Rena Owen’s Hollywood Revival
On the telephone from her West Hollywood apartment New Zealand actress Rena Owen says the biggest misconception about her life in Los Angeles is that she leads one of movie-star luxury. “The amount of people…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Ross McEwan at the Helm of a UK Bank in Much Better Health
Almost a year to the day since the Hawke’s Bay-born retail banker Ross McEwan replaced Englishman Stephen Hester at the helm of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the bank appears in much greater health. Inessential…
Uili Lousi’s Sacred Geometry and Leap of Faith
Uili Lousi, Tongan-born New Zealand artist, speaks to the Epoch Times about his journey of art and using New York city for spiritual inspiration. “New York is the best place to test your spiritual life,”…
Makeup Artist Amber D Has the Dream Job
For aspiring makeup artists, New Zealand-born Amber D has the dream job. Now based in Australia, she has an extensive background in makeup artistry: with clients including Lorde, Steven Tyler and Rita Ora. She…
Lancashire University Appointment for Professor Robin Pollard
New Zealander Professor Robin Pollard has secured the dual role of deputy vice-chancellor and vice-president of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) group. Pollard has a reputation as an experienced and accomplished leader of university…
All Blacks Rugby Match Draws Record Crowd in Chicago
Saturday’s landmark rugby game at Soldier Field, Chicago, saw the All Blacks play the USA Eagles in front of a sell-out crowd of 61,500 – the largest to witness rugby in the United States. Both…
Rugby’s Rising US Popularity Helped by All Blacks
The match between the All Blacks and USA Eagles marked the largest-ever audience for an international rugby contest on American soil; signaling the sport’s growing U.S. popularity. “People do really like watching rugby in America,”…
Dana Finnigan’s Lovely Loos a First in the UK
New Zealand-born designer Dana Finnigan’s design company, which is based in Glasgow, prints “lovely loos”, wallpaper, fabrics and ceramics. Finnigan, 33, produces £2000 toilets and sinks with every inch covered in her own, bright…
Cross Country by Planes, Trains and Automobiles
With less than a fortnight to spend on the other side of the world, the Independent’s Kate Simon used planes, trains, automobiles … and a bike to make every second count on a trip…
Mansfield, Hulme, Frame – Literary Wizards
With the Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan announced as this year’s Booker winner – last year, was our own, Eleanor Catton – the Irish Times brings you “10 great novels from Down Under”. Three authors from…
One of the Most Gay-Friendly Places to Stay on Earth
New Zealand is one of the top three most gay-friendly travel destinations, according to Lonely Planet. In 1998, New Zealand was the first country to adopt the label of ‘Gay/Lesbian Friendly’ when referring to…
Alpine Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust
An international team of scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in the South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the earth’s crust less than a quarter of…
USA Today: Breaking Down the All Blacks Haka
USA Today has provided insight into the Haka, which has become a familiar rite to anyone who has watched a New Zealand team play in international sporting events. The Haka, drew headlines this summer as…
Britain Can Learn a Lot from NZ’s Healthcare System
The distant shores of New Zealand, which has a broadly similar healthcare system to the UK’s, provides some lessons for Britain’s NHS, writes Robin Gauld, professor of health policy at the University of Otago. “New…
New Zealand Ranked One of the Best Places to Run a Business
New Zealand is among the highest-ranked economies in the World Bank’s latest “Doing Business” report, which scores 189 nations based on how hard it is to run a company there. New Zealand was ranked second…
Designer Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway Season 13
New Zealander Sean Kelly, 25, has won season 13 of Project Runway, battling it out with a show at New York Fashion Week in a final judge Heidi Klum declared the best in the…
Jennifer Flay Helping Inject New Life into French Art Scene
Premier Paris art fair Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) has never been better according to experts, and all thanks to New Zealander Jennifer Flay who has been at the helm of FIAC…
Chelsea Jade Making New Music Offshore in NY and Tokyo
Singer Chelsea Jade Metcalf has created considerable buzz in her home of New Zealand, and she’s finally ready to take her art elsewhere; she’s been in New York recently for the CMJ Music Marathon,…
Weta Cave Workshop Expands for Tour Groups
Hobbit fever is ramping up in Wellington ahead of the third and final installment of Peter Jackson‘s “Hobbit” trilogy and Weta Workshop is expanding to meet demand. In a bid to cater to growing demand from tour groups…
Graeme Mahy Looks to Brew up Some Beauties in NSW
New Zealander Graeme Mahy was a key player in setting up Murray’s Craft Brewing Co. in NSW in 2006 before travelling the world to gain knowledge about beer production and also impart…
Hobbits Fit Their Safety Masks for Air NZ Safety Video
Ahead of the final instalment of The Hobbit trilogy, and continuing its long tradition of entertaining in-flight videos, Air New Zealand has launched its latest “epic” pre-flight safety demonstration. The airline has done a new…
3D Printing Sounds like the Future of Music
This is music to the ears of instrumentalists and fans of 3D printing alike. New Zealander Professor Olaf Diegel, who teaches product development at Lund University in Sweden, along with a band of students…
Coromandel the Best of Both Scene and Serene
The Coromandel Peninsula “is crawling with sandy hot spots, but there are plenty of calm alternatives, too,” according to the New York magazine which recommends both “scenes” and “serenes”. “Reachable only after driving on a gravel road,…
Andrew McCarten on How to Make a Film about a Living Person
New Zealand producer and screenwriter Anthony McCarten discusses the difficulties in making a film about a person who is still alive. McCarten’s latest feature is a biopic about theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, The Theory…
Art of Living with Significant Spatial Drama
New Zealand-born painter Stefan Dunlop’s treetop Noosa home is one of a number of artists’ houses throughout the world with “significant spatial drama”, according to a Telegraph article. Dunlop is an individual “with an…
Auckland’s French Café One of World’s Top Five Restaurants
Auckland restaurant The French Café, run by hotelier Simon Wright and wife Creghan Molloy Wright, has shot to global fame after being voted one of the top five best fine-dining establishments in the world. The…
New Zealand Wins Seat on UN Security Council
New Zealand has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The 15-member council has five permanent members – the US, UK, France, Russia and China – and 10 non-permanent seats, filled…
Sean Kelly Wins Project Runway
New Zealand designer Sean Kelly has won reality TV show Project Runway in New York. The Wellintonian who now lives in Brooklyn was one of four finalists who were given a budget to prepare a…
Simon O’Neill Is the Mighty Otello in New Houston Opera Season
For most tenors, according to New Zealander Simon O’Neill, performing as Otello “is the Everest” of all roles. He plays the Moorish general for the Houston Grand Opera season. Otello demands a tenor…
NY Inspiring Fashion Illustrator Natasha Wright
New Zealand fashion illustrator New York-based Natasha Wright, who has 47,000 Instagram followers a day, is working for well-known illustrator Dallas Shaw on projects such as clothing prints and promotional work for brands like…
‘Housebound’ a Satisfying Horror-Comedy Spookfest
The horror-comedy film Housebound, the writing-directing feature debut from New Zealand filmmaker Gerard Johnstone, is described as “creepy, silly, inventive, darkly funny and, at one point, mind blowingly bloody,” by Gary Goldstein for the…
Mark Burry Maintains Epic Work on the Sagrada Família
Executive architect of the Sagrada Família New Zealander Mark Burry has been able to complete Gaudí’s designs by devising parametric computer modelling techniques, adapted from the aerospace industry. Burry has even sped up the…
Our Teens Make TIME’s Most Influential List
Auckland golfer Lydia Ko and singer Lorde have been included in TIME magazine’s annual list of the 25 most influential teens, a list based on social-media followings, cultural accolades and business acumen. “After going pro…
New Zealand-Inspired US Burger Bach Cookin’ Up our Beef
Burger Bach, a New Zealand-inspired gastropub chain based in Virginia, has plans for a third restaurant south in the North Carolina city of Durham. The chain’s point of difference in a country not short…
NZ Designer in Project Runway Final
New Zealand designer Sean Kelly has made it to the finals of American reality TV show Project Runway. Kelly was named as a finalist in an episode which aired on Thursday in the US. The competition…
New Zealand Fault Hole Revealing Secrets of Earth’s Crust
Scientists drilling a 1.3-km deep hole into the Alpine Fault in New Zealand’s South Island say they are already gaining valuable insights into the Earth’s crust less than a quarter of the way down. The…
Koekohe Beach One of the Most Bizarre in the World
Koekohe Beach in Otago, famed for the Moeraki Boulders, is one of the world’s most bizarre beaches according to the Architecture and Design website, which also features the Beach of the Cathedrals, Ribadeo, Spain…
Hospitality Guru Shane Green to the Rescue
Las Vegas hospitality guru New Zealander Shane Green is the host of new Travel Chanel reality show, Resort Rescue. Green shows owners his unbelievable hidden camera discoveries and why their resort is in bad…
Artist Louise Menzies Thinks like a Mountain at UConn
Auckland-based multimedia artist Louise Menzies is serving as artist-in-residence at the University of Connecticut (UConn) creating the exhibition, “Time to Think Like a Mountain,” which focuses on materials found in the university’s…
US Indie Film Role for Former Vampire Jemaine Clement
New Zealand comedian Jemaine Clement, who played 862-year-old Vladislav in What We Do in the Shadows, will next star in the indie drama People Places Things directed by James Strouse. Following appearances in Hollywood films…
Lorde Expressing Existential Emotions Beyond Her Years
Lorde “comes from a land of pioneering women with sometimes perverse perspectives, from the writers Katherine Mansfield and Keri Hulme to the filmmaker Jane Campion,” Los Angeles Magazine contributor Evelyn McDonnell writes in a…
The Dead Lands Provoking Londoners to Travel South
Director Toa Fraser’s latest film The Dead Lands (Hautoa) is one of 10 films from the 2014 London Film Festival “that are sure to see you planning trips to New Zealand, Borneo…
Galway’s Kai Café and Restaurant Ireland’s Best
Kai Café & Restaurant in Galway, run by New Zealander Jess Murphy and her Irish husband David, has won the top prize in Ireland’s Georgina Campbell Awards 2015, the country’s longest-running hospitality awards. Kai, named…
Ben Knight’s Loomio Software Rallies Spanish Political Party
Spanish political party Podemos (We Can), the first party to ever use a website – Reddit – to organise its members, is also using Loomio, a company co-founded by New Zealander Ben Knight…
NZ’s Role in Zhivago Affair
An unnamed New Zealand diplomat has played a role in the Cold War literary intrigue that became known as the Zhivago affair. It was a New Zealand diplomat stationed in Moscow who smuggled out…
NZ Wealth Growth on Top of the World
New Zealand has grown wealthier than any other country in the world since 2000, according to a new report released by Credit Suisse. It ranks NZ top, just ahead of Australia, in wealth growth per…
NZ Wins Security Council Seat
New Zealand has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council, in the first round of the secret ballot. The UN’s 193 member states voted at the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. New…
New Zealanders Spending More on Cider, Less on Sweatpants
New Zealanders drink more cider than ever, wear sweatpants less often, and use smartphones instead of video cameras to capture family memories. These are just some of the lifestyle changes reflected in the government…
New Zealand Exemplary in Embracing Indigenous Culture
“Can you imagine NBA players performing a Native American grass dance in an act of team solidarity and national unity? In New Zealand, no one bats an eye,” writes Morgan Godfery in…
Zane Lowe, Lorde Help Launch Star-Studded BBC Music Initiative
Some of the biggest names in music, including New Zealanders DJ Zane Lowe and singer Lorde, have united to record a cover of the Beach Boys track God Only Knows for the…
Providores and Tapa Room London’s Best for NZ Fare
Peter Gordon’s Providores and Tapa Room on Marylebone High St is the Telegraph’s favourite place in London to enjoy food from New Zealand. “London has a restaurant to suit just about every cuisine in the…
New Zealand Sheep Farms Adapt to Changing Demands
The changing face of sheep farming in New Zealand, with a focus on sheep meat exports over the traditional wool harvest, is mapped in an extensive New York Times feature by journalist Mike Ives. “About…
Archibald Milne Hamilton’s Iraqi Road an Engineering Marvel
Tucked into a remote canyon a two-hour drive north of the Kurdish capital of Irbil, Gali Ali Beg’s waterfall is a beacon for Iraqis who pine for a quiet, safe life after decades of…
Coromandel Ballerina Vida Polakov Wins Genée Gold
New Zealand ballerina Vida Polakov, 16, has danced her way to gold at the Genée International Ballet Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious classical ballet competitions. Simply called “the Genée”, the competition,…
Chatting up Katharine Mansfield
“I like the New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, who according to Virginia Woolf smelt like a civet cat and had a hard, cheap face, and who was the only contemporary writer of whom she…
BBC Announces Cop Drama “Bay of Plenty”
Two female detectives will be the lead characters in a new BBC drama set in Rotorua. Luther creator Neil Cross will return to BBC as the creator of the drama, provisionally titled Bay of Plenty. The show will focus on…
