Spanish Culture Permeates Our Own
The presence of a three month-long film festival prompts the question: Are there tangible traces of Spanish culture in New Zealand? The 17th annual Latin American and Spain Film Festival is touring New Zealand, and…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
“NZ Perfectly Situated To Change the World”
“New Zealand is pushing the boundaries of innovation as a “country-sized incubator,” and seeking further synergies with Korean small and midsized companies and startups, according to the country’s top envoy to Korea.” Joel Lee…
Kelvin Davis on Mission to Keep Māori Out of Prison
Kelvin Davis describes himself as a member of “the most incarcerated tribe in the world”. The former teacher grew up in New Zealand’s deprived Northland region and has seen childhood friends, schoolmates and relatives…
New Zealand Ranked Second Most Prosperous
New Zealand has been ranked second in the Legatum Institute’s 12th annual global Prosperity Index, which lists the world’s 37 richest, healthiest, happiest, and most prosperous nations. Business Insider Australia…
At Home in Seoul with Ambassador Philip Turner
“One way to experience something Kiwi in Seoul would be to order a flat white at a coffee shop,” Philip Turner, ambassador of New Zealand to Korea, told English-language newspaper, JoongAng Daily at a…
North and South Islands Moving Closer Together
The North and South Islands are moving closer together after a series of earthquakes in 2016 that lifted the sea floor, GNS Science has said. Over about a minute-and-a-half, parts of the Marlborough coast were…
Winston Peters’ New Standing as Elder Statesman
“Winston Peters’ New Zealand First has been a textbook case of how to combine populist rhetoric and nativist discourse in the service of political mobilisation,” according to Hans-Georg Betz, adjunct professor of political science…
Auckland’s Pacific Islanders Take Stock
Some Pacific Islands, such as Tokelau and Niue, now have more of their people living in New Zealand than at home, a trend that is predicted to soar with the rising threat of climate…
Helen Clark Says World Needs More Women Leaders
In a sit-down interview with CTV National News chief anchor and senior editor Lisa LaFlamme, former prime minister Helen Clark said if more women were in positions of leadership, the world would be a…
The Best Place in the World to Be a Child
After the Hāpaitia te Oranga Tangata summit in August, Denis O’Reilly started thinking about how to address the wicked criminal justice problems we face. He turns to the past, and muses on community, from…
Wellington One of The 10 Best Cities For Digital Nomads
“Wellington has ranked in the top ten cities around the world for digital nomads – remote workers who usually travel between different locations – to work in, according to a new study,” as reported…
Peter Peryer One of NZ’s Foremost Photographers
“Peter Peryer, one of New Zealand’s foremost photographers, has died on November 18 at the age of seventy-seven.” Artforum reports. “Peryer’s most recognized image may be Dead Steer, his 1987…
Solicitor Karla Hill on the Case for Mother Earth
When lawyers become standard-bearers for high-profile activism, funding major litigation requires innovative thinking. Social media has a vital role too, writes Grania Langon-Down. New Zealand solicitor Karla Hill is the director of programmes for…
Kiwi To Be Reintroduced to Wellington
Wellington could soon have kiwi nesting beside Parliament House thanks to an ambitious conservation project that aims to reintroduce New Zealand’s iconic national bird to the capital city within the next decade. There are 68,000…
Chris Liddell on “The Biggest IT Transformation of All Time”
“In the wake of Tuesday’s power-shifting midterm elections, the White House plans to stay the course in tech policy and may even work with Democrats on beefing up the nation’s broadband infrastructure, a trio…
Deserted Waitaki Village up for Sale
Lake Waitaki village in South Otago was built in the 1930s as workers accommodation for dam labourers but has lain largely empty since 1989 when the dam’s operation was automated. Now, it’s for sale….
UK High Commission in NZ to Recruit Māori Adviser & Te Reo Teacher
“The British high commission in New Zealand has been given the green light to recruit its first adviser on Māori affairs, as well as a te reo language teacher for high commissioner Laura Clarke.”…
NZ Falls out of Love with 2 Per Cent Targets
“Japan and Sweden and even the Fed could take a lesson from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand,” according to Daniel Moss in an opinion piece for Bloomberg. Former chair of the Federal Reserve,…
NZ Tops Ease of Doing Business Rankings
New Zealand has clinched the top spot in the ease of doing business rankings by the World Bank where it scored 86.59, ahead of 190 other countries, despite not implementing any reforms in the…
Café Calls Itself ‘Home Of Terrible Trip Advisor Reviews
Christchurch cafe C1 Espresso “publishes its worst reviews in its menu so customers can read them at the table. The info panel of the cafe’s door proudly states it is home to: all day…
NZ’s First Permanent War Museum to Open in Europe
New Zealand’s first permanent war memorial museum in Europe is being unveiled in the medieval fortified French town of Le Quesnoy, which was liberated by New Zealand soldiers a century ago in the final…
Scrabble Fanatic Wins 4th World Scrabble Championship Title
Nigel Richards, from New Zealand, has won his fourth World Scrabble Championship title “with the word ‘groutier’, defined as sullen or sulky,” writes Sophie Law in an article for The Daily Mail. The crucial…
Crawford Falconer Tackles Brexit Conundrums
When the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, the British government had no chief trade negotiator and only a handful of people engaged in trade policy. As part of the EU,…
How Teenager Nina Griffiths Began to Heal Kaitaia
At the start of 2016, Kaitaia – population 5000 – had just experienced the loss of six young people to suicide in quick succession. Nina Griffiths, a local high school student, was one of…
Bunker Buyers and Billionaires Still Seek Shelter
“If the New Zealand government was sending a message when it banned foreigners from buying houses in the country earlier this year, it does not seem to have been heard by the global billionaire…
MP Poto Williams Awarded University Prize
MP Poto Williams has been named the 2018 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year at Southern Cross University’s annual awards recognising exceptional achievement and outstanding service. The New South Wales university welcomed home more than 50…
How Spark Helped NZ Learn Māori
“Whilst te reo Māori has steadily seen an increase in a number of revitalisation efforts across New Zealand—especially in recent years—actual te reo learning opportunities remain limited and sometimes inaccessible,” writes Faaez Samadi in…
New Zealand Bird of the Year
The Kererū – “a native green and bronze wood pigeon with a taste for fermented fruit has been named the 2019 bird of the year in New Zealand” in a poll organised by Forest…
New Zealand Second-Best Place for Expats
New Zealand has been ranked the second-best place for expats in a study by HSBC. Singapore has landed the top spot in the survey. The Singapore Business Review reports. The…
Lyndsey Lewis Becomes a New American
Twenty-two foreign-born Maine residents, including New Zealand-born Lyndsey Lewis, completed the long journey of becoming US citizens at a naturalisation ceremony in Acadia National Park. According to Lewis, there were “about 15 or 16 different…
NZ Passport #8 on Power Ranking
“Global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners has released its quarterly report on the world’s most desirable passports,” as reported in India’s Economic Times. New Zealand has been…
Photographer Robin Hammond Speaks Out at UN
The United Nations has celebrated 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at a high-level event on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI) persons around…
NZ and Australia Ground Zero for Chinese Influence
Chen Weijian rests on his balcony, listening to the cicadas in a leafy suburb of Auckland, Rob Schmitz reports in an NPR broadcast. He moved from China in 1991, escaping imprisonment for working on…
Why Countries Are Competing in Happiness Rankings
Move over GDP, happiness is angling to become the metric of the future. Nation states have begun to compete in global happiness rankings and plan policy according to statistics of wellbeing, with New Zealand…
Oceans Apart Doco a Tribute to Māori Determination
British art historian James Fox presents Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific, an “engaging” BBC documentary exploring Māori culture. It is reviewed in The Guardian by Emine Saner. In Oceans Apart, Fox examines artworks that…
Jacinda Ardern Gives Maiden Speech at the UN
The collapse of multilateralism would be “catastrophic,” Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, said in her first speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Opening her address with a Māori salutation,
New Zealand Celebrates 125 Years of Women Voting
New Zealand became the first nation in the world to allow women to vote 125 years ago, and hundreds of people celebrated the anniversary by turning out to gatherings and speeches. New Zealand’s female lawmakers…
Auckland: The Economics of Shared Streets
“The obsession with self-driving cars and dockless cycles means pedestrians are often overlooked. But if we fail to accommodate those on foot, we ignore an essential part of what makes a city great,” writes…
Maori Language Is Having a Renaissance in NZ
“A teenage thrash metal band screams out Maori lyrics in its latest videos. A popular radio host is learning New Zealand’s indigenous language and sharing new vocabulary with his audience. Maori is having a…
Trailblazers: 125 Kiwi Women Who Changed the World
125 Kiwi women who changed the world have been showcased in a special project in The New Zealand Herald, which explores their extraordinary stories. It’s “a combination of high profile women, such as Helen…
New Zealand’s NZX Partners With Nasdaq
“NZX Ltd (NZX.NZ) has signed a deal with U.S. exchange Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) to explore opportunities in dual listings and depository receipts, as the New Zealand bourse looks to attract share sales by providing…
Why Irish Physios Are Flocking to New Zealand
Why do so many Irish physiotherapists choose to move to New Zealand? Over the past decade, the highest number of New Zealand work visas for Irish citizens went to physiotherapists, with 444 work visas…
Trekking N Korea with the Intrepid Roger Shepherd
Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, New Zealander Roger Shepherd who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea, is leading the first group…
Jacinda Ardern On Universally Accessible Arts
New Zealand’s Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern says art should be for the many, not the few. The opinion piece features in Australia’s ArtsHub, and was originally published…
Appreciating the Life and Music of Brent Parker
“Brent Parker, who died aged 84 , was a New Zealand-born composer-pianist and lecturer in pianoforte at the DIT Conservatory of Music whose music was played around the world but whose…
Fiordland Penguins Make Mammoth Migrations
Every December, the Fiordland crested penguins, Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, which live on the South Island, disappear, Jason Daley reports for the Smithsonian journal. A new satellite study shows the penguins migrate up to 7000km to…
New Zealand Debuts World’s First Digital Teacher
Primary school students in New Zealand will soon be the first in the world to learn from an artificially intelligent (AI) digital avatar. Auckland energy company Vector teamed up with AI…
Sabah-Based Wendy Hutton a Prolific Travel Writer
Renowned food and travel writer, New Zealand-born Wendy Hutton, who lived in Malaysia, has died, aged 77. Hutton first set foot in Southeast Asia in 1967, and had worked in the region ever since. Based…
Aucklanders Share SH1 with Family of Ducks
As a species, humans rarely take the time to exude kindness to each other, let alone our fellow inhabitants of this Earth. But motorists in Auckland recently provided a high-minded example of how to…
Spencer P. Jones Inspired Countless Musicians
Guitarist, songwriter and storyteller, New Zealander Spencer P. Jones, who forged his name in Australia and overseas with rock ‘n’ roll bands The Johnnys and Beasts of Bourbon, has died. He was 62. Born in…
Respected News Presenter Greg Boyed
“Tributes are flowing in for respected TVNZ broadcaster Greg Boyed, who took his own life on Monday after a battle with depression,” writes Andrew Prentice in an article for the
Christchurch Once Again Refugee Settlement Location
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees represents an important step for New Zealand’s ambitions to increase the refugee quota and is a milestone for the city’s post-earthquake…
Yvette Morrissey Walks Scotland for a Cause
Most people choose to enjoy Scotland’s awe-inspiring views by bus or car, but New Zealand travel writer Yvette Morrissey, 29, has hiked a massive 864km on foot to take in the country’s beauty and…
Kentucky’s Peter Williams a Lauded Equine Artist
New Zealand-born artist Peter Williams, a familiar figure in the paddocks of the most famous racetracks in the world, has died at the age of 84 at his home in Goshen, Kentucky, in the…
New Zealanders’ Epic Trips to Isle of Skye
New Zealander Dr Hannah Bulloch is in Scotland to research a book she is writing based on trips her grandfather made to the Isle of Skye. The BBC’s Annabel Maclennan caught up with Bulloch…
NZ Avocado Shortage Leads to Orchard Crime Wave
“People in New Zealand are taking desperate measures to acquire a coveted treat for their breakfast toast: avocados. With prices for the fruit soaring after two years of low harvests, orchards are experiencing a…
