Limited Fashion Collection Honouring Burt Munro
A limited fashion collection that honours Burt Munro and his racing heritage has been released, as reported by autoevolution. “For those who still don’t know who Burt Munro was, the “World’s Fastest…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Helen Clark Says World Needs Action on Forest Land Rights to Meet Climate Goals
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has “warned that global climate change goals cannot be achieved without a united push to secure land rights for the world’s indigenous forest communities”, as reported by…
Adventurer and Inspirational Bone Disease Campaigner Samuel Gibson
Samuel Gibson, an inspirational adventurer and brittle bone disease campaigner has died, aged 39, after suffering a ‘devastating’ head injury while competing in a half marathon, as reported in The Daily Mail. The…
Josh Webb Gives Firsthand Take on Refugee Crisis
For the last five months New Zealand-born Josh Webb has been volunteering at Moria refugee camp in Greece. Webb relocated to New York City in 2007, landing a job as director of digital products…
Globetrotter John Bougen on Track for World Record
One of the world’s greatest globetrotters, Timaru-born John Bougen who was the founder of the Dress Mart chain, is closing in on the world record for the number of states visited by an individual…
Helen Clark Launches Campaign to Lead UN
New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark has begun her campaign to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, saying in Paris that, “peace really matters to women”. Clark has led the…
NZ Police Officers Release ‘Running Man’ Video
“The New Zealand police force has released a video of officers doing the “running man” dance and issued a challenge to other forces around the world to do the same in an unorthodox recruitment drive,” as…
Book Returned to Epsom Library 67 Years Late
A woman has brought back Myths and Legends of Maoriland by AW Reed to an Auckland library 67 years after it was due to be returned. The book was checked out by a girl in…
Best Bank Note in the World
New Zealand’s new $5 note has taken out the ‘Banknote of the Year’ award at the International Bank Note Society’s (IBNS) annual meeting, as reported in Business Insider. “We are proud of all…
Entrepreneur Derek Handley Advocate of Drug Support
New Zealand entrepreneur Derek Handley, who was at April’s Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), where Associate Minster of Health Peter Dunne was a speaker, insists…
Planner Darryl Sargant Solving Calgary’s Sprawl
Darrell Sargent, Calgary’s coordinator of citywide planning, hasn’t lived in the Canadian city long, but the New Zealander says he understands one of the city’s most pressing problems. “Calgary is like Christchurch in that they…
Antarctic Meteorologist Receives Polar Award
Auckland-born meteorologist Agnieszka Fryckowska has received the prestigious Polar Award for her service with the British Antarctic Survey, joining the ranks of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Ernest Shackleton. Fryckowska was flown from her home…
Kakapo Conservationists Celebrate Breeding Success
The kakapo, the world’s heaviest parrot, a critically endangered bird that only lives in a remote part of New Zealand, has had its most successful breeding season since conservation efforts began more than two…
NZ to Make it Easier for Chinese to Get Visas
The New Zealand government has announced a package of measures designed to make it easier for Chinese people to visit the country. “China is New Zealand’s second largest and fastest growing tourist market. Last year,…
New Zealand Photographer Documents Children Growing Up Without Modern Electronics
New Zealand mother Niki Boon, who raises her children without modern electronics, is capturing their stripped down childhood in an ongoing photo series ‘Childhood in the Raw’. “We haven’t had TV since the…
Kiwis in Australia Still Treated Like Second-Class Citizens
“There has long been anger among New Zealanders at being treated like second-class citizens in Australia,” writes Susan Chenery in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald. It is estimated that New Zealanders…
Bank of China New Zealand Signs Agreement with Immigration NZ
Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited has signed a partnership arrangement with Immigration New Zealand, which will simplify visa application processes for their high net worth customers wishing to study or visit. “In addition to…
Welcome to World’s First Ever Pastafarian Wedding
The world’s first official Pastafarian wedding, held by The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and officiated by Martyn, the ministeroni, has taken place in Akaroa. “The groom, Toby Ricketts, vowed to always add salt…
Violinist Alan Loveday
Violinist Alan Loveday has passed away on April 12, aged 88. He was “renowned for his rich, warm tone, impeccable technique and purity of intonation,” as well as for being a highly adaptable musician,…
Protecting a Yellow-Eyed Beauty
Though its figure—with its striking eyes and signature colored band across its head—adorns New Zealand’s five-dollar bill, the yellow-eyed penguin is severely endangered. Just 2,000 of the flightless birds are alive today, down from…
Helen Clark’s Leadership Capabilities Outshine Her Zip Code
“‘I can offer the style of leadership needed today’. Such words sound unremarkable coming from a politician in this messy and pivotal election cycle. But when they come from the right woman with an…
NZ-Michigan Penpals Connected for 40 Years
Berwyn Arthur, 87, of Waimate and Wilma Christian, 91, of Michigan have been writing to each other for more than four decades and though the two women have been communicating since 1971, the international…
Cecil Low’s Churchill Cartoon Rallied a Nation
Renowned political cartoonist and caricaturist New Zealander David Alexander Cecil Low, who worked for the Evening Standard from 1927 to 1950, rallied Britain behind the new leader Winston Churchill producing “an inspiring exhortation to…
Jonny Kennaugh Uniting the Citizens of Dubai
Jonny Kennaugh was passing through Dubai while travelling the world with his wife Aimee-Rose Stephenson. A two-month visit became five years when the New Zealanders decided to launch social initiative, The Sameness Project, with…
NZ Spider Could Have the Fastest Jaws in the World
New research undertaken by scientists at the Smithsonian Institution in the United States has highlighted a species of New Zealand spider that could have the fastest jaws in the world, with strikes so fast…
Meteor Shines Bright Green Over New Zealand
A meteor lit up New Zealand skies on Tuesday about 9pm. New Zealander Jono Matla was lucky enough to capture the meteor cutting its way through the sky. It was “one of the most amazing…
Kakapo May Need Parasites to Survive
Conservation biologists are doing everything they can to keep the critically endangered kakapo from vanishing. And so, when they discovered a few years ago that a pair of captive kakapo were infected with tapeworms,…
Sound Fossil of the Huia Echoes in Munich
As inhabitants of the Anthropocene age, in which our influence on the planet is so profound and terrifying, the Guardian asks how our writers and artists are responding to this crisis. Included in an…
Global Media Hail Helen Clark’s UN Bid
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s announced candidacy for the position of Secretary-General at the United Nations has been hailed around the world by international media. The UN’s current top ranked woman as head of the…
After WWII NZ Navy Rocked With Peaceful Mutinies
As far as navies go, the Royal New Zealand Navy is a relatively young one. For most of New Zealand’s time as a British colony, the country was protected by the British Navy. It…
End of The NZ Flag Referendum? Think Again
Last week the results of the New Zealand flag referendum were released: The Kiwis voted against changing the flag and in favour of keeping their current flag. Is that the end of it? Peter Fitz…
US Study Looks at How Islands Are Saving Natives
“In 1894, a pregnant house cat escaped from a lighthouse on Stephens Island, in the Marlborough Sounds. She had her kittens in the wild, where they went feral. Within 13 months, a native bird…
How to Ford a River
The New York Times asks retired firefighter, New Zealander George Spearing, who has crossed hundreds of rivers on solo wilderness treks, including a five-month, 4265km hike from the Mexican border to British Columbia and…
South Canterbury Contractors Unearth Moa Bones
Contractors at a site in South Canterbury have made an unexpected find while digging a trench – dozens of bones belonging to the long-extinct moa. Workers spotted the bones during excavations in an area which…
New Zealand Ranked Among World’s Most Literate Nations
New Zealand has been ranked the 15th most literate nation in a new study of countries and their literacy. According to the article “the study, conducted by John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State…
NZ Could Become One of First Countries to Introduce Citizen’s Wage
Andrew Little, leader of the Labour Party said his party was considering the idea of scrapping benefits and introducing a basic citizens’ income, as reported in The Independent. “Citizens’ income also known as…
Zero-Hour Contracts Banned in New Zealand
Zero-hour contracts have been outlawed in New Zealand after parliament unanimously passed a bill to ban the controversial practice, which is being hailed as a major victory for minimum wage workers, particularly in the…
NZEDGE.COM EDITORIAL (new): 8 Reasons Why I Voted for the New New Zealand Flag
In 2004 I wrote ‘Eight Reasons to Change the Flag’ for Lloyd Morrison’s new flag campaign. Here’s my 2016 update: – The old flag is a relic, like this once mighty VE Valiant,…
Kiwi Pilot Jason Laing Honoured
New Zealand helicopter pilot Jason Laing has been honoured with this year’s Appareo Pilot of the Year Award. The pilot is best known for his work in the aftermath of last April’s earthquake in Nepal. After the…
Kiwi Cycles Across India
New Zealander Tim Chittock started cycling the roads of India to create a world record on February 27. His goal is to pedal 6,000 kilometres from New Delhi along the Golden Quadrilateral in 20…
Ta Moko – Traditional Maori Face and Body Tattoos
The Daily Mail has featured a number of black and white photos, which were taken by possibly the first New Zealand female professional photographer Elizabeth Pulman and depict “how far…
Professor Roger Clark Nominated for Nobel Prize
New Zealand-born Professor Roger Clark, a public international law, human rights and criminal law scholar, has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work on a lawsuit on behalf of…
Singapore Events Exec Matt Bennett Takes Time Off
New Zealander Matt Bennett, 47, is the managing director of events company Magic Rock, which is organising Magners International Comedy Festival in Singapore. Bennett divides his time between Singapore and Bangkok. He talks to…
Artist Melvin Day Brought a Cubist Edge to New Zealand
Artist Melvin Day, who gave his post-war landscapes, still lifes and images of Maori meetings a cubist sensibility, has died aged 92. Day studied at the Courtauld Institute in London under the Cambridge spy Anthony Blunt,…
Trans-Tasman New Pathways to Citizenship Deal Made
New Zealanders who have lived and worked in Australia for more than five years will find it easier to access citizenship under a deal reached by the leaders of the two countries, the Guardian…
Kiwi in Syria War Zones Raising Relief Funds
New Zealander Michael Seawright, founder of international humanitarian organisation ReliefAid is raising emergency relief funds to provide shelter support to families in Syria War Zones. ReliefAid is one of only a handful of…
Christchurch a City Reimagining Itself
The story of Christchurch’s resurrection is nearly as inspirational as the one that lends the city its name. In the aftermath of a terrible succession of earthquakes between 2010-11, which led to the demolition…
New Zealand Wins ‘Top Country in the World’ Award Voted by British Travellers
With a satisfaction rating of 97 per cent, New Zealand has been ranked as number one country for the second year in succession by 2900 readers of Wanderlust, the UK’s leading travel magazine. “This award…
Kim Casali’s Love Is An Inspiration
Auckland-born Kim Casali created the syndicated cartoon feature Love Is…, originally as notes to her future husband, in the late 1960s. As well, in one of the world’s first cases, Casali gave birth to…
NZ Happy Chickens Farm Video Goes Viral
“A video from a farm in New Zealand, Otaika Valley Free Range Eggs, has been making the rounds on social media in recent days, and it’s easy to see why,” writes Stephen Messenger…
Mesmerising Drone Footage of New Zealand Sheep
An aerial photographer and qualified pilot has captured some truly mesmerising footage of hundreds of sheep being herded in New Zealand as reported in The Daily Mail. The video shows hordes of sheep…
Kakapo Genome Sequencing a Whole Lot of Help
A group of kakapo will have their genomes sequenced in the hope it will improve the birds’ genetic diversity. There are only 125 kakapo left and every one of them will have their genetic…
New Zealand Unemployment Drops to 6-Year Low
New Zealand’s unemployment rate has plummeted to 5.3% – in the fourth quarter of the year – which is a six-year low. “Although the number of employed people has risen, there was also growth in…
New Zealand One of The World’s Most Generous Nations
New Zealand is the country with the second highest rate of charitable donations as a percentage gross domestic product (GDP) according to a new report released by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Charitable giving by…
Decorated WWII Fighter Pilot Keith Thiele
Squadron Leader Keith Thiele, who has died in Sydney aged 94, was decorated four times as a bomber and a fighter pilot and was one of only four New Zealand-born airmen to earn three…
Migaloo Sighted in New Zealand
The world’s most famous white whale Migaloo – a pure white humpback – has been sighted between the North and South Island of New Zealand. “Migaloo being in New Zealand waters supports the findings from…
