Anti-Terror Laws
New Zealand Parliament looks to pass new anti-terrorist laws, “strengthening New Zealand’s ability to deter and react decisively to international terrorist attacks”.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Abandoning “Captain Calamity”
Crew-member Rob Salvidge said goodbye to round-the-world challenger Tony Bullimore at “a late-night cook-up in a Maori taxi-drivers’ cafe in Wellington”.
Sauvignon Assertion
“The fish was marinating in a spicy Mexican sauce. And the chef wanted the perfect wine for his meal. Max Pendolari, grape guru, provided the doctor’s answer, as he has done nearly every day for four…
No smoke, No Fire
Compulsory age-ID for young smokers, and smoke-free zones in bars may be on their way in New Zealand.
Running Hard
Friends of edge-bred Paul Hewitson “lionise his iron constitution. After one bachelor party that ended at 5am, Hewitson slept for an hour then rose for a 15-mile jaunt. When insomnia strikes, he gets up and runs to…
Young Diplomats
Exchange student are young diplomats, Prime Minister Helen Clark told a high school in Osaka during a speech promoting youth exchanges between New Zealand and Japan.
Flying Scrum
Steve Williams, caddie to Tiger, has clocked up enough frequent flyer miles “to take a manager, two coaches and three rugby teams from New Zealand to Australia.”
Picking the IQ Knot
Otago scholar James Flynn suggests our brains rise to the occasion, developing higher IQs in response to more challenging work and environments.
The Tough Got Going
“Tough New Zealanders, adept at navigating the desert by the stars-and-sun compass,” formed a key part of David Lloyd Owen’s Long Range Desert Group, “regarded by some as one of the most cost-effective special forces…
Peace Memorial Visit
Helen Clark, noted in Japan as the leader of a “declared anti-nuclear country”, visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum during her official trip to Japan.
Trade Freed Up
Bi-lateral trade between New Zealand and Singapore grew 35% from January to February, following a free trade pact which kicked off at the beginning of the year.
Sent to Safety
Shirley Rose and her brother Isaac Beder were sent from Poland to New Zealand in 1937. The difficult separation from their father almost certainly saved their lives.
Lindauer, Pick of the Bunch
Lindauer Special Reserve Brut rounds out the box in Taste for Wine’s Pick of the Bunch pre-mixed case designed to broaden the tastes of British wine-drinkers.
Return of the Jedi – More Cenus/Senseless Fun
The New Zealand spawned Jedi-email just keeps going and going.
Good Lovin’
“Trust has to change to love. There should be an air of mystery, sensuality and intimacy attached to the brand.” Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts spreads the loving word in Dubai.
Seven Worlds will Collide
“It’s like stumbling into your own birthday party – you don’t know where to look first. Centre stage is Neil Finn, hair greying but still a hint of that haphazard Crowded House quiff, a…
Small Country with a Big Attitude
“Recent history shows that the New Zealand government, especially with Clark’s own Labour Party at the helm, has not shied away from David and Goliath-like confrontations. The feisty nation arguably made its first proper international splash…
Curtain falls for Nyree Dawn Porter
“Forsyte sex symbol who conquered the world”, Kiwi-born and raised star of the 60’s TV show The Forsyte Saga (watched by 100 milllion people in 26 countries) remembered in The Telegraph, The Guardian and…
Travel Happy
What’s good about Greymouth? It’s close to captivating glaciers and the bottle shop sells fill-you-own beer, sherry and port.
Actress Remembered
International tributes continue for “cucumber-cool” New Zealand-born Forsyte star Nyree Dawn Porter.
Knickers name
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sang with the late Harry Secombe, who found her name tricky, so re-christened her “Tin Knickers”.
On Top of the World
Sir Edmund Hillary had a brush with altitude sickness, but has made a full recovery, returning to the Nepalese hospital two days after he was discharged to inaugurate a new children’s ward.
Force to Be Reckoned With
The Jedi email, begun in honour of the New Zealand census, manifests itself as “other” in the UK and costs $500 a pop in Australia.
Smells Good
Scientists at Wellington’s Industrial Research have been getting a bit sniffing about their new “electronic nose”, designed to help detect chemical spills and fires.
U Sux
Hi-tech bullying via txt msg has lead to the banning of cell-phones in two New Zealand schools.
Fashioning humour
Kiwi comedy queen Cal Wilson on frocks and laughter in the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
Bare tour
New Zealand playwright Toa Fraser’s Bare tours Sourthern England. Madeleine Sami reprises her award winning role.
Packing Their Bags
Britain’s agricultural troubles leaves farmers looking to New Zealand and Australia for a fresh start.
Golden Drop Standard
New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA are on the way to mutual acceptance of differing wine standards, making market access easier for everyone.
Milk for the Heart
It’s a rogue protein in diary products, not fat, that clogs the arteries and causes heart disease according to New Zealand scientist Dr Corrie McLachlan.
Womanly Example
Japanese society should look to New Zealand for kick-ass high-profile female role-models suggests PM Helen Clark.
Hello Kitty
Kiwi comic Cal Wilson brings home the laughs: “God’s Little Poppet verges on brilliance, as does Krystalle the exotic dancer. Krystalle is close to a work of art; a lap dancer who forces her…
Edgey writing gets richer
Las Vegas casino-king and edge-devotee Glenn Schaeffer has established what will be New Zealand’s richest literary prize, a biennial award of $60,000 to a new writer of literary merit. Schaeffer wants to bring writing from…
Into Left-field
Labour hits 50%, Helen Clark does a pb of 36%. “The government is the only game in town,” says Clark.
Kan 007
Secret Asian Raybon Kan infiltrates the Melbourne comedy scene with a “sharp, contemporary and observant” show.
Disappearing Visitors
“There are reputed to be certain towns in New Zealand and Australia where if you shout out a name in the street, someone will instinctively turn round, then nervously jerk their head away. They’ve briefly been drawn…
Thief With an Eye for Quality
Canterbury man Stuart McPherson doesn’t just steal video players – he rings their owners to complain if they’re not top-of-the-line.
And to Finn-ish With
“The most prolific writer of quality songs around at the moment” says Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien. How about Finn as New Zealand’s Paul McCartney? Or Eddie Vedder singing backing at “a small club…
Dream Catcher
New Zealand-born psychotherapist Helen McLean turns dreams into reality writing multiple books and creating work-place training based on what your brain does at night.
Queen of Tramps
Tramp through virgin forest then peruse the wine list in the spa before a gourmet dinner on the Queen Charlotte Walkway.
Billion dollar Bevan
Bridget Jones producer Kiwi Tim Bevan nudges the billion dollar mark with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and now Bridget Jones, due to be Britain’s biggest hit this year.
Creamy romance
“In New Zealand we mostly make quite brutal social-realist films. I think American audience are stunned to see something that romanticizes New Zealand…I want to make films that no one else is making.” Harry…
Wine Rewritten
Leading Sancerre vintner Henri Bourgeois decamps to Marlborough to be part of the “the one new world country that has taken a classic French grape variety and rewritten the wine script”.
Doubtful Honour
Big Norm Hewitt’s in-yer-face rendition of the All Black haka and English hooker Richard ‘Cocky’ Cockerill’s gracious eyeball-to-eyeball acceptance makes the Guardian’s list of the “top-ten sporting feuds”.
Working for Justice
Dr Dorothy Millar began to question western values after contact with Maori culture, leading to a life spent working for justice and prosperity for all.
Just the ticket
mticket – (London-based kiwi entrepreneurs Tony Coyle, Nick Howard and Jason Cooper) is a revolutionary service taking advantage of the popularity of text messaging to help punters beat the rope into the club…
Strange Happenings in Rugby
“Somewhere in the depths of the very European Six Nations Championship, two New Zealanders have been having some pretty bizarre experiences.”
Public Interest
Once watched as the world’s greatest free-market experiment, New Zealand is leading the way in getting democracy out from under the corporate thumb says prominent intellectual Noreena Hertz.
Upside-down Edge
A photograph of the New Zealand sky projected onto a mirror on the floor of the Glasgow School of Art “allows people to look down to see the sky, as if the earth were…
Vege Contraceptive
Scientists at Canterbury’s Lincoln University are trialling GE carrots as possum birth control.
Head for Debate
Commonwealth Sec-Gen and former New Zealand 2IC Don McKinnon indicates the next Leader of the Commonwealth might be up for debate after the Queen moves on.
