News of New Zealanders via Global Media

The money or the bag?

The money or the bag?

Scott Smith of Auckland became the 7th contestant to face the million dollar question on hit Australian quiz show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The aspiring minister ended up taking $500,000 as opposed…

On top of the Down Under world

On top of the Down Under world

Is It?, a co-production by Emily Ansell (NZ) and Leonie Blignaut (SAF), won first prize at the UpOverDownUnder film festival in London. The annual event promotes independent film making in Britain’s Antipodean and South…

Double Milestone

Double Milestone

The Black Caps’ tour of Bangladesh was a resounding success, with NZ winning both the Test and ODI series by comfortable margins. During the second Test captain Stephen Fleming overtook Martin Crowe as NZ’s…

A Kiwifruit a Day…

A Kiwifruit a Day…

Eating kiwifruit can help ward off heart disease, according to new research undertaken in Norway. Polyphenolic compounds in the fruit cut the amount of fat platelets being pumped around the body and thin the blood, thus reducing…

Good things take time

Good things take time

An Australian Rolling Stone feature examines the intimate and lengthy process behind the making of Everyone Is Here, the first collaborative album by Neil and Tim Finn in nearly a decade. “Hyperbole can’t…

Just don’t ask him to assume the brace position

Just don’t ask him to assume the brace position

Auckland armour maker, Warren Ormsby-Green, made Web India‘s ‘What in the Weird’ equivalent with his air travel exploits. Ormsby-Green, who created pieces for LotR and The Last Samurai, wears a full set of armour…

Mecca for Moviegoers

Mecca for Moviegoers

NZ topped the list of holiday destinations inspired by films in a British survey by Thomson Holidays. 40% of voters picked NZ in response to its LotR exposure. Cephalonia (Captain Corelli’s Mandolin), Thailand (The Beach), Malta (Troy),…

The Wonders of Technology

The Wonders of Technology

77-year-old Aroha Pearless used the internet to track down her first crush, a US marine stationed in NZ during WW2. Pearless had found photos of her former flame, Carl Leary, while cleaning out an old album. Remembering…

Tourist Hot Spot Gets Edged

Tourist Hot Spot Gets Edged

NZ’s Marine Tourism Holdings is the latest company to set up shop at Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef, offering daily tours to a 45m pontoon based at Knuckle Reef. The pontoon, which houses an interpretive centre and a…

Pass the Watties?

Pass the Watties?

1988 NZ Chef of the Year and Elton John’s former cook, Clive Hitchens, has returned to his roots, opening a meat pie shop in Alameda, California. Hitchens and partner, Donna, had been successfully selling…

Quick Legs, Quicker Wit

Quick Legs, Quicker Wit

Former All Black Eric Rush interviewed by the Gulf News at the launch of the 35th Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby 7s tournament. Rush joined Dan Crowley and John Bentley as key note speakers for the event. “I’ve…

Triumph for Edge Adventurers

Triumph for Edge Adventurers

NZ team Seagate and US team Nike were joint winners of the Subaru Primal Quest adventure race, held in Washington. The event involved six days of trekking, mountaineering, biking, running, orienteering and kayaking. It was shortened from…

White Knuckle Christmas

White Knuckle Christmas

The Independent lists Queenstown as one of 25 top Christmas holiday destinations. “Work up an appetite for a festive roast lamb dinner by getting the adrenalin flowing among NZ’s stunning mountain scenery … On any day of…

Elegance with Edge

Elegance with Edge

Karen Walker and Zambesi turned many a well-coiffed head at last month’s London Fashion Week. Guardian critic, Jess Cartner-Morley, picked Walker’s show one of the highlights of the week: ” … took as her…

Precious Metal Keeps on Coming

Precious Metal Keeps on Coming

NZ athletes did us proud at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, netting a total of six gold medals, one silver, and three bronze. The Wheel Blacks won gold in the wheelchair rugby final against…

National Treasure in Good Hands

National Treasure in Good Hands

China Daily features the Kiwi Recovery Programme, a government sponsored initiative to save the national icon from extinction. “NZ has a history of making refuges for wildlife … saying, these things are in trouble, we’ll scatter them…

Lives on the Edge

Lives on the Edge

National Geographic report details NZ’s world-leading conservation programmes, set up to preserve and protect our “virtual Noah’s Ark of bizarre animals.” NZ is considered a pioneering force in the establishment of animal sanctuaries, with 198 translocation projects involving…

Champs on Surf and Turf

Champs on Surf and Turf

NZ finished second overall in the world lifesaving championships at Viareggio, Italy, behind Australia and ahead of South Africa. The Kiwis won 17 medals in total, including gold in the men’s beach flags event (Morgan Foster), gold in…

Rhodes Beats the Heat

Rhodes Beats the Heat

Brian Rhodes won the men’s open category of the Desaru International Triathlon in sweltering Malaysian conditions, beating last year’s winner Jason Shortis of Australia by nearly five minutes. Fellow Kiwi Stephen Sheldrake finished third. The annual event…

Britain loves Lucie

Britain loves Lucie

Another half-Kiwi is making an assault on the British pop charts: 24-year-old Lucie Silvas. Born in Glasgow to a Scots mother and NZ father, Silvas grew up in NZ before moving to Leicester, where…

Good gut feeling

Good gut feeling

The Kahurangi Maori Dance Theatre enthralled Boston audiences, according to the Village Voice. “From rapid finger flutters to haka warrior poses, thrusts, and vocal outbursts so strong you feel them in your gut, Tama…

Punk lives

Punk lives

Guardian names Selfish Cunt (made up of singer Martin Tomlinson and Kiwi guitarist Patrick Constable) one of the top 40 bands in Britain today, alongside Franz Ferdinand, Blur, The Darkness, and Radiohead. “Dividing the…

Scene stealer

Scene stealer

Star feature on veteran US stuntwoman Jeannie Epper makes mention of her NZ protégé, Zoë Bell. Bell’s career to date includes doubling for Lucy Lawless in Xena, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, and Halle…

International acclaim for national story

International acclaim for national story

NZ/British co-production In My Father’s Den won the prestigious Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique (FIPRESCI) award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by NZer Brad McGann and based on…

Campaigning at the Source

Campaigning at the Source

In innovative anti-drunk driving campaign in NZ has made headlines around the world. Produced by the NZ Land Transport Safety Authority, the large, heat-activated ads are located in urinals in 260 pubs around the country. “What you’ll…

Big Chief Fletcher

Big Chief Fletcher

Christchurch man Ian Fletcher holds a key position in British government as Director of the International Trade Development Group for the British High Commission. Fletcher oversees the promotion of British business around the world; a massive job…

Is This Mike On?

Is This Mike On?

Thai artist Seepphum Srisopa won the Bizarre Bra section of the annual World of Wearable Arts competition in Nelson. His winning creation – a bra with multiple microphones attached and pointing at the wearer…

Mr. President

Mr. President

Dr George Barton QC of Wellington was elected President of the United Bible Societies (UBS) at its World Assembly in Newport, Wales. Barton led the NZ Bible Society from 1966 to 1998, and was vice-president of…

Need for Speed

Need for Speed

NZ claimed two world titles at the mountain bike world championships in Le Gets, France, with Vanessa Quin (26) winning the open women’s downhill race and Scarlett Hagen (17) the junior women’s. Hagen’s time was second…

Passing of a Pioneer

Passing of a Pioneer

NZ’s first women’s Test cricket captain, Ruth Martin, died in Christchurch aged 90. Martin (then Ruth Symons) led NZ in their inaugural Test match, against England 1934-5. The Ruth Martin Cup is presented annually…

Global edge-sposure

Global edge-sposure

Premier NZ vodka label, 42 Below, has made further inroads to the global market, acquiring a key distributor in Australia with Carlton and United Beverages (CUB) and purchasing the US direct sales company Collinsville…

Multilingual, multicultural and multitalented

Multilingual, multicultural and multitalented

Haaretz interviews prolific folk and multicultural musician, Jill Rogoff. Born to a Polish Jewish father and NZ mother, Rogoff was born and grew up in Wellington before leaving for Jerusalem in 1979. She sings in…

Top 40 Hit

Top 40 Hit

Cairnbrae ‘The Stones’ Sauvignon Blanc 2003 made Decanter‘s list of top 40 wines under $10, following a rigorous blind tasting of more than 2,000 offerings. Observer critic Tim Atkin describes the silver medal winner as “lemon,…

One-stop provocation shop

One-stop provocation shop

Denis Dutton’s Arts & Letters Daily website received a generous write-up in the Voice of America. A&L Daily is a collection of links to interesting (and often incendiary) articles available online, sourced…

“Star for the Future”

“Star for the Future”

20-year-old Ben Townley won his first motocross world title (and NZ’s second) with a double victory in the MX2 class at the Grand Prix of Ireland. “On the last lap of the first race, my mechanic, Craig…

One Step at a Time

One Step at a Time

Jonah Lomu is making a strong recovery from his July kidney transplant and has already named next year’s rugby sevens world cup as his comeback date. “That’s great news because sevens can provide him with the perfect…

Paradise Uncovered

Paradise Uncovered

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s ode to NZ, Slipping Into Paradise, reviewed in Japan’s Daily Yomiuri. “Part memoir, part philosophical reflection, part travel book, Slipping into Paradise details why Masson picked NZ from the many countries he had visited as…

Comedy with a Conscience

Comedy with a Conscience

The Ball, an Australian spoof of The Piano by Anny Slater, has been nominated by the UN for a Media Peace Prize. According to Canada’s St Johns Film Festival, “The Ball is a hilarious…

Taking Care of Business

Taking Care of Business

NZ ranked first overall in the World Bank’s  ‘Doing Business’ report for 2004, ahead of the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. The annual survey decides which countries are best for doing business in based on…

Inline Edge

Inline Edge

NZ athletes excelled at the  world inline speed skating championships in Italy, racking up six bronze medals, a silver, and a gold. Shane Dobbin won gold in the 5000m men’s points road race, with brother Kalon…

New Findings, New Hope

New Findings, New Hope

Doctors at NZ’s Liggins Institute have made a crucial breakthrough in the study of breast cancer. Researchers have discovered a growth hormone in breast cancer cells which determines how quickly the cancer spreads. “We have found a…

One Computer to Rule Them All

One Computer to Rule Them All

The supercomputer used to create Oscar-winning special effects for the LotR trilogy is now for hire. Weta Digital and Gen-I (a Telecom subsidiary) have established the NZ Supercomputing Center in Wellington, where commercial and scientific research can…

On the road again

On the road again

Fresh from working with ex-Led Zeppelin John Paul Jones on their second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind, the Datsuns are hooking up with another set of rock legends: The Pixies. The Cambridge-bred quartet will open…

Next Stop Nobel?

Next Stop Nobel?

Professor Paul Callaghan of Wellington has won the prestigious Ampere Prize. The biannual award – one of the most esteemed in the international science community – recognises outstanding work in the field of magnetic resonance. It is…

Wyatt Makes it Four

Wyatt Makes it Four

Jonathan Wyatt won his fourth mountain running world title at Sauze d’Oulx in northern Italy only a week after competing at the Athens Games. His previous victories were in France (1998), Germany (200), and Austria (2002)….

Grand Slam Thank You Ma’am

Grand Slam Thank You Ma’am

Rising Kiwi tennis star Marina Erakovic has added two major titles to her belt, winning both the Canadian and US Open’s junior girls’ doubles event with Dutch partner Michaella Krajicek. Earlier this year the pair made…

Top Spot

Top Spot

Martinborough Hotel features on the Observer‘s list of top retreats for wine lovers. “If you’re looking for a nice drop of Kiwi class, character and convenience, this is just the job … The bistro serves excellent…

Four in Twenty Ain’t Bad

Four in Twenty Ain’t Bad

Four NZ estates made the top 20 international accommodation list in Andrew Harper’s annual Hideaway Report; Blanket Bay (Queenstown), Huka Lodge (Taupo), Wharekauhau (Wairarapa), and Kauri Cliffs (Bay of Islands). ” is proof that the quality of…

Jolly green giant

Jolly green giant

It’s official: Shrek 2 is the third highest-grossing film of all time, behind Titanic and the first Star Wars. Directed by Kiwi Andrew Adamson, Shrek 2 was the surprise hit of the US…

Riding High

Riding High

Sydney Morning Herald profiles 20-year-old Kiwi, Michael Walker; “the best jockey to emerge from across the Tasman since Jim Cassidy and Shane Dye.” Since his 1999 debut, Walker has ridden more than 100 winners in each of…

Chisholm to Packer

Chisholm to Packer

New Zealand-born media supremo Sam Chisholm has resigned as a Director of Telstra to join Kerry Packer’s media group PBL. Chisholm, 64, retains his chairmanship of Foxtel. He was head of Nine in Australia…

Suntan Man

Suntan Man

Al Baldwin, 74, has sprayed his last beachgoer. Over the past 30 years, New Zealand-born Baldwin had become a fixture in Surfers’ Paradise beach, spraying an estimated three million beachgoers with suntan lotion. His business was a…

Wellywood in the Spotlight

Wellywood in the Spotlight

The world’s eyes are on Wellington once again as production steps up on Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake. Jackson promises to make a “wonderful, mysterious adventure film” worthy of the iconic 1933 original, which…

Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff

Alice Goulter, Wellington fashion grad and newly appointed womenswear designer for Mossimo Australia, makes Cleo‘s monthly hot list. “Expect to see a difference when her designs hit stores in October.”  

Dissecting the Edge

Dissecting the Edge

Outside Online writer, Stephanie Pearson, takes a month-long tour of NZ, in a bid to discover “why everyone wants a piece of the Kiwi magic.” After interviewing a slew of overachievers, including Icebreaker’s Jeremy Moon, Peter Jackson,…

Addicted to Jackson

Addicted to Jackson

Empire offers hope to fans experiencing panic attacks at “the thought of a year without a Peter Jackson film.” Shooting on the next Jackson-helmed epic – King Kong – begins in August of this…