News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Travelling with Cruise Control

Travelling with Cruise Control

If Kiwi Jonathan Kruse has his way, road-tripping tourists will never have to fumble with the map or guide-book again. Using global positioning systems, information about your location and relevant tourist attractions, meshed with evocative music and…

Alt-rock poster boys Luna lose a little sheen

Alt-rock poster boys Luna lose a little sheen

Founding bassist Justin Harwood has resigned his position behind the bass, and after eight years in the band, will return to his native New Zealand to raise his newborn baby girl.

Tragic death of activist remembered in Punitive Damage.

Tragic death of activist remembered in Punitive Damage.

The Kiwi-made documentary traces the life and tragic death of Kamal Badmadhaj, slaughtered in the 1991 Dili Cemetery Massacre by the Indonesian military.  The film won the Audience Award at the 1999 Sydney International Film Festival…

Female Guru

Female Guru

Fay Weldon and why we love those wise big women Maddening, sexy, inconsistent, irascible, solipsistic, profound, perplexing and provocative … and we love her. New Zealand-raised Fay Weldon joins the female-guru big-time along with…

Buttery New Zealand invention Spreads the word

Buttery New Zealand invention Spreads the word

As British consumers have become more concerned about food safety, Anchor has taken advantage of New Zealand’s clean, green image to promote its spreadable butter – a product invented by the New Zealand Dairy Board.

Aussies Tell Flightless Kiwis: “You Can Be My Wing-man Anyday”

Aussies Tell Flightless Kiwis: “You Can Be My Wing-man Anyday”

If New Zealand looks to emulate Iceland or Costa Rica, and do away with its combat air-force and emphasise its peacekeeping role, its best pilots can rest safely in the knowledge that the Australian air-force will…

Kea Aura: Cool Queenstown is a Hot Destination

Kea Aura: Cool Queenstown is a Hot Destination

Tipped to be the hottest destination for trendsetters travelling Down Under this summer – not just because of its Winter Ice festival, when the whole community goes crazy with street parties, jazz parades and night skiing, but…

Campbell Puts Merit in Order

Campbell Puts Merit in Order

“The Maori’s return to form shows it was no fluke the first time. Currently third in the order of merit, Campbell’s outstanding recovery is illustrated perfectly in the Maori proverb: “I te tu oho koe/ Hei…

Tua to Lewis: “It’s Time to Face the Music”

Tua to Lewis: “It’s Time to Face the Music”

“The fans need to see David Tua destroy Lennox Lewis. He’s tailor-made for me.  I Respect what he’s accomplished, but I believe I have the style to knock Lennox Lewis out” …

Fresh Crowe Conquers in Revival of Old-genre

Fresh Crowe Conquers in Revival of Old-genre

“I just thought he was fresh, a new generation, he’s a man who’s on his way up,” says Ridley Scott, of Russell Crowe, the Gladiator’s 36-year-old New Zealand star.

Kiwi Innovation Helps Blind See the Future

Kiwi Innovation Helps Blind See the Future

A Christchurch company has taken computers for braille users from the age of the typewriter to the age of the super-computer, with Braillenote, the first notebook computer for the blind. Asiaweek (CNN) profiles the innovation in its…

Famous Kiwi Face-offs Remembered

Famous Kiwi Face-offs Remembered

Times anniversary page remembers the birth of Sir Archibald McIndoe, Plastic Surgeon born in Dunedin; and the beginning of the Maori uprising against the British in 1863. …

Cincinnati Hearts Warm to Kiwi Cockles

Cincinnati Hearts Warm to Kiwi Cockles

“If you’re not in the mood for raw fish, or even for cold seafood, there’s always the New Zealand cockles appetizer, which I can’t resist ordering every time I visit Prime and Wine.  

New Zealand Spreads No-nukes Message

New Zealand Spreads No-nukes Message

In a letter to the editor of the Financial Times spokesperson for the New Agenda Coalition, Mexican Ambassador Antonio de Icaza, expressed concern at current developments “whereby nuclear weapons are being re-rationalised for the foreseeable future; indeed…

New Zealand Yorkies

New Zealand Yorkies

Global Soccer show Futbol Mundial profiles three young New Zealanders who’ve made the long journey to the English town of Barnsley in the hope of launching a professional career.  

Kiwi Kosovo Peacekeeper Threatens UN Withdrawal as Violence Escalates

Kiwi Kosovo Peacekeeper Threatens UN Withdrawal as Violence Escalates

Dennis McNamara, the UN High Comissioner for Refugees top official in Kosovo, threatened to suspend UN activities in the Kosovo city of Mitovica, if attacks on its staff and vehicles did not cease.  

“She is Right Mate” New Zealand Sheep and Cattle Reap Benefit of Revolution

“She is Right Mate” New Zealand Sheep and Cattle Reap Benefit of Revolution

Immense changes under way in NZ farming, ranging from challenges of e-commerce and overseas trade restraints, to the costly introduction of organic produce and changing market demands, mean that NZ farming is poised for one of its…

Management Executives on the Move

Management Executives on the Move

Tim Corcoran, who studied law at Canterbury University, New Zealand, is to become chief financial officer of Prolifix Ltd, a privately owned pharmaceutical company that is a leader in cell cycle research.

Edge living: Roman style

Edge living: Roman style

From whistle-blower to tiger-slayer, countless billboards are proclaiming a new hero. But despite the many high-tech advances made since the earlier cinematic days of the wide-screen Roman Empire, at least one fact remains the same:…

Singapore looks to New Zealand Model in Fair Trading Laws Debate

Singapore looks to New Zealand Model in Fair Trading Laws Debate

Edmund Baker, Executive Director of the Consumers Association of Singapore is pushing the Kiwi and Australian Fair Trading Acts as model examples in debates over fair trade legislation in Singapore.  

Davids and Goliaths: Coalition Says Nuclear States Fall Short of Goals

Davids and Goliaths: Coalition Says Nuclear States Fall Short of Goals

United Nations: the “New Agenda Coalition”, of which New Zealand is a key member, criticised the ‘big guns’ (US, Russia, France, Britain and China) for making an empty pledge to eliminate nuclear weapons but falling short…

The Future is Kiwi

The Future is Kiwi

“Helen Clark met Tony Blair in Downing Street last month. Apparently he asked her lots of questions about her flying start in government: let’s hope he was taking notes”. New Zealand’s Labour government looked upon as role-model…

Talk the walk: From a Maori grave in Crete to dithering dons at Oxford

Talk the walk: From a Maori grave in Crete to dithering dons at Oxford

Times review: “CK Stead’s eigth novel Talking about O’Dwyer is an inticate interrogation of the past … The sweep of Stead’s narrative pays dividends: there’s almost a wistful nostalgia, a sense that hanging onto…

Hard Work Starts to Pay off for Kiwi Organic Pioneers

Hard Work Starts to Pay off for Kiwi Organic Pioneers

At first farmers were concerned labeling certain products ‘organic’ would tarnish others as inferior, but many are beginning to see that increasing demand from consumers, home and abroad cannot be ignored, as New Zealand pioneers like Angela Aitchison…

Even Better than the Real Thing:

Even Better than the Real Thing:

When Ridley Scott wanted to recreate the Colosseum he stayed well clear of Rome, preferring to leave the real Colosseum to the tourists. Instead he used computer imaging and sets in Malta and Surrey….

Down-Under achievers: Which actor wasn’t born in Australia quiz? Answer: Russell Crowe is originally from New Zealand.

Down-Under achievers: Which actor wasn’t born in Australia quiz? Answer: Russell Crowe is originally from New Zealand.

Answer: Russell Crowe is originally from New Zealand. (4 May 2000)

Canterbury University Professor Gets Back to the Streets in Response to “Black Bill of Rights”

Canterbury University Professor Gets Back to the Streets in Response to “Black Bill of Rights”

Dr. Vernon L. Andrews, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, responds to Byron Bain’s article ‘Walking While Black’ (on racial profiling by police in the US) and the difficulties he has convincing students…

When Love Comes to Boston

When Love Comes to Boston

New Zealand film When Love Comes about a “group of free spirits and sexual stripes” chosen to show at Boston gay and lesbian film and video Festival at Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The…

Kiwi Miss Marple Uncovers Cult

Kiwi Miss Marple Uncovers Cult

Repairing the premises, handing out leaflets on city streets, fundraising – not your usual college curriculum. But as some sleuthing students told Michael Durham, Winestead Hall is not your usual college, but an outpost…

Australian Style the New Zealand Way

Australian Style the New Zealand Way

“If you look over those lists of favourite shows, as picked by two key international delegates, something even more interesting emerges: a third of the top-scoring designers were born outside Australia. Kiwi born and…

Mr. Electric and the Superdudes body-rock at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Mr. Electric and the Superdudes body-rock at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Up and down South Peters Street, a group of fun-loving folk calling themselves the “Superdudes” led by Mr. Electric (a 30-year-old former model from New Zealand) danced, enlisting as many people as possible to…

The Weigh to a Perfect Body

The Weigh to a Perfect Body

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter: A study from the University of Auckland has found that the secret to satisfying those hunger pains may not be calories or fat content, but how much the food weighs.

I’m Gonna be a Contender

I’m Gonna be a Contender

David Tua has the respect of World Heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis, “I think Tua deserves a shot”. A possible title fight is lined up for later this year.  

Wine Wine Wine

Wine Wine Wine

New Zealand corks are popping all over the place: Imperiale of Goldwater Estate Waiheke Island Caberet/Merlot 1990 to be auctioned at Christies (price estimates US$2400–$3800), NZ wine featured in the Guardian and at Marks and Sparks.

Kiwi Revolutionises Advertising Through Seamless Internet Surfing

Kiwi Revolutionises Advertising Through Seamless Internet Surfing

Financial Times special report “Japanese Internet Tsumani”, looks at how the internet is making reaching customers easy: “you can be sitting in the back of a taxi in a traffic jam checking your stocks, paying bills.  It…

Voon New Zealand Fashion Showcased at Lucire

Voon New Zealand Fashion Showcased at Lucire

Wellington designer Sophie Voon brings her distinctively antipodean dresses to the world; from the ‘Pavlova’ (left with buzzy bee) in white, to the ‘Southern Cross’ in mauve. Her latest edition of influential fashion magazine…

Mucho Loco Baby! Children’s TV Stigmatises Mental Illness

Mucho Loco Baby! Children’s TV Stigmatises Mental Illness

Auckland University researchers have found that children’s television programmes create a negative stereotype of mental illness which encourages young people to develop prejudice.

Jonah and a Large Fish: a Biblical Sports Story?

Jonah and a Large Fish: a Biblical Sports Story?

Rugby Superstar Jonah Lomu joins Anna Kournikova and David Beckham to star in Adidas global advertising campaign. The ad was shot in New Zealand.  

Urban Look and Funky Charm

Urban Look and Funky Charm

Designer John Varvatos (former darling of Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren) creates cozy-old look with svelte New Zealand Shearling.    

Awa Maternity Ward No Picnic

Awa Maternity Ward No Picnic

From the grass skirts and cannibals file: “When Maori women of New Zealand give birth, they deliver on the ground near a stream. The Maori word whenua means both “earth” and “placenta.”

Ernest Rutherford a Particle in Twentieth Century’s Great Scientific Debate

Ernest Rutherford a Particle in Twentieth Century’s Great Scientific Debate

Without Quantum mechanics most of the Twentieth Century’s science and technology would not exist, yet our understanding remains vague and the debate between Einstein and Bohr over first principles was vigorous and unresolved. Bohr’s theory developed when…

Could You Run Schools Better? Kiwi Educator Asks Scots

Could You Run Schools Better? Kiwi Educator Asks Scots

Ray Newport, the New Zealand School Trustee Association’s general manager is guest speaker at the Scottish School Boards Association International Conference, is spreading the success of New Zealand’s self-governing schools model.

Without a Fault, World Champ Wins

Without a Fault, World Champ Wins

Blyth Tait of New zealand, the reigning world and Olympic champion, rode Welton Envoy to a faultless round over all 16 fences to win the Rolex-Kentucky Horse Trails.  

Kiwifruit Big Brand Inspiration for Malaysian Fruits

Kiwifruit Big Brand Inspiration for Malaysian Fruits

Dr Aziz Abdul Rahman claims the answer to Malaysia’s fruit marketing woes: “There is a need to internationalise our products with a brand that will be associated with the country such as ‘Sunkist’ or ‘Kiwi fruit’…

Destination: Style

Destination: Style

“This first-hand look at Louis Vuitton’s new Cup Collection, and the glamorous models that showcase the high-rolling styles of the super yacht world, is based in Auckland, New Zealand, home of the Louis Vuitton…

Kiwi Dennis Dutton’s Arts and Letters Daily makes Brill’s Content ‘Best of the Web’

Kiwi Dennis Dutton’s Arts and Letters Daily makes Brill’s Content ‘Best of the Web’

“Arts & Letters Daily” combines a Renaissance thirst for intriguing writing with the online imperative of speed – a sensibility evident in the site’s duelling mottoes: “Bookmark This Page” and “Veritas odit moras,” Seneca’s…

Russell reasserts his edge roots

Russell reasserts his edge roots

“Hollywood is carving a bust for Crowe in the action-hero pantheon, but Crowe is keeping his distance. “I’d move to Los Angeles if Australia and New Zealand were swallowed up by a huge tidal…

Kiwi Ex-bellboy Now Japan Dotcom Millionaire

Kiwi Ex-bellboy Now Japan Dotcom Millionaire

Young entrepreneur Jonathan Hendricksen this week became the first foreigner to list a company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange – and overnight made himself a $150 million fortune.  The former hotel doorman has a 15% stake in…

Kiwis to illuminate the dark corners of history at Berlin’s Jewish Museum

Kiwis to illuminate the dark corners of history at Berlin’s Jewish Museum

After gaining worldwide reputations for their work at Te Papa Ken Gorbey and Nigel Cox have been appointed to positions at Berlin’s Jewish Museum, As Project Director, Gorbey will co-ordinate and manage the preparations…

Magnetic Maximus unleashes Hell to please the masses in

Magnetic Maximus unleashes Hell to please the masses in

Apart from its spectacular visuals the film’s other strength is its acting, “… but everyone else can step aside for Crowe. “Gladiator” should make the Oscar-nominated actor an international star. When he’s in a…

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Russell Crowe’s star-making turn reviewed in People, “Gladiator’s pull is potent, thanks to the razzle-dazzle fight scenes (the opening battle rivals that in Saving Private Ryan) and a magnetic performance by Crowe (The Insider),…

“In New Zealand if you asked for a coffee, it was a teaspoon of Nescafe.”

“In New Zealand if you asked for a coffee, it was a teaspoon of Nescafe.”

Kings Cross, 1986, newly arrived struggling actor waiting tables: an American customer orders a decaf coffee. “Suddenly I’m faced with long black, short black, cappuccino, and cafe latte – plus decaffeinated. So I take her…

One of these days I’m gonna get myself maximised

One of these days I’m gonna get myself maximised

Here is man who would not take it anymore … Crowe makes the cover of Empire (the magazine – not the Civilisation). “The man exudes the physicality of a wild animal. Shifting testosterone…

“I wanna be Marlon Brando”…

“I wanna be Marlon Brando”…

sang Russell Crowe years ago when he was an aspiring rock star in New Zealand – the idea no longer seems absurd as Crowe brings an intensity and commitment to his craft that sometimes…

“To Die or Not to Die – Very Good Question”

“To Die or Not to Die – Very Good Question”

Gladiator features breathtaking photography, sets and computer generated images. But the real glory of the show is Russell Crowe who is simply magnificent … Like James Mason, he is one of those actors who…

Short

Short

New Zealand director James Cunningham’s short film – a digital action thriller about a mutant hero that invades a computer system to destroy student loans – has been selected to compete in the prestigious…