News of New Zealanders via Global Media

New Steinlager Rugby World Cup Ad Recreates New Zealand’s First Rugby Internationals

New Steinlager Rugby World Cup Ad Recreates New Zealand’s First Rugby Internationals

“New Zealand’s Steinlager stylishly recreates the country’s first-ever rugby team to tour the UK back in 1905, in this spot gearing up for the Rugby World Cup next month”, writes Alexandra Jardine for

The Last Dambuster Pilot

The Last Dambuster Pilot

John Leslie Munro, the last surviving pilot and one of the final surviving members of the famous 617 Squadron from the legendary Dambusters raids against Nazi Germany, has died at the age of 96…

NZ Global Leader in Registry Software Foster Moore Buys US Company

NZ Global Leader in Registry Software Foster Moore Buys US Company

Foster Moore International, a global leader in government registry software, has announced the acquisition of U.S. company FileONE LLC and the establishment of U.S. operations in the North Carolina research triangle. Foster Moore develops online…

Joan Murphy Is Reframing the Fitness Industry

Joan Murphy Is Reframing the Fitness Industry

New Zealander Joan Murphy (pictured left) and Briton Pip Black, founders of Frame gym, explain to the Guardian how they have revolutionised London’s attitude to exercise. It’s 8:30am on a Wednesday morning and Joan Murphy…

Incredulous Anna Smaill on Booker Nomination

Incredulous Anna Smaill on Booker Nomination

One of three debut writers on the Man Booker longlist, 35-year-old Anna Smaill will be unfamiliar to all but the most avid reader of contemporary fiction: her previous publication is a volume of poetry,…

Terrific Top of the Lake Returns to Screens

Terrific Top of the Lake Returns to Screens

“Last year came the exciting news that Top Of The Lake, Jane Campion’s terrific TV series, wouldn’t just be a one-off, but would return for a new round of episodes,” Indiewire reports. “Details were…

Blanket Bay Lodge a Hidden Getaway

Blanket Bay Lodge a Hidden Getaway

If you’re looking for the perfect getaway this winter, you should look no further than New Zealand’s best luxury lodge on the north edge of the stunning Lake Whakatipu at Blanket Bay. Blanket Bay is…

Cars in NZ Are Running on Beer-Flavoured Petrol

Cars in NZ Are Running on Beer-Flavoured Petrol

New Zealand brewers DB Export have turned their leftover slurry of yeast and grain into a biofuel. Brewtroleum is available for a limited time at Gull petrol stations throughout the country. One of the leftovers…

New Zealand Opens First Single-Artist Museum

New Zealand Opens First Single-Artist Museum

“If Len Lye didn’t exist, you couldn’t have invented him,” writes the New Zealand Herald’s Adam Gifford about the pioneering experimental filmmaker and kinetic sculptor on the eve of the opening of…

Sarah Ayala’s Businesses Thriving in Houston

Sarah Ayala’s Businesses Thriving in Houston

New Zealander Sarah Ayala is “living the American dream” in Houston where she and her husband relocated to a year and a half ago from Portland, Oregon. Ayala, who recently started The…

Brian Fuata’s Video a 24 Frame Per Second Highlight

Brian Fuata’s Video a 24 Frame Per Second Highlight

Wellington-born Sydney-based artist Brian Fuata, 37, was one of 24 artists exhibiting as a part of the “pioneering video art-inspired dance project” “24 Frames Per Second” on at Sydney’s Carriageworks. The exhibition delivered “a groundbreaking…

Harjinder Singh Receives IDFA Dairy Research Award

Harjinder Singh Receives IDFA Dairy Research Award

Harjinder Singh, Ph.D., has received the 2015 IDFA Research Award in Dairy Foods Processing at this month’s annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association. “This award recognises Professor Singh’s contribution to the dairy industry….

The Brokenwood Mysteries a Hit in France

The Brokenwood Mysteries a Hit in France

New Zealand’s murder-mystery television series, The Brokenwood Mysteries, is a hit in France and was the second-most watched show on French TV on a Tuesday night with 3.7 million viewers. On Bastille Day it out-rated…

New Zealand’s First Cat Cafe

New Zealand’s First Cat Cafe

“There’s nothing quite like sitting down to a cup of tea with a cat on your lap. These days, with the advent of cat cafes, you don’t even need your own cat to experience…

New Zealand’s Most Trusted Brands Revealed; Whittaker’s Chocolates Tops the List

New Zealand’s Most Trusted Brands Revealed; Whittaker’s Chocolates Tops the List

Whittaker’s has been chosen as New Zealand’s most trusted brand in the annual Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands survey, which ranked New Zealand’s top 10 trusted brands, 40 category winners and top…

New Zealand FM Calls for Bigger UN Role in Middle East Peace Process

New Zealand FM Calls for Bigger UN Role in Middle East Peace Process

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully called for the United Nations Security Council to have a greater role in the Middle East peace process. “Secretary Kerry has been closely involved in efforts to re- establish…

New Zealander Makes Booker Prize Longlist

New Zealander Makes Booker Prize Longlist

New Zealand author Anna Smaill has been longlisted for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize with her debut novel The Chimes. “Just dropped in to check my email before bed and … now can’t…

Booktrack Attracts $5 Million in Funding

Booktrack Attracts $5 Million in Funding

The New Zealand e-publishing venture Booktrack has secured $5 million in funding led by investments from COENT Venture Partners and Sparkbox Ventures, which will be used to support recent overall growth. Booktrack offers publishers the…

School Performs Emotional Haka at Teacher’s Funeral

School Performs Emotional Haka at Teacher’s Funeral

Students and teachers of Palmerston North Boys’ High School have paid tribute to their beloved and long-serving teacher Dawson Tamatea at his funeral. The entire school performed a traditional Haka as the hearse carrying Mr…

Len Lye Centre Opens in New Plymouth

Len Lye Centre Opens in New Plymouth

“Travel to New Zealand for the love of art,” declares India Today in a feature about New Plymouth’s brand new Len Lye Centre, New Zealand’s first gallery dedicated to a single artist. The

Kiwi DNA Study Reveals Bird Lost Colour Vision

Kiwi DNA Study Reveals Bird Lost Colour Vision

Scientists at the University of Leipzig in Germany say they have sequenced the genome of the brown kiwi for the first time, revealing that the shy, flightless bird likely lost its ability to see…

Anna Hansen Says It’s Not Fun Boiling a Pig’s Head

Anna Hansen Says It’s Not Fun Boiling a Pig’s Head

New Zealand chef Anna Hansen, 45, who worked with Michelin-starred Fergus Henderson and fusion expert Peter Gordon before opening her own London restaurant, The Modern Pantry, talks with the Independent about music to make…

Iconic Mountain Bike Race The Pioneer Set for Alps

Iconic Mountain Bike Race The Pioneer Set for Alps

A new mountain bike race, The Pioneer, is set to hit the rugged trails of the Southern Alps from 31 January through 6 February 2016. The race will string together established bike trails with…

Sir Edmund Hillary’s Name Taken to New Heights

Sir Edmund Hillary’s Name Taken to New Heights

A newly discovered mountain range on Pluto has been named Hillary Montes in homage to New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, half of the pair who first climbed Mount Everest in 1953. Tenzing Norgay, his…

Finnian Galbraith’s Hit Te Reo Pronunciation Video

Finnian Galbraith’s Hit Te Reo Pronunciation Video

Raumati College pupil Finnian Galbraith’s YouTube video complaining about poor pronunciation of Maori words has proved a hit online, with more than 160,386 views. Galbraith, 15, says in his YouTube video that many people in…

Sileni Estates Winery Finds Ripe Market in US

Sileni Estates Winery Finds Ripe Market in US

Nigel Avery, CEO of Sileni Estates USA, and a former member of New Zealand’s Olympic weightlifting team, has moved his family to Minnesota while he works to expand sales and learn the US market…

Jono Williams Invents the Ultimate Man Cave

Jono Williams Invents the Ultimate Man Cave

Plastics engineer and inventor Jono Williams has built possibly the world’s most coveted man cave in Linton. After shooting the breeze one night with his mate Grant Ramsay, a mechatronics engineer, Williams committed to building…

Darren Pene Pati Wins at Operalia 2015

Darren Pene Pati Wins at Operalia 2015

New Zealander Darren Pene Pati, “the one with the special tenor voice”, took second prize and the audience prize for male singer at this year’s Operalia, The World’s Opera Competition, held in London. According to…

McCaw Magic Seals All Blacks Win at Ellis Park

McCaw Magic Seals All Blacks Win at Ellis Park

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw grabbed a late winning try to lift the All Blacks to a dramatic 27-20 win over South Africa at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The home side led for most of…

Seb Chan Is Digitally Revitilising Museums

Seb Chan Is Digitally Revitilising Museums

New Zealand-born Seb Chan, lauded for his leading role in transforming the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York with a human-centred digital renewal, has been appointed chief eXperience officer (CXO) at the…

New Zealand Seventh Most Respected Country

New Zealand Seventh Most Respected Country

New Zealand has been ranked as the seventh most respected country in the 2015 RepTrak Survey conducted by the Reputation Institute, which examines how countries are perceived across the globe. 55 nations were…

The Good Dinosaur Trailer Released – Voice Over Cast Includes Anna Paquin

The Good Dinosaur Trailer Released – Voice Over Cast Includes Anna Paquin

The official trailer for The Good Dinosaur has been released and is starring New Zealander Anna Paquin as part of the voice-over cast. “At first glance it might look like ground similarly tread by another…

Six Picturesque Places in New Zealand You Must Visit

Six Picturesque Places in New Zealand You Must Visit

The Indian Express has featured six breathtaking places in New Zealand “you will absolutely love (…) if you are a nature lover”. 1. Sutherland Falls – New Zealand’s largest waterfall in Milford Sound 2. The Kepler…

New Zealander Wins French Scrabble Championship Despite Not Speaking French

New Zealander Wins French Scrabble Championship Despite Not Speaking French

New Zealander Nigel Richards has won the French Scrabble championships even though “his command of the language (…) stretches to “bonjour” and being able to count”. Richards, who has been called the Tiger Woods of…

New Zealand Girl Plays Piano While Sleepwalking

New Zealand Girl Plays Piano While Sleepwalking

“Some people are so good at musical instruments they purport to be able to play it in their sleep. Yet for this one girl, it’s a reality”, writes Vin Shahrestani for The Telegraph. A video…

Lucy Lawless – “Xena Reboot a Rumour”

Lucy Lawless – “Xena Reboot a Rumour”

“Twenty years after it first premiered as a Hercules spinoff, Xena: Warrior Princess could be returning to television”, writes Lesley Goldberg for The Hollywood Reporter. Over the last few weeks rumours have been heard that the beloved…

New Zealand Attractions Named in the 2015 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards

New Zealand Attractions Named in the 2015 TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards

A number of New Zealand attractions including the amusement parks Splash Planet and Rainbow’s End have been recognised in the TripAdvisor  2015 Travelers’ Choice Awards. Hawke’s Bay’s water park Splash Planet has been…

Kate Newby, artist, debuts in New York

Kate Newby, artist, debuts in New York

New York-based Aucklander Kate Newby debuts at the Laurel Gitlen Gallery in the Lower East Side with a show ‘I memorized it I loved it so much’, with a laudatory review in…

In Defense of the Soccer Mom’s Favorite Wine

In Defense of the Soccer Mom’s Favorite Wine

Reliable, inexpensive New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is the go-to wine for many Americans. Is it worthy? And are some even better than just upscale Pinot Grigio? Lettie Teague, wine columnist for The…

New Book Spotlights Home of the British Army-Kiwi WWI Connection

New Book Spotlights Home of the British Army-Kiwi WWI Connection

Aldershot in the Great War: The Home of the British Army, part of the Your Towns & Cities in the Great War series published by Pen and Sword Military, is the first…

Flautist Marya Martin heads Bridgehampton Festival

Flautist Marya Martin heads Bridgehampton Festival

Internationally acclaimed flutist Marya Martin heads the 26st season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival on New York’s Long Island with an 12-concert program featuring works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert….

Warren Gatland Steers Wales into World Cup Ready

Warren Gatland Steers Wales into World Cup Ready

With a near perfect World Cup training trip to Switzerland in the bank, Wales coach Warren Gatland has steered his squad into a very good place, according to Wales Online rugby editor Delme Parfitt. “If…

Cutthroat role for Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Sweeney

Cutthroat role for Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Sweeney

Operatic baritone New Zealander Teddy Tahu Rhodes has the lead role as the infamous barber in Victorian Opera’s take on Sweeney Todd, Stephen Sondheim’s bloodiest musical. Rhodes, playing Sweeney for the first time, hasn’t watched…

Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist

Owen Dippie Sprays NY Masterpieces with a Twist

New Zealand street artist Owen Dippie is making a name for himself in Brooklyn, New York with “show-stopping” murals. It takes a true intuitive sense and careful execution to produce a mashup or remix, and…

Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”

Photographer Tony Carter Finds Other World in Ohuru – a “tight-knit and colourful community”

Ohura is a tiny town with a population of just 120 people where there is next to no power, internet, or jobs – where time almost stands still. Photographer Tony Carter spent one year…

Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa

Michel Tuffery Invites Sydney to Siamani Samoa

New Zealand artist Michel Tuffery joined forces with the Royal Samoa Police Band, who were in Sydney playing outside the Pacific Islands for the first time, to mark the 100th anniversary of the end…

Flight of the Conchords Role Models for Success

Flight of the Conchords Role Models for Success

Flight of the Conchords stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are California-born stand-up comedian Arj Barker’s role models, he tells the Guardian. Barker, who is best known for his role as pawnshop owner Dave in…

Lujo’s Free-Standing Hammock a Visual Masterpiece

Lujo’s Free-Standing Hammock a Visual Masterpiece

A free-standing hammock designed by New Zealand-based company Lujo features in the Dallas Morning News Home & Gardening section. Lujo, which designs and manufactures top-of-the-line lounge furniture, describes its free-standing hammock as “a functional sculpture…

New Zealand Biker Jed Mildon Lands World First BMX Quadruple Backflip

New Zealand Biker Jed Mildon Lands World First BMX Quadruple Backflip

New Zealand professional BMX biker Jed Mildon, 28, has landed the world’s first quadruple backflip after four years of planning for the incredible feat. Riding a 20-foot box jump, Mildon scored his second world first…

All Blacks Dominate Argentina in Christchurch

All Blacks Dominate Argentina in Christchurch

Captain Richie McCaw scored a try and stand-off Dan Carter kicked 14 points in their last home Test at AMI Stadium in Christchurch as the All Blacks beat Argentina 39-18 in the opening match…

Diplomatic Businessman Sir John Buchanan

Diplomatic Businessman Sir John Buchanan

Sir John Buchanan, who has died aged 72, was an Auckland-born scientist who rose to be finance director at BP before taking on prominent non-executive board roles in sectors ranging from mining, most recently…

New Face of International Music Conducting

New Face of International Music Conducting

Gemma New, the 28-year-old native New Zealander violinist who became a professional conductor while still in her teens, has been named the music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s in…

World Economy Model Inspires NZ artist Michael Stevenson in New York exhibit

World Economy Model Inspires NZ artist Michael Stevenson in New York exhibit

A hydro-mechanical computer that models world economic flows, invented in 1949 by New Zealander Bill Phillips, is the inspiration for artist Michael Stevenson’s installation at Long Island City’s SculptureCenter in…

Karl Urban Nominates Kids Can as Part of Star Trek Beyond’s Global Omaze Campaign

Karl Urban Nominates Kids Can as Part of Star Trek Beyond’s Global Omaze Campaign

Karl Urban has nominated the New Zealand charity Kids Can as one of the nine global causes chosen by the cast of Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond as part of the Star Trek: To Boldly…

Ash Vs. Evil Dead Trailer Released at Comic Con

Ash Vs. Evil Dead Trailer Released at Comic Con

The first Ash vs. Evil Dead trailer has been screened at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. “If anyone was on the fence about bringing the cult classic horror tale to the small screen, this trailer…

New Zealand Stars Feature in Powerful ‘Force of Black’ Rugby World Cup Advert

New Zealand Stars Feature in Powerful ‘Force of Black’ Rugby World Cup Advert

New Zealand’s All Blacks players unleash their inner animals in the new powerful World Cup advert by shirt sponsors Adidas. “It’s inside us. Beating in our heart, pumping through our veins. It strengthens every sense….