video charts some of the pivotal moments in the team’s history kicking off at one of McLaren’s earliest…

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

How Steven Adams Is Becoming Star of NBA Play-Offs

With his long hair and handlebar moustache, Steven Adams, 22, looks like he has stepped out of the 1970s. But this 7ft tall New Zealander with a sleeve of tattoos is fast becoming the…

Miami Exhibit Features Susan Te Kahurangi King

Miami Exhibit Features Susan Te Kahurangi King

New Zealand artist Susan Te Kahurangi King’s debut museum exhibition in North America opens on 8 July at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), Miami. The exhibition includes some 60 works, many of which…

The Kiwi Film You Need To See

The Kiwi Film You Need To See

The New Zealand smash hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople has knocked Batman vs Superman off number one and has beat Boy to become the highest grossing film of all time in New Zealand. According…

Auckland – The Greatest City on Water

Auckland – The Greatest City on Water

Auckland has been ranked the greatest coastal city by Chicago Line Cruises, followed by Barcelona and Vancouver. The rating highlights Auckland’s two harbours, its many beaches and diverse wildlife as well as cultural…

A Country for All Seasons

A Country for All Seasons

“New Zealand provides spectacular escapes whatever the time of year, but spring and autumn often deliver unique opportunities for travellers,” writes Paul Bloomfield in an article for The Telegraph. New Zealand “as…

NZ Artist’s Airbrushed Tattoos Give Sick Kids a Smile

NZ Artist’s Airbrushed Tattoos Give Sick Kids a Smile

New Zealand artist Benjamin Lloyd is helping to airbrush (temporary) sleeve tattoos for sick kids following a pledge on Facebook that he would paint all the sick kids at Auckland’s Starship Children’s…

NZ Shearers Keeping Australian Wool Industry Afloat

NZ Shearers Keeping Australian Wool Industry Afloat

Most of the shearing team bent over the softly glowing timber board of the historic Terrinallum woolshed in Victoria’s western district have New Zealand accents, sport tribal tattoos and are of Maori heritage, including…

Karl Urban to Star in Thor: Ragnarok

Karl Urban to Star in Thor: Ragnarok

Kiwi actor Karl Urban will join the cast in the upcoming Taika Waititi-helmed Thor: Ragnarok as Skurge. “It’s a fantastic story and a really great character who has got a wonderful arc. I’m super excited…

Limited Fashion Collection Honouring Burt Munro

Limited Fashion Collection Honouring Burt Munro

A limited fashion collection that honours Burt Munro and his racing heritage has been released, as reported by autoevolution. “For those who still don’t know who Burt Munro was, the “World’s Fastest…

From Koi Boys to Rat Pack

From Koi Boys to Rat Pack

“Practising their Rat Pack posing, as well as their swingin’ harmonies is all part of the preparation for The Voice favourites the Koi Boys” – New Zealand-born trio Kevin Keepa, Danny Faifai and Nuz…

Ten Things You Never Knew About Ladyhawke

Ten Things You Never Knew About Ladyhawke

Synth-pop singer Pip Brown, aka New Zealand-born Ladyhawke, tells Spin magazine about her love of sci-fi, UFOs, and Disneyland. Turns out Brown – who will release her third record, Wild Things, on 3 June has…

A to Z of New Zealand Food and Beverage

A to Z of New Zealand Food and Beverage

“Crossing the Ditch to New Zealand no longer means a step back in culinary time. Our trans-Tasman neighbour is right up with modern food trends so food lovers will find artisan products, farm-to-fork dining,…

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

Photographer Matt Draper Dives Deep

From turtles and manta rays, to whales and sharks, New Zealand-born photographer Matt Draper, a former carpenter, has spent the last two years photographing marine animals from the water, the Weather Channel’s Simone Scully…

Joe Naufahu Looks to next Role after Thrones Stint

Joe Naufahu Looks to next Role after Thrones Stint

We all know that Game of Thrones keeps its secrets even from its own cast members, but when it came to episode 4’s fiery finale involving New Zealander Joe Naufahu, 38, there were some…

Kiwi’s Genius Solution to London Jams

Kiwi’s Genius Solution to London Jams

Fancy speeding down the Thames in London to get to your hotel? “Your speedy dream could be about to come true, thanks to Kiwi entrepreneur Alan Gibbs whose amphibious vehicles are being tested this…

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Stunning Descent of Mount Aspiring Documented

Three American climbers joined New Zealand alpinist Graham Zimmerman, 29, for a 72-hour descent of Mount Aspiring in which the group navigate “across glaciers and snowfields, jungles and flooded rivers; exchange greetings with local…

Duo Wins Film Rights to Bestselling Capital

Duo Wins Film Rights to Bestselling Capital

New Zealanders Matthew Metcalfe and Justin Pemberton have acquired the film rights to French economist Thomas Piketty’s 2013 global bestseller Capital in the Twenty-First Century. In Cannes, the pair unveiled their plans for the…

Ski New Zealand’s Secret Snowfields

Ski New Zealand’s Secret Snowfields

Scattered around the Canterbury-Southern Alps region are boutique ski fields, with few queues and uncontested slopes, just waiting to be explored. Perth Now offers ups some suggestions including Porters, Ohau and Mount Dobson. “There are…

Martin Henderson Talks on Grey’s Anatomy Role

Martin Henderson Talks on Grey’s Anatomy Role

New Zealand actor Martin Henderson, 41, who plays Dr Nathan Riggs in the long-running popular medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, is profiled in Singapore’s Straits Times. The handsome neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) had been dubbed…

Joseph Parker Defeats Carlos Takam

Joseph Parker Defeats Carlos Takam

“Joseph Parker defeated Carlos Takam via unanimous points decision in Saturday night’s IBF heavyweight title challenger eliminator in New Zealand,” as reported in an article on News.com.au. “We’ve trained very hard and Takam came…

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

Canoeing World Cup Win for Lisa Carrington

World and Olympic K1 200m champion New Zealander Lisa Carrington, 26, has won the final of the sprint discipline of the opening cup regatta in Duisburg, Germany – her 12th successive victory in the…

Martin Jetpack Turns Science Fiction Into Reality

Martin Jetpack Turns Science Fiction Into Reality

Australia-listed Martin Jetpack will begin manufacturing its P-14 aircraft next month, as reported in an article in The Financial Times. “We are at the start of the journey,” said Peter Coker, Martin Jetpack’s chief…

On a Culinary Discovery in New Zealand

On a Culinary Discovery in New Zealand

New Zealand has much more to offer than lamb and seafood, according to Straits Times food critic Wong Ah Yoke, who travels to Auckland, Waiheke Island, Hawkes Bay and Wellington sampling food cooked in…

Business Booming at Dane Allchorne’s Kent Pub

Business Booming at Dane Allchorne’s Kent Pub

Taking on an empty English pub and turning it into a thriving, village hub was the goal for New Zealander Dane Allchorne – and he succeeded, writes Angela Cole for Kent Online. Just witnessing the…

Mastering Spicy Crab with Margot Henderson

Mastering Spicy Crab with Margot Henderson

Chef Margot Henderson is invited by VICE magazine’s MUNCHIES garden series to a rooftop vegetable plot in Brooklyn, New York “to explore .” New Zealand-born Henderson…

Brendon McCullum – New Zealand Cricket’s Renaissance Man

Brendon McCullum – New Zealand Cricket’s Renaissance Man

“In an incredible tale of leadership and introspection to the extent of soul-searching, Brendon McCullum, who retired from international cricket last year, opened up in an exclusive chat to Cricbuzz about why he decided…

Sam Neill Says NZ Cinema like Nothing Else on Earth

Sam Neill Says NZ Cinema like Nothing Else on Earth

In a career of almost unparalleled versatility, Sam Neill’s latest role in Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople finds him returning to his roots. Elle Hunt tracks the New Zealander down in Sydney for…

Helen Clark Says World Needs Action on Forest Land Rights to Meet Climate Goals

Helen Clark Says World Needs Action on Forest Land Rights to Meet Climate Goals

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has “warned that global climate change goals cannot be achieved without a united push to secure land rights for the world’s indigenous forest communities”, as reported by…

Drink and be Merry in Wairarapa

Drink and be Merry in Wairarapa

“Hidden beyond the peaks and gorges of New Zealand’s Rimutaka Range lies Wairarapa, a wine region that’s gathered little of the fame of its southern neighbour, the Marlborough area, but that overflows with charm,”…

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

Meet William Trubridge the Human Fish

New Zealander William Trubridge “is a man who both embraces and defies nature,” according to the Telegraph. The director of Vertical Blue, a freediving team and school based in the Bahamas, tells the newspaper…

Thunder’s Steven Adams Making the Leap

Thunder’s Steven Adams Making the Leap

“All year, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been largely dismissed as serious title contenders. After beating the Spurs and stunning the Warriors in Game 1 in Oracle Arena, it’s time to forget everything I thought…

Kids Mimic Donald Trump in Powerhouse Parody

Kids Mimic Donald Trump in Powerhouse Parody

Six New Zealand children are taking aim at US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in a parody advertisement for online electricity retailer, Powerhouse, with the hope of proving that power should be used for…

Adventurer and Inspirational Bone Disease Campaigner Samuel Gibson

Adventurer and Inspirational Bone Disease Campaigner Samuel Gibson

Samuel Gibson, an inspirational adventurer and brittle bone disease campaigner has died, aged 39, after suffering a ‘devastating’ head injury while competing in a half marathon, as reported in The Daily Mail. The…

Guest Fashion Editor Role for Model Nikki Phillips

Guest Fashion Editor Role for Model Nikki Phillips

Model and blogger New Zealander Nikki Phillips joins the Yahoo7 team during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia. The entertainment portal asks Phillips about her fashion week survival essentials. A seasoned fashion week attendee and front row…

Moody Electropoppers Broods Virtually Famous

Moody Electropoppers Broods Virtually Famous

As Broods, brother and sister Caleb and Georgia Nott were initially known for who they know, now they’re stepping out on their own with their music, London’s Evening Standard reports. “They share a producer, Joel…

Emilia Wickstead’s California Dreaming

Emilia Wickstead’s California Dreaming

New Zealand fashion designer Emilia Wickstead hit California this week to celebrate her new collection for London’s Matchesfashion.com, stopping in San Francisco firstly, where she and Matches co-founders Tom and Ruth Chapman mingled with…

Peter Jackson Pro Screening Room First-Run Rental

Peter Jackson Pro Screening Room First-Run Rental

One director in favour of Napster co-founder Sean Parker’s potential industry-disrupting startup – to sell first-run movies to home viewers at US$50 a pop – is Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director behind The…