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Les Munroe, ‘Dambuster’ Pilot Marks 70 Years Since Daring WW2 Raid
‘Older people still recall the grim days of 1943 and remember the good news – when that was a rare commodity – that Germany’s massive dams were breached by…
Mighty River Float Raises $NZ 1.7 Billion
Some 110,000 New Zealanders bought shares in the Mighty River Power float, and around 68,000 of these may be first-time investors. However, the NZ Green Party claims that half…
Child Poverty ‘Stains’ NZ’s Human Rights Record Says Amnesty
Amnesty International blasted New Zealand for its high rate of child poverty, and its poor treatment of female domestic violence victims and asylum seekers. The condemnations came in Amnesty’s…
Indonesia Seeks Better Trade Balance with NZ
Indonesia’s deputy Minister of Trade has called for New Zealand to evolve into a ‘true partner’ that will help Indonesia solve its problems, writes Ruth Le Pla for stuff.co.nz. Speaking…
Reserve Bank’s Intervention Marks ‘New Direction’ in Currency War
The Wall Street Journal uses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s recent action to bring down the NZ dollar as an example of the ‘new direction’ in what…
Bamiyan Fears for Future with NZ Troops Gone
‘There are New Zealand soldiers, so there is no Taliban. When they leave, the Taliban for sure will return,’ Ibrahim Chaman, a resident of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, told reporter Emma…
Royal NZ Navy Revisits Shanghai
The Royal New Zealand Navy frigate Te Mana, commanded by Commander Andel, visited China on a goodwill visit for five days in May, according to The Peoples Daily. The…
Sir Don McKinnon is 2013’s Supreme World Class New Zealander
Sir Don McKinnon is the Supreme Award winner of the 2013 World Class New Zealand Awards, says scoop.co.nz. The annual award, made by Kea New Zealand on behalf of…
Girl on Film All Year in Chicago
New Zealand architect Emily Oakley has documented 365 days of her stay in Chicago one video clip at a time. In her first post of the series…
Domestic Spy Stories Unfolding
“One of Kim Dotcom’s lasting legacies in New Zealand – beyond his already-legendary arrest, like something out of a film – is that the government may change the law…
Judith Collins to Study at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
New Zealand’s Justice Minister Judith Collins has been invited to study at the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She will join its Leadership Decision…
Mighty River Power Hopes the Public Buys It
“Aerial shots of majestic dams and steaming geothermal power stations amid lush countryside form the backdrop for television advertisements promoting the initial public offering of the government-owned electricity company…
Harvard University Farm Purchase Draws Mixed Reaction
Harvard University’s decision to buy a 1300-hectare Otago dairy farm drew mixed reactions from New Zealand politicians. Winston Peters, New Zealand First’s Leader, criticised New Zealand’s Overseas Investment Office’s…
Simon Upton Keynote Speaker at Future of Growth Forum
Simon Upton, Environment Director for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and former New Zealand Minister for the Environment, is a keynote speaker at an upcoming European…
Auckland City Lets You be the Planner
Scientific American recently featured an article, from Fast Company, on the Auckland City Council’s Shape Auckland Housing Simulator. The simulator helps residents engage with Auckland’s Unitary Plan,…
Ceremony Honours Remains of Chinese Goldminers
“When the steamer SS Ventnor sank off the in 1902, a Wellington newspaper listed its lost cargo in the language of the time as ‘5347 tons of…
Tim Groser out of WTO Race
A Latin American is set to head the World Trade Organization after the field for its next director general narrowed to Mexico’s former trade minister Herminio Blanco and Brazilian…
All That and Everest Too
The British expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, led by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, was one memorable event of that year, “a summer sixty years…
Call to Save the Diminishing Longfin
New Zealand longfin eels are the National Geographic’s “Freshwater Species of the Week.” The threatened creatures are New Zealand’s only endemic freshwater eel and are on a “slow path…
No Justice nor Kings Permitted
New Zealand’s Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages has released an updated list of banned newborn names. In the past 12 years, the agency has had to turn down…
NZ-Papua Training in Community Policing to Start in September
The New Zealand government has allocated Rp 20 million (US$ 2 million) in aid for the Papua Community Policing programme, according to The Jakarta Post. The funding will see…
NZ Veterans Visit Korea for Armistice Commemorations
Hundreds of Korean War veterans, and bereaved families of fallen soldiers arrived in South Korea to attend commemorative events marking the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the…
Green MP Apologies for NZ Climate Change Failure
New Zealand Green MP Kennedy Graham has apologised to Pacific leaders on behalf of New Zealanders who disagreed with their government’s decision not to sign the Copenhagen Agreement on…
NZ Faces Climate Change Disasters Influx
Climate change is real, and its impact on small Pacific states will be severe. So severe that New Zealand and Australia need to prepare now for an influx of…
NZ Aid to Vanuatu Focuses on Shefa Province
‘New Zealand has an important relationship with Vanuatu and Shefa Province … and we are keen to work with you to develop your Province, ‘New Zealand High Commissioner to…
Miss Popularity Exceeds Half a Million Likes
Sixteen-year-old Hawkes Bay student Jamie Curry has amassed over 500,000 likes on her Facebook page, Jamie’s World, which she began in July last year. Seven million people a week…
Merleen Thomas, Inspirational Airline Engineer
‘One of the most satisfying things about my job is seeing an aircraft that you inspected take off and just seeing it fly in the air,’ Merleen Thomas, Air…
Pasifika Education Achievement on the Rise
There has been a 3.5% increase in the number of Pacific Island 16-year-old students achieving the NCEA Level 2 qualification, according to the latest New Zealand education statistics. Pauline…
NZ Told to Stop Fatty Food Exports
Nauru, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and Samoa all rank in the 10 most obese nations on earth, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Obesity rates in all…
Pacific Leaders Choose Sustainable Development
Pacific leaders from 18 nations have rejected a call from the World Bank and New Zealand to free up trade, loosen regulation and shrink their public sectors, according to…
Right-Wing Danish MP Labeled ‘Ignorant’ About Maori Culture
Marie Krarup, a right wing Danish MP, offended New Zealand Maori by describing their traditional welcome as ‘uncivilised and grotesque’, says Richard Shears in The Daily Mail. The Danish…
Maori King’s Gift to Chairman Mao Loaned Back to New Zealand
‘The smallest is as a great as the largest’, said Chairman Mao when given a Maori cloak by New Zealand filmmaker Ramai Te Miha Hayward in 1957. Chairman Mao…
650 Million Chinese Receive Offer to Study in New Zealand
A New Zealand education documentary is to screen on Chinese television to a potential audience of 650 million. Entitled Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud, the…
New Zealand’s Lamborghini Connection
Bob Wallace, originally from New Zealand, became Lamborghini’s test driver in 1964; he was instrumental in the founding of the Italian car company. For most devoted fans,” The New…
Williamson’s Speech a Marriage Equality Great
Speaking in support of the Marriage Amendment Bill, National Party MP Maurice Williamson delivered what some are hailing as “one of the greatest speeches ever delivered at a marriage…
Devotedly by Her Side
A New Zealander, known only as Kate, who cared for the late Lady Margaret Thatcher, would read to the former British prime minister and keep her mind going in…
NZ Parliament Passes Same-sex Marriage Bill, Breaks into Song
New Zealand has become the 13th country to legalise same-sex marriage, completing a social revolution that began with the decriminalisation of homosexuality 27 years ago. After two hours of…
Speed Stargazing over Tongariro
Amateur Taupo videographer Bevan Percival has captured “breathtaking” time-lapse film showing the star-packed night skies and landscapes of the volcanic Central Plateau over a six-month period. PetaPixel
Hard to Fathom
“Stand humbled” at the exhibition ‘Whales: Giants of the Deep’, a show which originated at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and is now on at the…
New Territory
New Zealand could adopt Maori names for its two main land masses after the New Zealand Geographic Board found that “North Island” and “South Island” were not official names…
Timothy McFarland: ‘Unrivalled Teacher’ and Expert on Medieval German Literature
Hamilton-born Timothy McFarland taught medieval German literature ‘with passion to generations of students,’ at University College London. ‘If the impact of a great university teacher is on the horizons…
Tomb of biscuits
Wellington artist Kingsley Baird is building a tomb of Anzac biscuits depicting World War I soldiers to be exhibited in Europe. Baird, an associate professor at Massey University’s College…
Samoan wins first ever NZ Pacific Scholarship Award
Outstanding Samoan student Epifania Afano’s winning of the first ever New Zealand Pacific Scholarship Academic Achievement Award was recognised by the Samoa Observer. Epifania is a received her award…
It’s the Joy that Always Wins Out
New Zealand mountaineer George Lowe, the last survivor of the 1953 British expedition that conquered Everest, has died in Ripley, England aged 89. Hastings-born Lowe played a crucial part…
Scrimp No More
New Zealand’s favourite breakfast spread, Marmite has returned to supermarket shelves for the first time in over a year, after shortages caused by the Christchurch earthquake. “You’ve rationed, you’ve…
Otara’s Pasifika cultures and Te Aro’s vibe impress
Intrepid Age travel writer Louise Hawson and her daughter, Coco, have just finished a year-long journey around 52 of the world’s suburbs. Auckland’s Otara and Avondale, and Wellington’s Te…
Little Bit Ahead of Everyone
Lynda Topp, one half of New Zealand’s beloved comedic country music duo, The Topp Twins, has made history as the first-ever lesbian to appear on the cover of New…
Biblical Proportions
In his column for the UK Sunday Times, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson writes: “If you were God and you were all-powerful, you wouldn’t select Bethlehem as a suitable…
New Zealand suffers ‘most widespread’ drought in 30 years
New Zealand is suffering its most widespread drought in 30 years. Climate scientists are warning that New Zealand may need to change its approach to farming as a result,…
Equality for Economic Progress
Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New Zealander Helen Clark, said the UN must not backtrack on women’s reproductive rights and that women must have…
Columbia and NZ ‘Strategic Relationship’
President Juan Manuel Santos of Columbia and Prime Minister John Key discussed a ‘strategic relationship’ and a possible free trade agreement, writes Joey O’Gorman in Columbia Reports. John Key’s…
Chile and NZ Sign Agreement on Science
President Sebastián Piñera of Chile has signed a new trade agreement with the visiting Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, writes Elizabeth Trovall of The Santiago Times. The…
Mexico, NZ Commit to Stronger Trade Relations
Prime Minister John Key says he and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto want stronger trade relationships between New Zealand and Mexico, following talks in Mexico City. President Nieto and…
Bird-watching Masterpieces
Buller’s Birds of New Zealand: The Complete Work of JG Keulemans is recommended as a “must have for those with an interest in the birds of…
Southern wild
Mount Cook and the Mackenzie Country feature in the March/April issue of the Australian Geographic. “Mt Cook lies within the Southern Alps, a series of mountain ranges stretching along…
Militant on the Mainland
“It sucks to be a possum in New Zealand,” according to The Atlantic’s Rachel Gross. “Cars swerve to hit you. Guns point toward you. People feed you little green…
