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New Zealand Continues to Beat Australia with Smarts
25 November 2013 – Auckland is the only New Zealand city, and the first of four cities from Australia and New Zealand, to make Fast Company’s list of ‘The…
New Zealanders Stand Up to Rape Culture
Over the past weekend, thousands of people in New Zealand took to the streets to protest a culture that doesn’t take rape seriously. The public backlash has intensified over…
Kennedy’s Last Seconds Captured by NZer
A Kiwi’s photographs capturing the last second before the assassination of President John F Kennedy in Dallas have been discovered in storage in New Zealand – and are now…
New Zealand to Phase in Shark Fin Ban
The New Zealand government has agreed to a full ban on shark finning, though fill implementation of the ban won’t happen for another three years.
The Wall Street Journal reports…
Driving the Kiwi Economy
Many strange things are used to measure economic growth and decline: the lipstick economy, the horse-trading economy, the Playboy economy (curves in recession, skinny in boom times) and even underwear,…
New Zealand a Great Place to Start-Up
New Zealand is sitting amongst the top ten most prosperous nations globally, according to the Legatum Institute’s 2013 Prosperity Index rankings.
Placing fifth, on a list otherwise heavily populated by…
Lorde and Lydia Ko Named Time’s Most Influential Teens
Kate Sheppard would be proud. 120 years after New Zealand women gained the right to vote before any other country, two young New Zealand women have become the top…
Cold, Hard Cash Works Better than Welfare
Giving money directly to the poor is one of the best ways to raise education levels and lift people out of poverty, a study by the University of Otago…
Portrait of a Leader
Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples features in a photographic exhibition featuring portraits of Tangata whenua, including Sharples. Sharples was stunningly captured on film by British photographer Jimmy Nelson, who…
Responsible for the Rights of Children in Indonesia
UNICEF representative in Indonesia, New Zealander Angela Kearney is responsible for leading a staff of 150 to carry out the duty of realizing the rights of every child in…
Don’t Beat the Currency War Drums Yet
The drums of war have been beating for two years now. With America, Britain and Japan printing money and the Euro zone considering unprecedented zero interest rates, the other…
Adventurer’s African Queen Back on the Nile
The boat thought to be the original African Queen used in the film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn has been restored by owner, New Zealander Cam McLeay.
There’s no…
Sweet News for NZ Winemakers
Global demand for wine is outstripping supply, meaning prices for New Zealand wine in export markets are likely to increase, according to a new report by US financial services…
Life on Board Ship a Daily Adventure into the Wild
For the past 24 years, New Zealand mountain climber Greg Landreth and Canadian photographer Keri Pashuk have been living on a sailboat, travelling thousands of nautical miles into some…
We’ll Never be Royals – Clark
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark appears to have taken teenage pop sensation Lorde’s lyrical sentiment – “We’ll never be royals” – to heart. In comments following a meeting at…
Rare Chinese Carved Rhino Horns Sale Makes Auction Records
A pair of very rare 19th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horns has sold for a record $797,300 Auckland-based auction house Webb’s – 454 per cent above the…
Postal Service to Reduce Deliveries from 2015
With more people emailing their correspondence rather than popping it in the mailbox, New Zealand Post will deliver mail as infrequently as three days a week to…
Repatriation of Lost Ancestral Remains
A tattooed preserved Maori head, or toi moko, and skeletal remains, koiwi tangata, discovered in the anatomy department at the University of Birmingham, are being returned to New Zealand.
University…
Nearly Naked Aussies Almost Pull One Over Nude Blacks
New Zealand blushes were spared in Dunedin, as the Nude Blacks narrowly edged an invitational Australian side in the annual naked rugby contest in the country’s southern-most city. To…
Degrees Available in Healing with Humour
New Zealanders considering a career as a professional clown will now be able to earn a certificate, diploma or full Bachelor of Arts in Medical Clowning. The qualifications are…
Happiness: Voting With Your Feet
New Zealand, allegedly, is the third happiest place on earth. Happiness is a subjective subject. Couples, for instance, routinely report higher relationship satisfaction when they are able to favourably…
NZ Pinot Beats Burgundy
A wine-tasting of international Pinot Noir – 18 wines from six different regions, including Burgundy – by more than 100 experts has seen New Zealand deemed best by value….
Fifty Thousand Kilometre Journey Peddling for the Heart
After two years and 43,000km, New Zealander Jeremy Scott is almost home having been riding his bike from London since 5 October 2011, heading to his final destination, Auckland,…
Sweeping Seismic Building Review Surpasses US Attempts
After the deadly Christchurch 6.3 magnitude earthquake, city officials responded with the most sweeping seismic review of concrete buildings ever attempted, far surpassing anything achieved in California.
Post-earthquake, residents were…
Our Islands Formally and Bilingually Named
15 October 2013 – New Zealand has formally adopted names in English and Maori for the North Island and the South Island; the English already in use but which…
Helen Clark Tackles Digital Discrimination
Digital gender inequality – women’s access to technology is less than men’s – is being tackled by the United Nations in a new report unveiled by Helen Clark, administrator…
RBS Appoints Kiwi to “Toughest Job in Banking”
Talk about taking the hot seat. New Zealand banker Ross McEwan is taking charge at the troubled Royal Bank of Scotland, following five turbulent years under Stephen Hester, who…
Big Visions for UNDP’s Leading Woman
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, currently administrator of the United Nations Development Program, features in CNN’s monthly column, “Leading Women”, which connects readers to “extraordinary women of…
In Memory of an Advocate for Women
Wellington-born Jill McLean Taylor’s memory is being kept alive by her three sons with a scholarship they began shortly after McLean Taylor’s death in the United States in 2010….
Plans for Icy Demonstration Flight South
Air New Zealand is planning a demonstration Boeing 767 flight to Antarctica on 5 October, and if all goes well the airline is expected to operate two more chartered…
Storyteller Keeps Visitors Enthralled at Opera House
Former radio announcer and television reporter New Zealander Bruce Barnett, 62, is now a tour guide at the Sydney Opera House, and this week his job features in the…
Bank Chief Faces Long List of Challenges
New Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive New Zealander Ross McEwan must confront a long list of challenges, according to the Financial Times, and at the forefront of…
V8 Supercar Driver Promotes Safety on the Road
Twenty-year-old V8 Supercar rookie and Fujitsu Racing GRM driver, New Zealander Scott McLaughlin recently visited Maroochydore State High School in Queensland to spread the road safety message.
Christchurch-born McLaughlin made…
NZ Native Forest Takes Root in Seattle
A New Zealand forest exhibit has opened at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, the first of five eco-geographic forests to be completed in the Pacific Connections…
Weatherman Predicts Year Ahead for Ireland
Auckland-born weatherman Ken Ring has made his latest predictions for the coming Northern winter, forecasting a white December for Ireland. Ring, who predicted the deadly Christchurch earthquake and Ireland’s…
120 Years Since NZ Women Shook the World
The 120-year anniversary of one of New Zealand’s most momentous moments in global history is being marked with the public exhibition of the Women’s Suffrage Petition of 19 September,…
Debunking the Fire-Walking Myth in Georgia
Retired physicist John Campbell, formerly of the University of Canterbury, is offering a fire-walking demonstration at the University of Georgia on 19 September. For Campbell, fire-walking is a matter…
Social Media Carrier for Mass Contagion
Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist in New Zealand and expert in mass hysteria, is warning how Facebook and Twitter have the potential to act as global carriers of mass hysteria….
Winter Warmest since Records Began
Scientists says New Zealand has had its warmest winter since record-keeping began in 1909. The average nationwide temperature was 9.5C for June, July and August, about 1.2C above average,…
US Hills Are Alive to NZ Flora
“We call it the New Zealand dead look,” says horticultural manager, David Zuckerman, of Seattle’s Washington Park Arboretum new garden, New Zealand Forests. As a marketing statement about the…
Spaceman Fires up West Auckland Pupils
NASA aero-engineer New Zealander Mana Vautier, who works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, is developing guidance systems, flight simulations and navigation controls to train NASA…
He Ain’t Ugly, He’s Our Parrot
An international public vote has given the beloved and endangered New Zealand parrot, the kakapo, the unwanted title of the world’s second most ugly animal. The ugliest, according to…
Morgans Charmed on N Korean Motorbike Trip
New Zealanders Gareth and Joanne Morgan have become the first people to motorbike across the Korean Peninsula and say they have some real insights to share, especially…
Sirocco Kakapo Creates a Buzz in Japan
New Zealand’s own celebrity parrot, Sirocco Kakapo, has charmed Japanese audiences and gained thousands of new fans after being mentioned on a popular Japanese television show with an audience…
Mountain Peaks to Be Named in Their Honour
Nepal is set to name two Himalayan peaks after New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the men who were the first to reach the top of…
Through Yellowstone and on to Key West
Alabama is the latest stop for New Zealand engineer Wayne Gatenby, who is biking across America on a journey taking him to Key West.
Gatenby turns 40 this year, and…
Pacific Nations on Track to Meet Renewable Energy Target
According to a report presented by New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, Pacific Island nations are on track to achieve their goal of increasing their reliance on renewable…
New Zealander Rescued After Being Trapped by Crocodile
A New Zealand kayaker spent two weeks stranded on a small island off the coast of Western Australia after a menacing crocodile refused to let him leave. Each time the…
Chinese Media Praise Fonterra’s Handling of Botulism Scare
After it was revealed last week that Fonterra’s botulism scare was a false alarm, the company and New Zealand are now receiving admiration from Chinese media for its handling…
Sir Keith’s Locomotive Rededicated in Worcestershire
A locomotive renovated after 20 years in a scrapyard has been rededicated to the Battle of Britain legend New Zealander Keith Park it was first named after in 1947….
Rare Crossing for New Zealand Motorcyclists
Five New Zealand motorcyclists have successfully crossed the world’s most militarised border as part of a ride for peace across the Korean Peninsula.
The rare crossing saw the New Zealanders…
New Zealand Abolishes Software Patents
The New Zealand Legislative has passed a law prohibiting patenting of software, in a move seen as a boost for innovation and competition in the technology sector. CBC News…
Kakapo in Global Ugly Animal Contest
New Zealand’s native kakapo has been thrust into the international spotlight, named as one of just 12 endangered animals to be included on the Ugly Animal Preservation…
Cook Responsible for Beauteous Vancouver Garden
New Zealand-born Alleyne Cook has devoted 23 years of his life to planting and maintaining Vancouver’s Ted and Mary Greig Garden within Stanley Garden which contains an extraordinary botanical…
Hope for Help from British Construction Workers
An innovative live webcast run by Immigration New Zealand and the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) hopes to encourage British civil construction and engineering workers to…
Should Australia Follow Suit in Housing Sector
Is New Zealand’s macro-prudential mortgage tools an option for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), The Guardian’s economics correspondent Greg Jericho writes. The RBA will be watching closely as…
