Nature | enn.com
30 March 2006
NZ environmental groups are at war with Solid Energy over the power company’s intention to mine the only known habitat of the endangered brown snail, Powelliphanta Augustus. The entire snail population, believed to total just 800-1000, is…
Film & TV | Age (The) | BBC News
29 March 2006
Sam Neill is the inaugural subject of Peschardt’s People, a 13-part BBC series hosted by veteran foreign correspondent Michael Peschardt. The series aims to introduce global viewers to “some of the most famous…
New Zealand | travelbite.co.uk
28 March 2006
A British travel site predicts big things for the NZ ski industry, as more and more international tourists head south for their holidays in the snow. The article focuses on Treble Cone, which has had a…
Visual Arts | Podcast News
28 March 2006
Always at the cutting edge, Wellington’s City Gallery is using an interactive website and podcast in its current exhibition, Patricia Piccinini: In Another Life. An Australian artist, Piccanini is renowned for her sometimes creepy studies of…
Film & TV | Pacific Magazine
28 March 2006
South Pacific Pictures’ feature Sione’s Wedding has received rave reviews in NZ and Samoa following its February premiere. Written by Oscar Kightley and James Griffin, the comedy revolves around a group of first…
Film & TV | Buddha Wild
25 March 2006
The distinctive and original film “Buddha Wild Monk in the Hut” by LA/Christchurch director and actress Anna Wilding (Carpe Diem Films) premiered at the Laemmle Cinema Los Angeles on March 24. Shot in…
General | BBC News
21 March 2006
New Zealand raised, former TVNZ reporter Robert Freeman has been appointed Head of Multimedia at Press Association, UK. “I am heading up this team at a critical time when the publishing industry is looking…
Film & TV | Dispatch
21 March 2006
Russell Crowe has teamed up with businessman Peter Holmes à Court to buy a 75% share of the South Sydney “Rabbitohs” rugby league club. A lifelong supporter of the Rabbitohs, Crowe has contributed large…
Visual Arts | Norwich News
21 March 2006
NZ born artist Derek Ward was the subject of a retrospective exhibition recently staged in Norwich, England. Ward was born in Richmond, NZ, in 1922 and relocated to England with his family aged 7….
Science/Tech | RCVS
20 March 2006
Animal welfare and ethics scientist Professor David Mellor has become the first New Zealander to be elected an Honorary Associate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the highest honour conferred by the College….
Watersports | nautica.it
17 March 2006
February 22 saw the official launch of Earthrace, a 100% biodiesel fuelled boat aiming to set a new world record for circumnavigating the globe. The brainchild of Pete Bethune, Earthrace is a charitable foundation promoting the…
Sport General | Melbourne2006.com.au | NZ Rugby Sevens
15 March 2006
New Zealand won 31 medals – 6 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze – at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. 200m butterfly victor Moss Burmester became the first NZ man to win gold in the…
War & Peace | Guardian (The)
14 March 2006
Dual British/NZ citizen Flight Lieutenant Dr Malcolm Kendall-Smith has been found guilty on five counts of disobeying orders and has been sentenced to 8 months in prison and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs…
Music | Age (The)
12 March 2006
Already triple platinum in NZ, Bic Runga’s third album – Birds – is now making waves across the Tasman. The Age: “Dark and majestic… is without a doubt Runga’s best album -…
Nature | Toronto Star
11 March 2006
Stewart Island is now home to NZ’s 14th national park – Rakiura, named after the anchor stone of Maui’s canoe (the South Island). A Toronto Star writer visited the rugged outpost and was won over by…
Film & TV | Los Angeles Times
11 March 2006
LA Times interviews Phil Keoghan, the Kiwi host of Emmy Award-winning reality series The Amazing Race. The “savvy NZ native” discusses everything from his lucky break into TV (“there was no degree that you…
Business | BBC News
11 March 2006
Czech accountant Jana Tylova has won the inaugural sudoku world championships held in Lucca, Italy. The Japanese game of logic has been popularised by NZ judge-turned-entrepreneur Wayne Gould, whose syndicated games now appear in over 400 newspapers…
Writers | Times (The)
11 March 2006
An interview with mystery author Anne Perry in the Times inevitably brings up her former life in NZ as Juliet Hulme, one half of the murderous teenage duo portrayed in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures….
Music | Ham & High
10 March 2006
Wellington band Recloose earned a positive plug in the Hamstead & Highgate after a packed gig at the Jazz CafÈ. Recloose was formed around the Detroit born producer/DJ of the same name,…
Visual Arts | Absolute Arts
10 March 2006
Edge artist Julian Dashper continues to make inroads in the US, after his 2001 Fulbright residency at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. His first solo show in New York (at the Esso…
Music | Reuters
9 March 2006
Auckland art punk trio Die! Die! Die! forms part of an impressive Australasian contingent heading to this year’s South By Southwest music festival in Arizona. Tipped as one of NZ’s most promising new bands, Die! Die!…
Film & TV | Movies Online
8 March 2006
Weta Digital head Joe Letteri is to be visual effects supervisor on the upcoming children’s feature, The Water Horse. Letteri was part of the Oscar-winning visual effects team for Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Based…
Science/Tech | Guardian (The)
7 March 2006
According to the Guardian, a NZ designed alternative to the computer mouse was one of the highlights of Bett 2006, the annual ICT in education show held in London. “Lomak (light-operated mouse and keyboard) from NZ…
Business | Age (The)
7 March 2006
John Fairfax Holdings has bought New Zealand internet auction site Trade Me for $700 million. What started as one young Wellingtonian looking to buy a second-hand heater to warm his drafty Mount Victoria flat in…
War & Peace | Guardian (The)
7 March 2006
New Zealand has its first Maori defence force head with the appointment of Major-General Jerry Mateparae. Mateparae will be promoted to lieutenant general when he replaces Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson in May. “I’m immensely…
Writers | SFGate.com
28 February 2006
Linda Carroll, therapist, writer and mother of Courtney Love has written her memoirs, which include an account of the family’s unconventional attempt to live an alternative lifestyle in Nelson and their struggle to deal…
Film & TV | Inside Film
28 February 2006
The March issue of Inside Film includes a lengthy feature on the latest project by edge writer/director Andrew Niccol – Lord of War. Starring Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke, Lords of War is…
Visual Arts | Art Monthly Australia
28 February 2006
Hamilton artist John Hurrell writes about NZ artists living internationally in the February issue of Art Monthly Australia. He discusses last year’s exhibition ‘The expatriates: Frances Hodgkins and Barrie Bates’ in the context…
War & Peace | english.ohmynews.com
20 February 2006
NZ human rights lawyer, Paul Hunt, is one of the authors of a new UN report on the US-run detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, which calls for a dramatic improvement in its conditions if not…
Golf | Reuters
17 February 2006
Golfer Michael Campbell has been named NZ’s Sportsperson of the Year for 2005 after winning both the US Open and the World Matchplay Championship in Britain. It is the second time Campbell has won the country’s…
Nature | birdslife.org
17 February 2006
Ornithologists the world over have been fascinated by recent confirmed sightings of the NZ Storm Petrel, which was thought to have been extinct for more than a century. In November 2005 a NZ fisherman took the…
Business | Guardian (The)
17 February 2006
A Guardian Film article on cinema-inspired tourism points to NZ as the ultimate example. “Every country wants its own Lord of the Rings. The extra-ordinary pulling power of the trilogy – the perfect shop window for the…
Music | Guardian (The) | MTV
16 February 2006
MTV Europe’s head, New Zealander Brent Hansen has retired after nearly two decades with the company. Hansen joined MTV in 1987 as a news producer and soared through the ranks to become the President…
Music | Orlando Sentinel
16 February 2006
Whangarei-born country music sensation, Keith Urban, has won his first Grammy Award. Urban was named best male country vocal performer ahead of Toby Keith, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Delbert McClinton and Brad Paisley. This…
Taste | Journal and Courier
15 February 2006
Speight’s Gold Medal ale gets a big thumbs up from the Journal and Courier’s (Indiana, US) resident ‘Beer Man’. “It poured a nice head and was an absolutely crystal clear, light amber…
Wine | Inside Bay Area
15 February 2006
An extensive article on NZ’s burgeoning wine industry examines its history and development in an American context, interviewing US importers and connoisseurs of NZ wine as well as ex pat US vineyard owners such as Barbara…
General | Newkerala.com
12 February 2006
A US immigrant has been thwarted in his attempt to rid the Cardrona Valley of its “world famous in NZ” bra fence. Andre Prassinos, who resides for part of each year in Cardrona, petitioned…
Visual Arts | thespiderawards.com
12 February 2006
New Zealand enjoyed success at the 2006 Black & White Spider photography awards, with Jason Boa winning third place in the Nature category for “Field Waimate” and Jocelyn Carlin gaining an honourable mention in the same…
Film & TV | Sundance Film Festival
9 February 2006
Toa Fraser’s debut feature No.2 won the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic at the 25th Sundance Film Festival in February. ” a humble backyard in Mt. Roskill in the Pacific, on behalf of…
Film & TV | Bloomberg | Sundance Film Festival
8 February 2006
Debate over the effects of big budget US films such as King Kong and the Narnia series being filmed in NZ continues, with most in favour of the Hollywood blockbusters. “The blockbusters have been…
Taste | Age (The)
7 February 2006
Edge establishment Batch Espresso is cutting it in Melbourne’s razor-like café scene, with more stellar reviews in the city’s leading newspapers. Herald Sun: ” works the coffee machine and the room, making…
Business | Forbes | National Business Review
6 February 2006
New Zealand was listed in the top ten in Forbes‘ recent ranking of the world’s most foreign investment friendly economies. NZ scored 88.5/100 taking tenth place in the list of 135 countries. The Top places went to…
Rugby | Observer (The)
5 February 2006
The Observer talks to All Black legend John Kirwan about his globetrotting ways and aspirations to coach in the UK. “Kirwan was a travelling rugby player long before it became the fashion it is today ……
Nature | Guardian (The) | Kea
4 February 2006
Organisers of a vintage car rally near Mt Cook took an unusual defensive stance against marauding local kea, which are notorious for damaging cars in alpine areas. The car club hired 40 karate practitioners to protect…
Film & TV | Guardian (The)
2 February 2006
North Country director Niki Caro was interviewed before a live studio audience by the Guardian’s Sandra Hebron, alongside the star of her film (and new best mate) Charlize Theron. ” was a script…
Business | Air Tahiti Nui
1 February 2006
Air Tahiti Nui is now offering stopovers in Auckland and Tahiti for any direct flights between New York or LA and Sydney. Billed as the first-ever non-stop service between New York and the South Pacific,…
Spirituality | Guardian (The)
28 January 2006
NZ-raised canon emeritus of Coventry Cathedral and Quaker chaplain to the University of Sussex, Paul Oestreicher, writes about guilt and forgiveness in the Guardian, using both WW2 and the modern day ‘War on Terror’…
Film & TV | ninemsn
27 January 2006
Whale Rider director Niki Caro has officially earned her Hollywood stripes with the release of Warner Brothers’ North Country. Starring Charlize Theron, Sissy Spacek, Frances McDormand and Sean Bean, North Country is a…
Film & TV | Telegraph (The)
26 January 2006
With Australia Day been and gone the Aussies wonder when NZ born Russell Crowe will officially become one of their own. According to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, “the country’s most celebrated Kiwi” was confirmed for…
Watersports | ninemsn | World Rowing Championships
26 January 2006
NZ has officially placed its bid to host the 2010 world rowing championships at Lake Karapiro in Waikato. “It’s our turn,” says RNZ chief executive Craig Ross. “NZ rowing has never been…
Film & TV | Media Village
25 January 2006
RH is the host of new US reality TV show Style Me. In an interview with Media Village, she describes the show as “offering real honest and interesting insight into the world of…
Wine | Washington Post
25 January 2006
Washington Post writer notes the timely rise of NZ wine, which is strong in today’s most in-demand varietals. ” is the emerging star for wines that live on delicacy and finesse, most notably, pinot noir and…
Nature | Washington Post | World Economic Forum
25 January 2006
NZ leads the world in environmental performance according to the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities measured how close 133 countries came…
Spirituality | Phayul.com
25 January 2006
2006 is officially the Year of Tibet in NZ and Australia. The Dalai Lama launched the year-long festivities at the Woodford Festival in Queensland on January 1. “On behalf of Tibetans, both in and…
New Zealand | Guardian (The)
22 January 2006
Rotorua’s Polynesian Spa was listed on the Guardian’s top 50 Best Spas. “The hot springs at Rotorua are said to cure arthritis in three months. We can’t vouch for that, but after lazing in the hot…
Obituaries | Guardian (The)
20 January 2006
Pioneering archaeologist Lady Aileen Fox has died aged 98. Born and educated in England, Lady Fox held a visiting lectureship at Auckland University from 1972 to 1983. She conducted excavations at Tiromoana Pa (where…