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Archive >> May 2013
Indonesia Seeks Better Trade Balance with NZ
Indonesia’s deputy Minister of Trade has called for New Zealand to evolve into a ‘true partner’ that will help Indonesia solve its problems, writes Ruth Le Pla for stuff.co.nz. Speaking…
Reserve Bank’s Intervention Marks ‘New Direction’ in Currency War
The Wall Street Journal uses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s recent action to bring down the NZ dollar as an example of the ‘new direction’ in what…
Minister Blasts Department Over China Meat Export Bungle
A bungle by the NZ Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) was responsible for NZ meat exports being held on Chinese wharves for up to two weeks, says stuff.co.nz. The…
Bamiyan Fears for Future with NZ Troops Gone
‘There are New Zealand soldiers, so there is no Taliban. When they leave, the Taliban for sure will return,’ Ibrahim Chaman, a resident of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, told reporter Emma…
Royal NZ Navy Revisits Shanghai
The Royal New Zealand Navy frigate Te Mana, commanded by Commander Andel, visited China on a goodwill visit for five days in May, according to The Peoples Daily. The…
Jemaine and Bret’s Stateside Legacy
The legacy of Flight of the Conchords has been the creation of a new stereotype for New Zealanders travelling in the US, writes James Robinson. Robinson, a New Zealand…
NZ’s ‘Papple’ Pear Makes Dream California Debut
‘Like an Asian pear with flavour’, the Papple is a NZ bred and grown cross of various Asian pears. The Papple has just made its Californian debut at Gelson’s markets,…
Huawei Founder Choses NZ to Speak to Media for First Time
Huawei Technologies Founder Ren Zhengfei chose New Zealand for his first ever media briefing, The Wall Street Journal reports. ‘New Zealand may be a tiny market for most global…
NZ Rugby Sevens Win 11th World Title
New Zealand crowned their Rugby World Sevens title for 2012/13 with victory in the final tournament at London. The victory came with a 47-12 ‘thrashing’ of Australia, says The…
Photographs Encouraging Conversation About Islam
A photographic exhibition documenting the stories of Asian Muslims in New Zealand has opened at Jakarta’s State Islamic University (UIN). The exhibition of 26 photographs – which also make…
Sir Don McKinnon is 2013’s Supreme World Class New Zealander
Sir Don McKinnon is the Supreme Award winner of the 2013 World Class New Zealand Awards, says scoop.co.nz. The annual award, made by Kea New Zealand on behalf of…
Central Otago Violinist Named Principal in Leipzig
Alexandra-born violinist Jenny Banks has been named principal second violin of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany, one of the oldest and largest civic orchestras in the world. University…
McLaren’s Motor Racing Adventure Continues
“The design and manufacture may have been rudimentary by modern-day standards – the first McLaren racing car was put together in a rented shed with a mud floor –…
Author’s Writing Endures in Latest Collection
Bygone New Zealand is well represented in Janet Frame’s Between My Father and the King: New and Uncollected Stories, the latest in a series of posthumous publications of Frame’s…
#158: All Along The Watchtower
THE GLOBAL LIFE OF NEW ZEALANDERS
From Brian Sweeney, producer NZEDGE.COM…
None of It Has Anything to Do with Orcs
Auckland, home to a third of all New Zealanders, has recently welcomed a raft of bars, boutiques and restaurants that highlight locally made products, from excellent craft beer and…
More Tape Across the UK This Spring
The Boy With Tape On His Face, aka New Zealand comedian Sam Wills, 34, is interviewed by the North Devon Journal ahead of his live show, More…
Hailing the Ultimate Sporting Geek
“Daniel Vettori’s New Zealand return is great news for all of us – one last chance to hail the ultimate sporting geek,” according to Telegraph columnist Jonathan Liew. “For…
Girl on Film All Year in Chicago
New Zealand architect Emily Oakley has documented 365 days of her stay in Chicago one video clip at a time. In her first post of the series…
Producing X-ray Beams in Germany’s North
New Zealander Graham Appleby, a physicist based in Hamburg, speaks to German publication The Local about high intensity x-ray beams and life in Germany’s scientific community, in the latest…
Former Pitcher Turns Oregon’s Luck Around
Formerly of Wellington, Mike White, who became a US citizen in 1994, has turned the Oregon softball program “into a powerhouse”, according to ESPN. One of the elite pitchers…
With Guns Blazing Manhattan Establishment Opens
Auckland-born chef Matt Lambert has opened The Musket Room, a 65-seat establishment in Manhattan’s Nolita, New York. “Named for the Musket Wars of the early 19th century…
Csokas Plays Russian Mafia Villain in The Equalizer
Invercargill-born actor Marton Csokas, 46, has been busy of late playing Dr Kafka in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and, before that, working on both Darren Aronofsky’s Noah and Sin…
Billboard Awards for Somebody That I Used to Know
Hamilton-born singer Kimbra, 23, has received more accolades, winning four categories at the Las Vegas Billboard Music Awards for the duet, “Somebody That I Used to Know”, that…
Popstrangers Not to Be Missed, Says NME
New Zealand’s Popstrangers are winning some high praise in the UK. In fact, NME’s Lisa Wright rates them one of ‘5 new band’s you can’t miss’ in her rundown…
Chris Wood’s Premier League Hopes Dashed
Chris Wood, All White and Leicester City striker, has missed out on joining fellow-All White Winston Reid in the English Premier League next season. Wood’s team were beaten 3-1…
Jo Schmidt Answers Irish Rugby’s Call
Joe Schmidt, former Bay of Plenty ‘Steamers’ coach is the new Ireland Rugby coach. His appointment has brought a renewed ‘feel-good factor’ to Irish rugby, says the the Irish…
Domestic Spy Stories Unfolding
“One of Kim Dotcom’s lasting legacies in New Zealand – beyond his already-legendary arrest, like something out of a film – is that the government may change the law…
Judith Collins to Study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
New Zealand’s Justice Minister Judith Collins has been invited to study at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She will join its Leadership Decision…
Michael Fischer Mines Gold on Top of the World
New Zealander Michael Fischer mines gold at the top of the world. He heads the Kumtor Operating Company in Kyrgyzstan, a nation of 5.5 million people located half way…
Mighty River Power Hopes the Public Buys It
“Aerial shots of majestic dams and steaming geothermal power stations amid lush countryside form the backdrop for television advertisements promoting the initial public offering of the government-owned electricity company…
Urban is Bones No Doubt About It
Wellington-born actor Karl Urban, 40, is Doctor “Bones” McCoy, one of the series’ most iconic Starfleet crew. Urban has tackled many iconic sci-fi and fantasy characters on the silver…
Sending the Right Message About Age
“Karen Walker Eyewear is worn by the style conscious and coveted by a youthful market, yet their latest campaign showcases women aged between 80 and 93 from [New York-based…
Harvard University Farm Purchase Draws Mixed Reaction
Harvard University’s decision to buy a 1300-hectare Otago dairy farm drew mixed reactions from New Zealand politicians. Winston Peters, New Zealand First’s Leader, criticised New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office’s…
Simon Upton Keynote Speaker at Future of Growth Forum
Simon Upton, Environment Director for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and former New Zealand Minister for the Environment, is a keynote speaker at an upcoming European…
New Gut-Busting Competition Show Planned
Amazing Race host New Zealander Phil Keoghan will produce and may become the face of a new, even more gruelling competition show that could air later this year. Under…
Air New Zealand’s Skycouches Pass ‘GeekDad’ Test
Andy Robertson is the self-styled ‘Chief GeekDad’ of UK Wired magazine. Recently, he put Air New Zealand’s innovative Skycouch technology to the ‘geek’ test, flying from the UK to…
Auckland City Lets You be the Planner
Scientific American recently featured an article, from Fast Company, on the Auckland City Council’s Shape Auckland Housing Simulator. The simulator helps residents engage with Auckland’s Unitary Plan,…
New Zealand’s Boating Industry Keeps Winning Awards and Customers
New Zealand’s luxury boat builders have always made boats that ‘defeat the odds, break records and collect awards,’ writes Maria Alafouzou in the New York Times. You might think,…
First Hand Account from the Top
Sixty years after Hillary and Tenzing reached Everest’s summit, a number of new books dissect the events of 1953, including two books by New Zealander George Lowe, who died…
Mockridge Appointed Head of Pay Television Service
Tom Mockridge has been appointed Virgin Media chief executive, replacing fellow New Zealander Neil Berkett. The move will see the former chief executive of News International, a near 22-year…
Voted Top Player by His Irish Peers
Aucklander Nick Williams, 29, who plays at back row forward for Ulster Rugby, has been presented with Player of the Year at the RaboDirect PRO12 awards gala in Dublin….
Ceremony Honours Remains of Chinese Goldminers
“When the steamer SS Ventnor sank off the in 1902, a Wellington newspaper listed its lost cargo in the language of the time as ‘5347 tons of…
So Good and So Vegetarian
“You’ll find Kokako in a 1940s post office in Auckland’s Grey Lynn, a rapidly gentrifying inner-city liberal stronghold,” Monocle reports. “The café opened a year ago –…
Gulf Cooperation Council and NZ to Ratify Trade Agreement
New Zealand is likely to ratify a trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) within the next 12 months, according to Steve Jones, NZ Consul General to the…
NZ’s Jonathan Paget Wins Badminton
New Zealander Jonathan “Jock” Paget, 29, became only the second person to win the Badminton horse trials at the first attempt, says The Telegraph. Paget, a former bricklayer who…
Tim Groser out of WTO Race
A Latin American is set to head the World Trade Organization after the field for its next director general narrowed to Mexico’s former trade minister Herminio Blanco and Brazilian…
Saxophonist Has More Fire Than Most
Jazz musician, Aucklander Nathan Haines’ latest album The Poet’s Embrace, is “full of muscular playing and emotional bite,” according to Financial Times reviewer Mike Hobart. “Haines has more focus…
Opportunities for Sharing World Class Technology
New Zealander Richard Watson had the unusual pleasure of sharing his Burke County farm in Georgia with visitors from home. “We bought this property in 2007, and here currently,…
Lorde: Royals
Here is the official music video for Lorde’s 2013 number one hit single, Royals.
Posthumous Novel Palpably Alive
“In the Memorial Room is not just a brilliant novel but a considered and poignant posthumous literary act, a curtain call by one of the world’s greatest authors, New…
Novel Makes German Awards Shortlist
New Zealand author Lloyd Jones’ novel Hand Me Down World is one of six books to make the shortlist for Germany’s International Literature Award 2013. For the awards, 136…
All That and Everest Too
The British expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, led by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was one memorable event of that year, “a summer sixty years…
Soprano to Open Coronation Celebrations
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will perform the British national anthem “God Save the Queen” in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in July to mark the 60th anniversary…
Viennese Fashion Line Intrigues
New Zealand-born model and designer Mark Stephen Baigent’s line, Mark & Julia, created with Austrian Julia Rupertsberger, is stocked at Vienna retail fashion collective Faux Fox in the historic…
Call to Save the Diminishing Longfin
New Zealand longfin eels are the National Geographic’s “Freshwater Species of the Week.” The threatened creatures are New Zealand’s only endemic freshwater eel and are on a “slow path…
