News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Power in Numbers

Power in Numbers

Minister for research, science and technology, Dr Pete Hodgson, headed an impressive delegation of NZ scientists and executives at the annual Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO) meeting in San Francisco. In the course of the conference NZ and Australia…

Jack Foster, 71

Jack Foster, 71

Legendary marathoner Jack Foster died after a cycling accident south of Rotorua. He was the marathon silver medallist at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, where he set his personal best time at the age of…

Back to Back Wins at ‘The Glens’

Back to Back Wins at ‘The Glens’

Kiwi driver Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing has won the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix for the second consecutive year. Dixon’s win – his first for 2006 – moves him up two…

World Class

World Class

Dr John Bedbrook, President and CEO of American GM crop developer Verdia, has returned to his native NZ as part of the government’s World Class New Zealanders business advisory program. Bedbrook recently spoke at the Bio2004 convention in…

Raw power

Raw power

Adoptive Canterbrian, Leslie Kenton, has published her 35th book: The Powerhouse Diet. The comprehensive guide to eating raw foods is the award-winning author’s latest contribution to the field of health and well-being.

Edge to the curve

Edge to the curve

NZ artists Claire Hammon and Nadia Hunt took part in the inaugural Curvy Exhibition, organised by Australia’s Yen magazine and M-One-11 clothing. Curvy was set up to promote the best of female design…

Harry Potter gets Edge makeover

Harry Potter gets Edge makeover

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has received reviews far outstripping the first two films in the franchise, thanks largely to its radical new director cinematographer team of Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama…

Lovin’ Lovemarks

Lovin’ Lovemarks

CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Kevin Roberts, launches Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, in the USA, UK and Australia.  “Roberts new book is not just another one of a multitude of works about…

“A fascinating man”

“A fascinating man”

The Scotsman profiles Brian Turner – NZ’s poet laureate, brother to Brian (golf) and Glenn (cricket), and part-time caddie. Turner takes two months off writing each year to hit the greens, this time alongside…

Puckish Psathas

Puckish Psathas

NZ composer John Psathas applauded in the Guardian‘s review of his collaboration with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble in Bath. “This concert, entitled Zeibekiko, threw a puckish girdle round the world as … John Psathas…

Professor Roy Crawford

Professor Roy Crawford

The Guardian attributes Professor Roy Crawford leaving Queen’s University Belfast to take up the post of Vice Chancellor at Waikato University to NZ’s current It status: “Oh, Australia must be annoyed. For centuries it’s been top dog…

Greenbacks for green ogre

Greenbacks for green ogre

Shrek 2 (directed by Kiwi Andrew Adamson) confounded US box office analysts by taking an incredible US$104.3 million on its first weekend of release – $20 million more than predicted. This makes it the…

Kiwi cuisine

Kiwi cuisine

The NZ Film Commission party provided the best food at Cannes, according to a festival in the Age. The NZFC flew in six top chefs from Auckland for the event.

Ulmer, Henderson, Cycle to Victory.

Ulmer, Henderson, Cycle to Victory.

New Zealand cyclist Sarah Ulmer took control of the hotly contested 300m individual pursuit when she broke the world record by two 10ths of a second in 3:31.157, to win the World Championship. Greg Henderson also…

Oil or nothing

Oil or nothing

NZ olive oil producers won 5 gold medals at the annual LA Country Wines and Olive  Oils of the World competition in May. Serendipity Olive Company won a gold each  for its barnea and extra…

Bruce Reihana: Players’ Player

Bruce Reihana: Players’ Player

Former All Black wing, Bruce Reihana, was named the English premier league’s Professional Rugby Players’ Association (PRA) Players’ Player of the Year in May. The 28-year-old Northampton Saints star was the English Premiership’s joint top try-scorer at the…

Go Speed Racer

Go Speed Racer

NZ director Roger Donaldson is bringing the life of Invercargill’s legendary motorcyclist Burt Munro to the silver screen, with Sir Anthony Hopkins in the starring role. Entitled The World’s Fastest Indian (after the 1920…

Humdinga

Humdinga

Alan Gibbs launches the Gibbs Humdinga at the Motor Show in Birmingham. A V8 350 bhp five seater go-anywhere machine, the Humdinga reaching 160 km/h on land and 48 km/h on the water. Says Gibbs, “There…

Walking the South Island

Walking the South Island

Berni Moestafa, contributor from Jakata, walks part of the South Island. “New Zealand has many faces. It is a sub-tropical forest with lush ferns and unusual old trees, or a strip of perfect white beach, an…

Stead’s dazzling portrait

Stead’s dazzling portrait

CK Stead’s novel about Katherine Mansfield succeeds on several levels, portraying Mansfield as human, flawed, in love, highly intelligent and excited about her career. He believes that what is important is the life and…

Review of the Market Years

Review of the Market Years

Illinois’ Hillsdale College, published an overview of New Zealand Government reforms in the 80s and 90s, penned by former NZ MP Maurice McTigue. The article argued that high living standards result from significant ingenuity operating in a…

Otago is “Lord of the Reds”

Otago is “Lord of the Reds”

“The Pinot Noir grail is to be found in Central Otago,” writes British wine expert Janice Robinson in the latest World Atlas of Wine. The availability of Pinot Noir and other New Zealand wines in Tokyo…

Black Sticks Blitz

Black Sticks Blitz

The NZ women’s hockey team emerged victorious from its 4-Test series against India in May. The Kiwis took an unbeatable lead by drawing the third Test after winning the first two.  

Docherty Takes on the World … and Wins

Docherty Takes on the World … and Wins

Bevan Docherty won gold at the 2004 Triathlon World Championship in Funchal, Madeira. Fellow Kiwis Hamish Carter and Shane Reed came in at 6th and 7th place, respectively, with Samantha Warriner finishing 13th in the women’s event. Debbie…

Overnight Express to the Edge

Overnight Express to the Edge

NZ was named Favourite Long-haul Destination in the Guardian and Observer’s annual People’s Choice Awards, for the third time in the past four years. NZ topped the poll with 96.8% of the vote, beating Peru, Australia, and…

Café Crawl

Café Crawl

An Age tour of Wellington’s thriving café scene includes stops at Fidel’s, Pravda, Red Square, Espressoholic, and Lido. According to interviewee and Fidel’s owner, Roger Young, “There are some of the best cafés in the world here. It’s because the…

Flexible, Shock-proof, and Room for Growth

Flexible, Shock-proof, and Room for Growth

The NZ economy received a big tick in the annual IMF report. According to the Washington-based lender, a combination of sensible policies and reforms over the last 20 years had “contributed to NZ’s robust economic growth, made…

Fashion’s High Fliers

Fashion’s High Fliers

Air NZ has launched a much-needed overhaul of its flight attendants’ uniforms (last updated in 1991), with Elisabeth and Neville Findlay of Zambesi at the helm. The airline was recently announced as the new…

Classics with an edge

Classics with an edge

NZer Geoff Sewell is the brains (and tenor) behind the hottest act to hit international classical and mainstream charts since Hayley Westenra – Amici Forever: The Opera Band. The quintet – hailing from…

Grant Works His Magic

Grant Works His Magic

Malcolm Grant – former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, now Provost of University College London – profiled in the Guardian. UCL’s retiring professor of English, John Sutherland, noted his ‘impeccable academic pedigree’ (Grant is a lawyer and…

Tama takes Manhattan

Tama takes Manhattan

Triumph of Time, the debut album by New York-based musician Tama Waipara, has been well received both locally and internationally. His US label – ObliqSound – is promoting the album as “a diverse…

Edge Adventurer

Edge Adventurer

BBC notes the NZ connection in Shackleton’s legendary voyage, prior to the opening of Te Papa’s Antarctic Heroes – The Race to the South Pole exhibition. Kiwi Frank Worsley successfully navigated Shackleton’s boat -…

Kiwi Stonehenge

Kiwi Stonehenge

June 5 saw the opening of NZ’s very own Stonehenge, erected in the Wairarapa by the Phoenix Astronomical Society. More than simply a replica of its northern predecessor, the Kiwi henge is a celestial calendar of the…

Jonah, His Story

Jonah, His Story

Rugby icon Jonah Lomu is back in the news thanks to the release of his highly-anticipated autobiography, Jonah My Story. The Age praises the “simple yet emotionally taut language” Lomu uses to portray his rise from troubled and…

Little Sis at #3

Little Sis at #3

New Zealand-born Daniel Bedingfield’s younger sister Natasha enters the UK charts at #3 with her single “Single”. The album is quite “streety”, it is quite RnB-ish, with a bit of reggae and a couple…

Chelsea Flower Gold Show.

Chelsea Flower Gold Show.

The 100% Pure New Zealand Ora – garden of wellbeing, won one of four gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show in London. The garden was designed by Kim Jarrett, Trish Waugh and Lionel Grant, and…

Cyber-Cinderella story

Cyber-Cinderella story

According to the Washington Post, Auckland band Steriogram represents the future of talent scouting. The band was signed after American freelance scout Joe Berman typed ‘New Zealand indie rock bands’ into his computer search…

Increased Coverage This Season

Increased Coverage This Season

“Dusseldorf, Reykjavik, Melbourne, Madrid and Hong Kong may as yet be household names only in the households taking part, but Mercedes-Benz Sydney Fashion Week, Air New Zealand Fashion Week and Sao Paulo Fashion Week…

Hero’s Exit for Cairns

Hero’s Exit for Cairns

Chris Cairns retired from international Test cricket with a bang on the Black Caps tour of England. In the second Test he beat Viv Richards’ previous record of 84 Test sixes, knocking four sixes and 10 fours…

Far and Away

Far and Away

A team of NZ and Japanese astronomers at Mount John Observatory have discovered Earth’s most distant planetary neighbour. The planet – which is about the size of Jupiter – was located 17,000 light years away, in the…

Go Fish

Go Fish

Fish la Boissonerie – co-owned by Kiwi Drew Harre and American Juan Sanchez – features in an LA Times guide to dining well (without breaking the bank) in Paris. “Here’s a place to go,…

Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

Russell Crowe provided the narration for a “ground-breaking” documentary series on Anzac soldiers, recently aired on NZ television and screening in Australia later this year. The series celebrates the bond between NZ and Australian soldiers, from WW1 to…

Edge of Eden

Edge of Eden

A NZ themed garden is to feature at the most prestigious horticultural event of the year – the RHS Chelsea Garden Show, May 25-8. The 100% Pure NZ Ora Garden of well-being is inspired by Maori mythology…

RNZB Romances Britain

RNZB Romances Britain

The Royal NZ Ballet production of Romeo and Juliet – helmed by star British choreographer Christopher Hampson – has received glowing reviews in the UK press. Guardian: “The NZ dancers are terrifically…

Kiri Vows to Remain a Friend in a High Place

Kiri Vows to Remain a Friend in a High Place

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has announced that she will continue singing despite turning 60 this year – the age at which she has previously said she would retire. Her chief reason is to keep…

Something to Crowe about

Something to Crowe about

Russell Crowe’s Maximus (Gladiator) is the greatest movie hero of all time, according to a poll by a British video rental company. Crowe beat Christopher Reeve in Superman, Mel Gibson in Braveheart, and Sigourney Weaver in Aliens…

Tales from the city’s edge

Tales from the city’s edge

Canterbury School of Fine Arts graduates Kent Bell, Sara Givins, Damon MacLeod, Rachel Brown, and Reece Sanders have mounted a joint exhibition at Melbourne’s Conical Gallery, running April 23 – May 8. Entitled City…

“For Many NZ is the New Utopia”

“For Many NZ is the New Utopia”

20 April 2004 – The flood of US immigrants seeking a better life in NZ continues – with good reason, according to a lengthy San Francisco Gate article. “It’s like California, it’s like San…

Queenstown: Thrill Mecca

Queenstown: Thrill Mecca

The will to thrill Kiwi-style shows no signs of subsiding, with bungy related features by the BBC and  Observer, and one covering the full adventure spectrum – from tandem parapenting to fly-by-wire – in the Straits Times….

Crumpton Chicago-bound

Crumpton Chicago-bound

Shireen Crumpton won the 42.2km Canberra Marathon in impressive style, crossing the line a full 16 minutes before second place-getter Helen Verity-Tolhurst of Queensland. Crumpton’s victory earns her a starting place at the prestigious Chicago Marathon in October….

Star on the rise

Star on the rise

14-year-old Wellington performer Letitia Forbes has a starring role in the latest production by Cirque de Soleil – Quidam. An accomplished singer and actress, Forbes plays the central character of Zoe. The show is…

Up Close and Personal

Up Close and Personal

Kaikoura features in the Guardian‘s top ten whale-watching tours around the world. “Head to for an excellent chance of seeing 66-foot sperm whales … humpbacks whales, killer whales (orca), and the small Hectors dolphin, a…

The Wright Stuff

The Wright Stuff

John Wright led India to a historic Test series win against traditional rivals Pakistan – the side’s first on Pakistani soil. The former NZ player is the first non-Indian to coach the national cricket team. …

Baby Blacks Sweep the Field

Baby Blacks Sweep the Field

NZ won its fourth title in six years at the IRB Under-19 World Championship in Durban, with a convincing 34-11 victory over France. NZ made four tries to France’s one, with fullback Miah Nikora supplying 14 points…

Multi-tasker

Multi-tasker

“Double internationals – people who represent their country at more than one sport – are rare. Someone who represents his country on the sports field and also stands on it to sing the national anthem is…

Taking Maori Stories to the World

Taking Maori Stories to the World

13 April 2004 – Whale Rider star Rawiri Paratene visited Hawaii in mid-April to discuss cultural themes in the film and NZ as a tourist destination. “Whale Rider has been a boom for Maori filmmakers,” said…