News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Rose McIver in ‘iZombie’ thrills 2.3 million viewers

Rose McIver in ‘iZombie’ thrills 2.3 million viewers

The kiwi actress newest project iZombie had a solid debut on The CW Tuesday night, averaging 2.3 million viewers for its 9 p.m. series premiere. Rose Mc Iver stars in the DC Comics-inspired…

New Zealand beat West Indies by 143 runs and reach Cricket World Cup semi-final

New Zealand beat West Indies by 143 runs and reach Cricket World Cup semi-final

The New Zealand Black Caps have beaten the West Indies 393 for 6 in Saturday’s quarterfinal in a stunning game in front of a raucous capacity crowd at Wellington’s stadium to reach the Cricket…

New Zealand, Vietnam Agree to Increase Trade

New Zealand, Vietnam Agree to Increase Trade

New Zealand and Vietnam have announced ambitious new trade goals following a meeting between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Wellington. “New Zealand and Vietnam have agreed…

New Zealand’s Economy on a Seven – Year High

New Zealand’s Economy on a Seven – Year High

New Zealand’s economy is on a seven-year high with 3.3 percent growth in the last year and the size of the economy growing to 238 billion New Zealand dollars in 2014. In comparison Australia…

Kiwi Actor Cliff  Curtis to Star in The Walking Dead Spin-off Cobalt

Kiwi Actor Cliff Curtis to Star in The Walking Dead Spin-off Cobalt

Cliff Curtis will star as one of the main characters in The Walking Dead spin-off Cobalt, which will premiere on AMC in late summer. The New Zealand actor stars as Sean…

Brocken Spectre Phenomenon at Girdlestone Peak

Brocken Spectre Phenomenon at Girdlestone Peak

A “spooky” Brocken spectre phenomenon, featuring as part of the Guardian’s “Photo Highlights of the Day,” is seen at Girdlestone Peak on Tarn Ridge in the Tararua mountain range. “As dawn breaks, …

Trilogy Gets the Kate Effect with Royal Using Skincare

Trilogy Gets the Kate Effect with Royal Using Skincare

Sisters Catherine de Groot and Sarah Gibbs may have started small, establishing their business from their father’s Upper Hutt shed in 2002, but they are now experiencing big success after their beauty product brand…

Steven Adams uses New Zealand slang in bank commercial

Steven Adams uses New Zealand slang in bank commercial

New Zealand basketball star, Steven Adams has brought New Zealand and its Kiwi slang closer to the USA with the latest commercial for the Oklahoma bank chain BancFirst. In the commercial…

Aurora Australis Lights Up Southern Sky In Sensational Display

Aurora Australis Lights Up Southern Sky In Sensational Display

Due to a rare geomagnetic storm a magnificent light display was visible in certain areas of New Zealand and Australia. The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, was captured clearly over the skies…

Hobbit Fans in Singapore Gather at Changi’s Middle-earth

Hobbit Fans in Singapore Gather at Changi’s Middle-earth

Singapore Hobbit fans are being treated to a life-sized piece of Middle-earth in the departure hall of Changi Airport Terminal Three. As well as a hobbit hole, visitors can see a statue of Gandalf…

Rare Glimpse of Cloudless New Zealand from Space

Rare Glimpse of Cloudless New Zealand from Space

A rare image of New Zealand without a ceiling of cloud has been captured from the International Space Station as it orbits 418km above the South Pacific Ocean. According to NASA, New Zealand is seldom…

New Zealand’s NIWA Discovered 141 New Marine Species in 3 Years

New Zealand’s NIWA Discovered 141 New Marine Species in 3 Years

New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has discovered a range of 141 new marine creatures in the past three years. “Marine research in recent years have discovered new species on Wellington’s…

NAB Director Geraldine McBride Defines New Banking Technology Future

NAB Director Geraldine McBride Defines New Banking Technology Future

NAB director and digital guru Geraldine McBride is leading National Australia Bank (NAB) into “a new personalised experienced-based economy” as she describes it. “Digital disruption is the biggest fear of company boards,” McBride says in…

Kevin Roberts appointed Chairman of fast-growing My Food Bag

Kevin Roberts appointed Chairman of fast-growing My Food Bag

Global business leader Kevin Roberts become chairman of My Food Bag, a 2013 New Zealand start-up that delivers gourmet recipes and fresh pre-measured ingredients to the homes of 15000 customers in New Zealand, Sydney…

Kimberley Crossman Joins Fox ‘Fantasy Life’

Kimberley Crossman Joins Fox ‘Fantasy Life’

Kiwi actress Kimberley Crossman has landed a role in U.S. pilot ‘Fantasy Life’ on Fox, which is based on the memoir by one of U.S.’ top fantasy experts, ESPN’s Matthew Berry. When a hard-working guy,…

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

Professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita, from the University of Auckland have called on the United Nations to lead ‘a turbocharged’ campaign to make the world tobacco free by 2040. “A world where tobacco is…

Melanie Lynskey Reflects on Realism in Latest Roles

Melanie Lynskey Reflects on Realism in Latest Roles

From Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures to HBO’s new television show Togetherness, actor Melanie Lynskey reflects on what 20 years – and Charlie Sheen – have taught her about showbusiness. Jackson’s film introduced not only future…

Contiki Australia’s Katrina Barry Heads Evolving Tour Company

Contiki Australia’s Katrina Barry Heads Evolving Tour Company

New Zealand-born Katrina Barry, managing director of Contiki Australia, says the tour group has changed greatly since New Zealander John Anderson founded the company in 1962. “Twenty years ago it was just boozing around…

Tai Wynyard picked for Hoop Summit

Tai Wynyard picked for Hoop Summit

University of Kentucky basketball Class of 2016 vocal agreement Tai Wynyard was named on Wednesday to play for the World Junior Select team that will play against the United States in the Nike Hoop…

Rose McIver in Rob Thomas’ ‘iZombie’

Rose McIver in Rob Thomas’ ‘iZombie’

Rob Thomas new series ‘iZombie’, starring Kiwi actress Rose McIver, will air in New Zealand on TVNZ on Demand from Thursday, March 19. The New Zealand native stars as Olivia (Liv), an over-achieving medical resident…

New Zealand Researchers Track Blue Whale Songs off Antarctica

New Zealand Researchers Track Blue Whale Songs off Antarctica

A team of researchers from New Zealand and Australia has successfully tracked scores of blue whales off Antarctica during a six-week expedition to the Southern Ocean. Voyage leader Richard O’Driscoll said…

Sharon Van Etten’s surprise performance leaves John Campbell in tears

Sharon Van Etten’s surprise performance leaves John Campbell in tears

John Campbell’s colleagues surprised the New Zealand news anchor with the ultimate music fan experience: his very own personal Sharon Van Etten show. Because of his demanding work schedule, Campbell was unable to attend a…

“What We Do in the Shadows” at the Top of the Pack

“What We Do in the Shadows” at the Top of the Pack

“What We Do In the Shadows” is so good, it wouldn’t be so creepy to have these lads rise from the crypt for a sequel”, proclaims Peter Howell, from The Record.com. Even…

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa honoured by Royal College of Music

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa honoured by Royal College of Music

The Prince of Wales presented legendary Kiwi soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa with an honorary doctorate at a ceremony at the Royal College of Music. “It’s a great honour to be given such a title…

Van Gisbergen Joins McLaren Factory Line-Up

Van Gisbergen Joins McLaren Factory Line-Up

V8 Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen has been added to the McLaren line-up and will race in Europe as a factory driver this season. His exact role is yet to be announced, but it is…

Brown Takes Taupo again

Brown Takes Taupo again

Dominating one race like no other man in triathlon history, Kiwi Cameron Brown showed the world that he wasn’t slipping at age 42 and won his record-breaking 11th Ironman New Zealand title in 8:22:13…

Rugged Aoraki Region a Pinnacle of Adventure

Rugged Aoraki Region a Pinnacle of Adventure

Even with the mist covering the tallest of them, the Southern Alps rising up around the Hooker Valley have a humbling stature, Abu Dhabi’s English-language publication the National reports in a travel feature about…

Costume Designer Tracy Lord Awakens Singapore Corps De Ballet

Costume Designer Tracy Lord Awakens Singapore Corps De Ballet

New Zealand-born Tracy Grant Lord has created the costumes for Singapore Dance Theatre’s (SDT’s) 2015 season of Sleeping Beauty. Lord’s designs are a reminder of just how costumes also make a ballet. “Highlights will be…

Parker KOs Pettaway In 4

Parker KOs Pettaway In 4

New Zealand  heavyweight Joseph Parker took care of American Jason Pettaway in four rounds at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau City, New Zealand on Thursday night. Parker dominated the fight from the start. Pettaway…

Broods’ Georgia Nott Can’t Deny Her Pop Roots

Broods’ Georgia Nott Can’t Deny Her Pop Roots

When New Zealander Georgia Nott was young, her parents took her to wedding and church concerts where they performed with her aunt and uncle as an ABBA tribute band. “I couldn’t walk at the…

Lucy Lawless Joins ‘Ash Vs. Evil Dead’

Lucy Lawless Joins ‘Ash Vs. Evil Dead’

Lucy Lawless will reunite with her “Xena: Warrior Princess” co-star Bruce Campbell on Starz’s “Ash Vs. Evil Dead”, which begins filming in Lawless’ native New Zealand in April. She will play Ruby, a…

New Zealand Breakers Win NBL Title Over Cairns

New Zealand Breakers Win NBL Title Over Cairns

In a terrific Game 2 of the NBL grand final series, the Breakers claimed their fourth championship in five years with an 83-81 victory over Cairns Taipan. It’s the Breakers’ ninth straight playoff victory and…

Bruce Neal’s Anzac Tattoo an Internet Hit

Bruce Neal’s Anzac Tattoo an Internet Hit

Lower Hutt army veteran Bruce Neal’s Anzac tattoo – a 19cm design of World War I soldiers marching into the distance in a shape of a fern with the words “Lest We Forget” written…

Take a German Folk Music Tour with Hayden Chisholm

Take a German Folk Music Tour with Hayden Chisholm

Hayden Chisolm’s documentary, Sound of Heimat, which follows the New Zealand-born musician as he traverses Germany exploring the country’s folk music, screened in Rwanda at a recent film, photography and dance festival organised by…

Andrew Reeve’s Craft Beer Business Honest Brew Delivers

Andrew Reeve’s Craft Beer Business Honest Brew Delivers

A year ago from his small London apartment, New Zealander Andrew Reeve (pictured far left) launched his startup business Honest Brew. Now, he makes and sells his own craft beer and also…

New Zealand’s English Has a Distinct Linguistic Identity

New Zealand’s English Has a Distinct Linguistic Identity

“New Zealand English is like English, but different. And it’s developing in a direction all of its own,” according to New Zealand copywriter Sam O’Flaherty in a piece for the Guardian. “Tumeke!” “Enough about the…

Writing Struck a Chord for Author Anna Smaill

Writing Struck a Chord for Author Anna Smaill

According to the Independent, New Zealand author Anna Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes is “superb … intriguing, ambitious and strikingly written.” Harper’s Bazaar tips it for “book of the year.” The setting is a dystopian…

Niki Caro’s Latest Feature Hits the Ground Running

Niki Caro’s Latest Feature Hits the Ground Running

New Zealander Niki Caro is the director of McFarland, USA, a Disney film based on the true story of a 1987 cross country team from a predominantly Mexican-American high school starring Kevin Costner. McFarland,…

New Zealand Shines As Bright As A Movie Star

New Zealand Shines As Bright As A Movie Star

“New Zealand might be best known for its breathtaking scenery, excellent wines and friendly locals; however, the land of the long white cloud has also earned a stellar reputation as a popular film location”…

New Zealand Soccer Player Winston Reid Renews Contract

New Zealand Soccer Player Winston Reid Renews Contract

West Ham defender Winston Reid has ended speculation about his future by signing a new six and a half year deal worth up to £20 million with the Upton Park Club. “There was a lot…

Ashleigh Good in Dolce & Gabbana’s Tribute To Mothers

Ashleigh Good in Dolce & Gabbana’s Tribute To Mothers

New Zealand born model Ashleigh Good came down the catwalk holding her baby daughter Emily at the Milan Fashion Week. The duo was part of the Dolce and Gabbana show, which had…

Join the Red Nosed Kiwi Coffee Caravan

Join the Red Nosed Kiwi Coffee Caravan

Caravan Coffee Roasters, set up by New Zealand chef Miles Kirby with Kiwi friends Laura Harper-Hinton and Chris Ammerman, has launched Coffee Relief to support this year’s Red Nose Day. From the…

Lorde and Joel Little Back into the Recording Studio

Lorde and Joel Little Back into the Recording Studio

Teenage global “phenom” Lorde will hit the studio in a matter of weeks to begin work on a follow-up to her acclaimed debut album, Pure Heroine, according to Billboard. The big news didn’t come via…

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Commemorates Gallipoli at Sydney Opera House

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Commemorates Gallipoli at Sydney Opera House

Two of the best opera singers from New Zealand and Australia will come together on Anzac Day for a special commemoration of the 100-year anniversary of Gallipoli at the Sydney Opera House…

Composer Annea Lockwood Celebrates Waterway Sounds

Composer Annea Lockwood Celebrates Waterway Sounds

Christchurch-born composer Annea Lockwood was one of nine artists represented at a recent audio and visual art exhibition in Manhattan, New York called “Foot Notes: On the Sensations of Tone,” an exhibition which celebrated…

Rainbow Hunters Find Their Violet in New Zealand

Rainbow Hunters Find Their Violet in New Zealand

One mother and two young boys are on a trip around the world to seven countries to find the origin of seven colours. The Rainbow Hunters, as the trio are called, are…

Cycling an Exceptional Route from the Alps to the Ocean

Cycling an Exceptional Route from the Alps to the Ocean

The 78km Twizel-Omarama section of the South Island’s Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail “is simply exceptional,” writes Andrew Bain for Australian Geographic Outdoor. “Twizel isn’t Queenstown. It’s not Wanaka, and it’s not Nelson. This South…

Geoff Sewell’s Guerilla Opera Singers Hit Exclusive Parties

Geoff Sewell’s Guerilla Opera Singers Hit Exclusive Parties

Former Amici Forever tenor New Zealander Geoff Sewell and his wife Simone Lanham run London-based Incognito Artists, a group of performers who specialise in “guerrilla opera” – available for hire as “chefs,”…

Luke Willis Thompson Exhibits at NY’s New Museum

Luke Willis Thompson Exhibits at NY’s New Museum

Walters Prize recipient, Auckland-based Luke Willis Thompson, 27, is one of 51 young artists participating in New York’s New Museum Generational Triennial, a “hotly anticipated” show which will explore the frontiers of digital technology,…

Glenn Martin’s Jetpack Dream Achieves IPO Liftoff

Glenn Martin’s Jetpack Dream Achieves IPO Liftoff

In 1981, a young aviation-obsessed university student, New Zealander Glenn Martin, began working on his dream to invent the world’s first commercial jetpack, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. In late February the company he…

Scott Baigent’s Eight Degrees Brewing Increases Capacity

Scott Baigent’s Eight Degrees Brewing Increases Capacity

Four years in and New Zealander Scott Baigent’s Eight Degrees Brewing company, based in Ireland, is increasing production capacity tenfold. Baigent, (pictured right, with head brewer Mike Magee) a former engineer and Australian…

NZ’s Beauty Garners Tongue-in-Cheek Buzzfeed Response

NZ’s Beauty Garners Tongue-in-Cheek Buzzfeed Response

New Zealand, and why travellers should think twice before visiting, features in a tongue-in-check tourism photo essay on Buzzfeed. The image above of Mt Aoraki mirrored on Lake Matheson is just “urgh”. “The second you…

Lydia Ko takes New Zealand Women’s Open for 2nd-straight victory

Lydia Ko takes New Zealand Women’s Open for 2nd-straight victory

Lydia Ko, the 17 year old New Zealand LPGA star sits atop of the golf world with her second straight win of the 2015 season finishing with a 1-under 71 at Clearwater Golf Club…

New Zealander James Lucas Wins Oscar for Short Film

New Zealander James Lucas Wins Oscar for Short Film

Christchurch-raised James Lucas has won an Oscar in the category Best Live Action Short Film, for his “moving” and “well-deserved” The Phone Call, a star-studded film he co-wrote with friend, Briton Mat Kirkby. “Previous nominee…

Kiwis Claim Thrilling Victory Over Rivals

Kiwis Claim Thrilling Victory Over Rivals

Auckland is humming. After a month of sublime weather, and on a day in which the Volvo round the world yachts arrived in post, the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of…

BBC’s Adrenalin-Fuelled DJ Zane Lowe Looks Ahead to LA

BBC’s Adrenalin-Fuelled DJ Zane Lowe Looks Ahead to LA

The “faintly tearful” DJ Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1’s “most enthusiastic music fan, explains why his stomach is churning at the thought of saying goodbye,” bowing out of the network after 12 years for…