Prince George Gets His Own NZ Post Stamp
For the first time in its 170-year history, New Zealand Post is issuing a stamp to celebrate a Royal birth, that of Prince George of Cambridge. While Royal children have featured on several New…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
New Zealand Parliament Passes Controversial Spy Bill 61-59
The New Zealand parliament has narrowly passed a controversial bill that opponents say represents a fundamental threat to democratic rights and freedoms. The new legislation allows the country’s main intelligence agency, the Government Communications…
Tauranga Dog Donates Blood to Save Cat’s Life
A Tauranga cat has a dog to thank, after a local vet gave it a transfusion of canine blood in a gamble to save the feline’s life. Kim Edwards rushed her cat, Rory, to the…
Volcano off the Bay of Plenty Coast Erupts
White Island, a volcano off the coast of Bay of Plenty, erupted yesterday morning, sending a plume of steam two kilometres into the air. The eruption happened about 10:23am, lasted only a few minutes…
Sneaky Egg Swap Boosts Kokako Population
The Department of Conservation (DOC) are working hard to save the endangered North Island kokako, using sleight of hand to trick nesting mothers into incubating the eggs of kokako from other areas to help…
New Zealand Landscape Plays Active Role in Films
“If a country could be eligible for a best actor award, New Zealand could be in the running for every gong going,” writes Megan Lane. In the piece for BBC News Magazine, Lane explores…
New Zealand’s First Same-Sex Marriages Occur Across the Country
Just hours after same-sex marriage laws came into force, New Zealand’s first gay marriages began taking place across the country. 31 couples plan on tying the knot today, but the number is likely to…
Governor-General to Strengthen NZ-Cambodia Ties.
The New Zealand Governor-General, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, has made a short visit to Cambodia to promote bilateral relations between the two countries. Mateparae visited the country at the request of Cambodia’s King Norodom…
Centenarian Joins Sydney Reunion of WW2 Veterans
New Zealand World War II veteran Frank Harlow, 100, joined fellow New Zealanders living in Australia at their first ever reunion at the Sydney Maori Anglican Fellowship Church of Te Wairua Tapu in Redfern,…
Why You Should Retire in New Zealand
The benefits of retiring in New Zealand are extolled by Catey Hill of MarketWatch, as she explains why the country is a great place to retire for active baby boomers. The “dramatic natural landscape…
Waiheke Island’s World’s Oldest Dance Crew Performs at World Championship
New Zealand hip-hop dance crew, Hip Op-eration, have arrived in Las Vegas and performed as part of the World Hip Hop Championship. The world’s oldest hip-hip dance crew, Hip-Operation members range between the ages…
Invaluable Volunteer Helps out in Arundel
New Zealander Andrew Wood, 26, who has been in the UK for the past 18 months, has been “the stalwart” of Arundel’s annual nine-day festival, “proving an invaluable volunteer”. Originally from Christchurch where…
“Ferocious Gander” deters Norsewood Meter Reader
The small New Zealand town of Norsewood is better known for it’s wool wear and affinity for trolls. But the small town, whose populations barely scrapes above 300, is making international news for reports…
After 150 years Mummified Maori head to Return to New Zealand
After 150 years Britain’s Warrington Museum is sending back the mummified head said to be that of a New Zealand Maori chief. The Maori head, or Toi moko, was brought to Britain in the…
Big Brownie Takes Rod and Wheel World Record
Tauranga angler Otwin Kandolf, 71, has landed an all-tackle world record for the biggest brown trout taken on a rod and reel. Kandolf caught the massive 19kg brownie in March while fishing in Ohau…
Famed Computer Hacker Fondly Remembered
Celebrated New Zealand computer hacker Barnaby Jack, who exposed vulnerabilities in bank ATMs and sparked safety improvements in medical devices, has died in San Francisco. He was 35. Jack was one of the world’s…
Do You Pass the Test?
Here are some of the 31 signs you are the child of New Zealand expatriates, according to viral news site, BuzzFeed. The site also recommends not forwarding the information to people with Australian parents….
Déjà Vu for California-based Royal Biographer
New Zealand writer Susan Maxwell Skinner, who lives in Charmichael, California, “knows much about the doings of England’s royal family”, writes The Sacramento Bee’s Bill Lindelof. As a young writer, Skinner moved to England…
Archaeologist Made Extraordinary Contributions to Field
New Zealand-born archaeologist Mike Morwood, who was best known for discovering Homo floresiensis, has died in Darwin, aged 82. In 2003, Morwood led a joint Australian-Indonesian team of archaeologists, which uncovered what appeared to…
AJ Hackett’s Ambitious Project in Russia Nears Completion
New Zealand adrenaline pioneer AJ Hackett is months from completing what might be his most ambitious project to date – AJ Hackett Sochi, a Russian adventure park that will include the world’s highest swing…
Wellington CBD Closes Following Magnitude 6.5 Quake
Much of Wellington’s CBD was closed on Monday as engineers assessed building for structural damage following a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck on Sunday evening. While the New Zealand Parliament building and Beehive did sustain…
Skills Drain Reversal with More Work Options
New Zealand is currently experiencing its strongest immigration flows in four years, with returning citizens vying with foreign nationals for work, in a “nation whose economy is outperforming many of its developed peers”, writes…
Committing to Biculturalism in Education
Newton Central School in Grey Lynn, Auckland, is the subject of a story about how New Zealand, and Newton Central in particular, is making biculturalism in education work. Special advisor on education…
New Zealand Pledges to Continue Fight for Ross Sea
A New Zealand-led proposal for a marine protected area in the Ross Sea has been stymied due to the inability of the 26-member Comission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to…
Gamers Promote Powerful Women Leads
Game developer New Zealander Lucy Morris, who lives in Düsseldorf, this week participated in a 48-hour game jam – or a fleeting arcade of game developers planning and creating a game over a short…
Dean of New Oxford Business School Reflects on a Year
The New Zealand-born dean of Oxford University’s new Blavatnik School of Government, Ngaire Woods describes the first year as “terrific. Fun. Challenging. Great,” without pause. “It has been a whirlwind.” It might…
Successful Planting of Our Natives in UK Gardens
A selection of New Zealand plants ideal for UK gardens feature in a Guardian picture gallery this week. “If you squint a bit, parts of the New Zealand landscape can look familiar to the…
Historical Mill Still Grinding for a Modern World
New Zealander Michael Shaw is a miller operating one of Scotland’s last surviving fully operational commercial watermills. Golspie Mill in Sutherland grinds peasemeal, rye, bread and plain flour. The original mill was opened…
The World Loses a Great Philosopher
New Zealand-born political theorist Kenneth Minogue, a leading figure in Britain’s conservative intellectual life, has died aged 82. Minogue was Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics from 1984 to 1995,…
Deciphering Clues from Ancient Bones in Cambodia
For the past seven years, New Zealand archaeologist Dr Nancy Beavan has been unravelling the mystery of a graveyard in Cambodia dating back to the Angkor era. At Phnom Pel, more than 100 burial…
At Home on the Banks of the Mekong
The home of New Zealand doctor Andrew Thomson, who works for the United Nations in Cambodia, features in The New York Times’ section “Great Homes and Destinations” this week. “It was more of a…
Angry Lego on the Rise
A researcher in New Zealand has found that Lego figurines are becoming increasingly angrier. In a study of 3,655 figures produced between 1975 and 2010, Dr Christoph Bartneck, a robot expert at the University…
Tiny Troop of Toddlers Performs the Cutest Haka Ever
Six Ngati Toa children with an average age of two, from Porirua’s Bronwyn’s Place Daycare, have performed what news outlets are calling “the cutest Haka ever”. “It is one of the most awesome sights…
Mayor Gives Residents a Sense of What Auckland Could Be
Auckland sits at No 10 on Monocle magazine’s annual “Top 25 liveable cities” list, with Copenhagen at No 1, followed by Melbourne at No 2. “Auckland’s mayor Len Brown talks of making his city…
Minding the Gap at All London’s 270 Stations
Auckland-born businessman Tim McCready has been to all 270 London Underground stations after spending seven days spread over five months travelling the entire 250 miles of the Tube network. “When I arrived…
NZ Hip-Operation Crew Set to take World Stage
New Zealand hip-hop crew ‘Hip-Operation’ are set to perform at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship in Las Vegas this August. What sets them apart from the competition? About 50 years. The Waiheke Island…
NZ Bird Recognise People, Show Different Personalities
A study has revealed that a native New Zealand bird is able to recognise different humans. Researchers at Victoria University found that the North Island Robin, or toutouwai, reacts differently to humans by timing…
Speculative Theorist Challenged Course of History
Christchurch-born Michael Baigent, co-author of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, one of the most controversial books of the 1980s, has died in Brighton, England, aged 65. Baigent grew up in Nelson and…
Convoluted Defence History with US Vestige of the Past
The difficult period of New Zealand-US defence relations “is now seen as a relic” according to American Thawley Scholar Jack Georgieff, with “the best in bilateral defense relations” yet to come. “Chuck Hagel raised…
‘First-Ever Photos’ of World’s Clearest Lake
Blue Lake in Nelson Lakes National Park is the clearest fresh water lake in the world, with visibility ranging between 70 -80 metres. Entering the lake is strictly prohibited and is located in a…
World-first Drug Legislation in the Pipeline
Under proposed laws, New Zealand will permit the limited sale of some designer drugs for recreational purpose; the legislation is the first in the world to regulate new recreational drugs based on scientific evidence…
Canada Should Consider NZ’s Sex Work Rights
Catherine Healy, a member of the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective, and Sandra Ka Hon Chu of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, discuss “New Zealand’s model of sex work respects rights and the “Swedish model,”…
Race to Save Maui’s Dolphin
With only 55 adults remaining, experts fear Maui’s dolphin will disappear entirely within the next 17 years unless urgent action is taken. An expert panel was appointed by the New Zealand government last year…
Transport Man Made Tough Decisions from the Top
Nelson-born Frank Baldwin, who died in March aged 81, was “known for a career marked by innovation and a certain amount of controversy,” Mark Juddery writes in an obituary for The Sydney Morning Herald….
NSA Intelligence Not Sure Against Citizens PM Tells Parliament
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said in Parliament that the country does not use foreign intelligence agencies to circumvent local laws or illegally spy on citizens, but declined to say whether the controversial…
Famed Potter Found Answers in Social Artform
New Zealand-based potter Mirek Smíšek, who won fame with his ceramic artifacts for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, has died in Wellington, aged 88. Smíšek and his wife made some 700 vases,…
New Zealand’s Oldest Driver Has No Plans to Give Up
Born before the first Model T rolled out of Henry Ford’s factory in Detroit, Northland man Bob Edwards, 105, is New Zealand’s oldest licensed driver – and one of the oldest in the…
NZ Navy To Visit US Navy Base For First Time in 30 Years
A New Zealand navy ship will visit a US port in Guam for the first time in 30 years, in what NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says is a further sign of thawing…
Life Behind Many Doors in a Vintage Ho Chi Minh Home
New Zealand engineer Rick Stockley and his wife Rosie Pollard, 30, a choreographer, were not planning to move in October 2011, but a surprise offer prompted them to reconsider. Some acquaintances were going to…
New Zealand Sailors Dominate Rugby Field
Crew from the Royal New Zealand Navy Frigate Te Mana took on sailors from the USS George Washington aircraft carrier near Yokusuka Naval Base, Japan, in the final of a 10-aside tournament, beating the…
Rugged Coast a Place of Refuge for Hillary
Sir Edmund Hillary’s daughter, Sarah reflects on the area in New Zealand – along the wild coast of the Waitakere Ranges – where the mountaineer found refuge, from the attention that followed his conquest…
Reviving the Legacy of a Great Chieftain
“After 150 years of marginalisation, things are finally looking up for the ,” Yasmine Ryan writes for Al Jazeera. “The central New Zealand town of Matamata is world renowned for its thoroughbred horse…
Leave the Hillary Step Ladderless Urges American Mountaineer
“Sixty years ago this week, as Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay approached the summit of the world’s highest mountain, they were stopped by a 40-foot wall of rock and ice,” American mountaineer Ed Viesturs…
NZ’s WWII Polish Orphans Impress and Inspire Pulitzer Prize Winner
Anne Applebaum is an American journalist and historian. She is a Pulitzer Prize winner for Gulag: A History, a remarkable and eye-opening account of the horrors and madness of the Soviet penal system. Recently,…
Former Press Editor Wins ‘Friend of NZ Award’
Andrew Holden, former Christchurch Press and now Age editor-in-chief, was honoured with the prestigious 2013 Friend of New Zealand award for his ‘brave efforts’ in ensuring the people of Christchurch received vital information during…
New Zealand in Midst of Year-long Earthquake
For the past five months a magnitude 7 earthquake, centred near Wellington, has been slowly rocking the country. It’s the strongest earthquake to hit the region in 150 years says The New Zealand Herald,…
