New Zanada is Officially The Nicest Country In The World
BuzzFeed has compiled a list of how great two of the nicest countries in the world would be if they were put together. The joined nation of New Zealand and Canada, dubbed New Zanada, has…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Sean MacPherson Lights Up New York’s East Village
New Zealand-born New York hotelier Sean MacPherson’s new hotel The Ludlow is the sixth and largest in his growing empire of soigné, Downtown lodgings and restaurants, reports the New York Observer. The Ludlow…
Architecture Full of Romantics – Mark Wigley, Retiring Columbia Dean
New Zealand-born Mark Wigley has stepped down after 10 years as dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University. Under his leadership, the school has built on its…
I Love Ugly to Open Store in LA
Founders of menswear label I Love Ugly have reluctantly stepped into the spotlight as they prepare to go global. The New Zealand entrepreneurs are about to open their first international store in LA on…
NZ Security Expert – ISIS Positioned to Develop Chemical Weapons
In the course of its Blitzkrieg in northern Iraq, ISIS captured the Al Muthanna complex, which contains remnants of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons stock, buried in underground concrete bunkers and left undestroyed by American…
Kiwi’s Photo of Star System Shortlisted for International Award
A stunning image entitled “The Turbulent Heart of the Scorpion” by New Zealand photographer Rolf Wahl Olsen has been shortlisted in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The photograph is of the multiple star…
Kiwi Doctor to Perform Double Arm Transplant
New Zealand Doctor Simon Talbot will lead a surgical team to give a quadruple amputee both his arms back. Will Lautzenheiser, filmmaker and former BU professor, lost all four of his limbs three…
Artist Transforms iPhone Into Modern Soldier Tribute
A leading New York based New Zealand photographer Henry Hargreaves, has created a new art series featuring Vietnam War style messages on mobile phones. In his new series “War Phones”, Hargreaves worked with a prop stylist…
Boeing Delivers First 787-9 Dreamliner to Air New Zealand
New Zealand will be home to the first Boeing 787-9 plane after Air New Zealand officially acquired the first of the 10 new models yesterday. “Boeing is proud to have contractually delivered the first 787-9…
Whittaker’s Chocolate Officially Enters Malaysian Market
Iconic Kiwi company, Whittaker’s Chocolate, is confident they will be the leader in Malaysia’s premium chocolate segment in two years. Whittaker’s, which has been sold in duty-free stores in Malaysia for the past 10 years,…
Significant and Bittersweet Victory for New Zealand Equestrian
New Zealand equestrian Tim Price has won the prestigious Luhmuhlen four-star three-day event in Germany, an event marred by the death of local rider Benjamin Winter in Saturday night’s cross country phase. Price and his…
Operation Dog on a Log Rescue a Naval Success Story
The heartwarming rescue by the Royal New Zealand Navy of a dog on a log has gained international media attention. “This is the astonishing scene that greeted sailors on a New Zealand naval ship –…
Blair Peach’s Alleged Killer Identified
The fight to bring to justice the British police officers believed responsible for the unlawful killing of New Zealand schoolteacher Blair Peach has been given impetus with the publication of a new pamphlet examining…
Picton: The Place Where Jurassic Fossils Still Live
A sea animal thought extinct for four million years has been rediscovered in, of all places, Picton, New Zealand. Previously unknown outside of Europe and the Middle East, fossilised remains of the sea animal…
American Focus on New Zealand Start-Ups
Rod Drury has revealed his secret for New Zealand’s start-up success: “global from day one”. Xero founder and entrepreneur Rod Drury told the Wall Street Journal that New Zealand’s small domestic customer base means the…
World’s Number One Innovator: Xero
Influential US business media Forbes has declared New Zealand start-up Xero as the world’s most innovative growth company, beating out much bigger and well-established companies, ASOS and NetSuite. The Wellington-based cloud accounting firm, which has…
Callaghan Chief Star Witness in Terrorist Trial
The head of Callaghan Innovation, Mary Quin, has told a New York court about her abduction by Islamic radicals connected to “handless hate preacher” Abu Hamza al-Masri in Yemen. Quin later confronted Abu Hamza…
Adams’ Tough Guy Reputation Grows
Steven Adams is developing a bruising reputation in his debut season with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA. Adams has been the cause of five incidents that have resulted in an ejection, suspension,…
Unorthodox Bubble Deflating
First it was a Forbes columnist poking the borax at the New Zealand economy; now Goldman Sachs is having a go at our property market. The Goldman report is a look at central bank…
Dolphins Protect Swimmer from Great White
A pod of New Zealand dolphins has protected a British swimmer from a Great White Shark during a crossing of Cook Strait to raise money for charity. A video of the encounter on…
Our Salmon is Better
The South China Morning Post is touting New Zealand’s credentials as the next “Canada” for rich mainland Chinese seeking fresh pastures. “An influx of deep-pocketed mainland Chinese has helped New Zealand reach its highest…
Aussies Shocked at Star Kiwi Omissions
Australian eyebrows are being raised quizzically at the Kiwi league team announced to face the Kangaroos in the annual Anzac Day test match this Friday. With an injury list as long as a video…
Ko’s Classic Swing Wins Skirts in San Fran
Kiwi golf prodigy Lydia Ko has earned her biggest prize purse of her short professional career when she took out the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco at the weekend. The 17-year-old displayed…
Darby’s Sexy Leg Confuses Variety
Rhys Darby’s new eight-episode mockumentary Short Poppies is being praised for its “whimsical and winsome” charms ahead of its debut on American screens on Netflix. The LA Times’ Robert Lloyd describes the series as…
Kiwi Powers Oxford to Biggest Victory in 40 Years
One of Southland’s finest, world champion and Olympic medallist Storm Uru, has played a critical role in continuing Oxford University’s domination of Cambridge University in their hotly contested annual boat race this month. Oxford…
Teen Environmental Animation Premiers at US Festival
A short film by 16-year-old Nastasha Bishop has had its US premier at the prestigious Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC at the weekend. As the Washington Post notes, the festival is misnamed. These…
Kiwi Royalty Thrills Chicago
21 March 2014 – The long and the short of it is if you’re a Kiwi in America you support one another. New Zealand’s two most famous US exports – basketball prodigy Steven Adams…
Not Since 1974: Kiwi Dollar to Hit Parity with Aussie
The last time it happened Dick Taylor won gold at the 10,000m Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Hone Tuwhare was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship for poetry and Bunny Walters topped the charts with his…
McGeechan picks England to beat All Blacks
If it was anyone else saying it – a froth-filled Stephen Jones broadside, perhaps – Kiwis would ignore it. But Sir Ian McGeechan, the decorated Scotsman, respected Lions player and venerated coach, is a…
NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’
British BBC readers overwhelmingly support New Zealand ditching the last official remnant of its colonial past. A referendum will be held at this year’s election on whether to change the flag, which features the…
Air NZ Soars Above Qantas
The last time Air New Zealand invested in the Australian aviation market, the airline required a Government bail-out to stave off bankruptcy as its subsidiary Ansett fell apart. This time round, it’s Air New…
International Stage for NZ Writing
Acclaimed literature almanac, the Griffith Review, has devoted an entire issue to New Zealand poetry, fiction, non-fiction, art and photography. Award-winning author of Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones, has been brought in as guest editor…
Kiwi Whisky Judged One of the Greats
A top-shelf tipple from the planet’s southern-most country has been named as one of the world’s best by a global whisky expert, Jim Murray. The flagship 21-year-old South Island Single Malt has been adjudged…
Lorde & the Perfectly Formed Sentence
Ella Yellich-O’Connor stares at the reader from the pages of Vogue magazine looking wraithlike, almost like another famous alien fallen to earth. This Lorde looks quite unlike the girl from Devonport who improbably conquered…
Black Caps on the Rise
What a summer. Three test victories, two test series wins and a 4-0 drubbing of the No. 1 ranked one-day side in the world. New Zealand has risen one place to seventh in the…
Impressive and Uncommonly Versatile NY Triple Bill
24 February 2014 – The opening of Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) at The Joyce in New York “marked the final stop on a US tour that has covered a lot of ground –…
Epic Innings Earns International Acclaim
Black Caps captain Brendan McCullum’s magisterial triple century – the first ever achieved by a New Zealander – has been hailed by Indian media as one of the greatest innings in cricket history. As…
Cricket’s Hottest Property Nearly a Millionaire
Black Cap Corey Anderson is only 23-years old and nearly a millionaire. Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians paid $866,000 for the young all-rounder, who set the cricketing world alight with the fastest one-day…
A Test Win for the Ages
Test cricket’s status as the most important and exciting form of the game was given a resounding endorsement with New Zealand’s win over India at Eden Park, Auckland. Sports journalists thumbed the thesaurus in…
Nautical Hot Rod Breaches like a Whale
It looks like an Orca breaching the water in pursuit of its favourite stingray prey. But it is in fact the high performance “hot rod for the water” that is the brainchild of California-based…
Waititi’s Vampire: Mind the Furnishings!
Acclaimed New Zealand auteurs Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clement are garnering rave reviews for their vampire mockumentary, What We Do In The Shadows, which has premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, America’s finest showcase…
Kiwi Heroine Among the Greats
22 January 2004 – New Zealand World War II heroine Nancy Wake has been named by Global Post as amongst the greatest female warriors off all time. In Jessica Phelan’s article – Seven of…
Leaving on Length Critical for India’s NZ tour
Indian cricket sides have historically struggled on tours to New Zealand and one of the reasons is to do with the bounce of the ball and movement off the wicket. In India, where the…
Australians Unhappy at Avatar Deal
The Government has delivered a huge boost to the New Zealand film industry by cutting a deal with 20th Century Fox that will see the three James Cameron Avatar sequels filmed Downunder. Prime Minister…
American eyes Downunder
A foreigner’s perspective on home is valuable insight into aspects of our culture we often take for granted. The outsider’s view can also be funny. Read two recent adulatory articles about New Zealand in…
NZ Innovation Shines on World Stage
New Zealand’s reputation for world-leading innovation has been significantly burnished in the latest Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Index, which ranks the top 500 tech companies across the region based on triennial revenue…
Kiwi Women Lead Cultural Renaissance
Once upon a time New Zealand cultural values were based on the unholy trinity of rugby, racing and beer. Then the marketing concepts – clean and green; 100% Pure – were added to the…
NZ Public Institutions Trustworthy
New Zealand has been declared the least corrupt nation on earth, equal with Denmark. Rounding out the top four are usual Scandinavian suspects Finland and Sweden, according to Transparency International’s 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index….
Creativity Before Celebrity
Lorde has suddenly become quite famous, but in reality the 17-year-old kiwi just wants to stay out of the world of smoke and mirrors like other young popstar of today. “It’s still pretty weird,” she…
Maori to NY: Let our People Sleep the Sweet Slumber
Pressure will be mounting on the American Museum of Natural History in New York to return sacred Maori remains to New Zealand after USA Today gave prominence to the issue of toi moko (tattooed…
How do NZ Teams Get out of Jail?
The last seconds, last-gasp victories by the Kiwis and All Blacks at the weekend have prompted English writers to wax philosophical about fine lines and the nature of success. Make no mistake, both the…
Alone It Still Stands
The All Blacks are like a vampire – “you have to stick two stakes through the heart at the crossroads to make sure they are dead and buried,” says John Breen. The proud Irish…
‘NZ Story’ Toolkit Unveiled
Hobbits, yacht design and international celebrity chef Peter Gordon join the obligatory mountain peaks and coastal visas in a new toolkit of material designed to allow New Zealand businesses to tell a consistent story…
Kennedy’s Last Seconds Captured by NZer
A Kiwi’s photographs capturing the last second before the assassination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas have been discovered in storage in New Zealand – and are now gracing the front cover of…
Driving the Kiwi Economy
Many strange things are used to measure economic growth and decline: the lipstick economy, the horse-trading economy, the Playboy economy (curves in recession, skinny in boom times) and even underwear, as Fed chairman Alan Greenspan…
NZ Farewells World Cup Dream
New Zealand football fans have a black sense of humour honed by decades of disappointment and only leavened by occasional World Cup success. So, the joke doing the rounds – “Want to hear something…
