Gillard Makes History
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is poised to make history on her first official visit to New Zealand this week. Gillard will be the first foreign leader in New Zealand history to address New…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Whitten’s Legacy
Veteran New Zealand actor, Frank Whitten, has died at age 68. Best known for his role as Ted “Grandpa” West on Outrageous Fortune, Whitten passed away in his sleep on Saturday after a battle…
Children Call Space
A group of Nelson school children are preparing to speak to astronauts living on the International Space Station. Victory Primary School successfully applied for the chance to speak with in-orbit astronauts through the Amateur…
Ecosystem Fragility
University of Canterbury researchers say they have linked the modern-day decline of a common forest shrub with the local extinction of two pollinating birds — the bellbird and stitchbird — over a century ago….
Behold the Pink Terraces
Scientists exploring Lake Rotomahana say they have found part of the famed Pink Terraces which were feared destroyed when Mount Tarawera erupted 135 years ago. The Pink and White Terraces, once described as the…
Star Stream
A New Zealand astronomer has led the discovery of a new stream of stars in the Milky Way. Mary Williams from the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (AIP) led an international team of astronomers in the…
By Hook or by Jetski
New Zealander Jeremy Burfoot has begun a 32,000km journey on a jetski, setting off from London’s River Thames on August 1 and aiming to be in Auckland by November. Burfoot, an airline pilot, is…
Dignity for Relics
“For decades, New Zealand has campaigned for museums to repatriate the mummified and heavily-tattooed heads of Maori warriors held in collections worldwide — now it must decide what to do with the gruesome but…
On the Back of the Game
A general election has been called for November 26, after the Rugby World Cup 2011. Campaigning is expected to begin in the week of the final, which is to be held at Eden Park…
Exhilarating Rehabilitation
Aucklander Alan Wallace, who suffered a stroke in June 28 and was left partially paralyzed and unable to speak, has been able to find joy through harness racing, which involves people riding in two-wheeled…
Difficult News to Hear
Chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean has ruled that the 29 men killed in the Pike River mine disaster died almost immediately and had no hope of rescue. The men died when a methane explosion…
Self-Controlled Success
A study by an international team of researchers who looked at 137 children in Dunedin born in the early 197s, observing their levels of self-control at ages 3 and 5, has found that those…
Home Made in Nelson
A Nelson family of six achieved their dream of home ownership recently with the help of Habitat for Humanity International and 11 American volunteers. Oregon Live reporter and volunteer DK Row writes: “The Jeffrieses…
Adjusting to Change
In 21, New Zealand journalists Rebecca Todd and Kirk Hargreaves travelled to Nepal and visited Sanischare and Beldangi II, two of seven camps that housed 1, Bhutanese refugees for two decades. Todd and Hargreaves…
Shameful Shortfalls
The New Zealand Herald reports that the United Nations committee on the rights of the child has expressed concern over shortfalls in the rights of New Zealand children, including “staggering” infant and…
The Promiscuous Hihi
A team of researchers has found that reintroductions of a small New Zealand bird, called the hihi (Notiomystis cincta), onto the tiny islands around the North Island and into reserves on the mainland have…
Cake History For Sale
New Zealand woman Katrina Greenslade is selling a piece of wedding cake on online auction site Trade Me which she says is from the 1981 wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. She said…
Richard Henry Lives On
Legendary kakapo, Richard Henry, whose genetic material helped recover the species of rare flightless parrot, has died at the ripe old age of 80. Researchers believed the kakapo had been nearly wiped out and…
Commanding changes
The leaders of New Zealand’s military commitment in East Timor have changed with Wing Commander Sam Leske RNZAF (left) taking over from Commander Tony Millar RNZN. Held at Kiwi Lines in Dili, the deployed…
It Must Be Heaven
Gore woman Gay Dillon and Joni Knight from Langley, British Columbia have been penpals for 45 years. Knight finally got to meet Dillon in person in 2010, when she travelled to New Zealand with…
Irish Take to the Edge
“It is the home of the All Blacks and Middle Earth, and it is increasingly home to a growing number of Irish migrants, seeking a fresh start in the southern hemisphere,” Keith Lynch writes…
Bollywood on Balmoral
The lavish Bollywood-style wedding of Auckland doctor Pooja Chitgopeker and Chicago millionaire and heir Vikram Aditya Kumar stopped traffic in the City of Sails recently when seven horses and a 2-strong procession danced its…
Not just about money
In a survey of 4000 people, jobs website seek.co.nz has found salary is one of the least significant factors to New Zealand workers, while work environment, company culture and workplace morale are the most…
Pastry headache cure
“Many a New Zealander knows a mince and cheese pie and chocolate milk works a treat” for curing a hangover, according to the Guardian’s Word of Mouth Blog. In a post entitled, ‘Hangover cures…
Auckland sees in NY
An NZPA photograph of the New Year firework display over Auckland was included in a Guardian gallery of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. ONE News reported that traffic in the CBD stopped…
A Renaissance Man
“Denis Dutton, a distinguished philosopher, writer and digital-media guru who founded Arts & Letters Daily, one of the first Web sites to exploit the Internet as a vehicle for meaningful intellectual exchange, has died…
Honoured this year
Golfer Bob Charles, 74, has been made a member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ), restricted to 2 living New Zealanders, in the New Year Honours. Carterton-born Charles was the first left-hander to…
Notable Remembered
Hawera-born artist Tim Chadwick is included in an Art Daily “roll call” of “notable people in the Arts and Popular Culture Who Left Us in 21”. Chadwick’s mixed media paintings have been exhibited at…
Displaced in New York
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was amongst those present at the annual Christmas night dinner in the baronial Lincoln Center duplex of Sissy and Max Strauss in New York. Each holiday, more than a hundred…
New migration findings
New research led by Janet Wilmshurst from Landcare Research, and Atholl Anderson, from the Australian National University has found that New Zealand was colonised by humans more recently — and faster — than previously…
If only in Afghanistan
Hamilton doctor Marc Shaw is the first civilian doctor to be deployed with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan, recently donning a red suit to play Father Christmas at the Banyan camp he…
New Zealand’s X-Files
New Zealand’s military has released hundreds of files, dating from 1954 to 29, detailing claims of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including New Zealand’s most famous UFO sighting over Kaikoura in 1978. The…
Breath of Fresh Air
“It’s an extraordinary place, New Zealand,” British writer and journalist Daniel Hannan writes in a blog for the Telegraph. “Its pure air gets to work on even the most casual visitor. No country is…
Camel spotting in UAE
New Zealand couple Thomas Carl Akash and Julie William arrived on bicycles at this year’s Al Dhafra Festival, a camel festival held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Akash and William have been travelling…
Generations Loved Her
New Zealand-born author Ruth Park, who moved to Sydney in 1942 and who was the author of classic Australian books such as The Harp in the South and The Muddleheaded Wombat, has died in…
Looking at the Liberal
Chief executive of the Alcohol Advisory Council Gerard Vaughan says that because New Zealand is a small country, an issue can get on the public agenda quickly and then become part of public debate,…
Royal Advertising
Shortly after the royal wedding date was announced, Education New Zealand published a quarter-page advertisement in Britain’s The Times newspaper offering Prince William and Kate Middleton’ s first-born child a scholarship to a New…
Diamond forever
Auckland couple Cameron and Shariyah Morris have won the title of “The World’s Best Couple” and a 22-carat diamond ring worth $1 million, which was presented by US reality television celebrity Kim Kardashian, in…
Compassion from grief
Emma Woods, whose four-year-old son Nayan was killed by a teen driver who careened onto a footpath after losing control of his modified car, has been named New Zealander of the Year by The…
Human Footprints
The effect of early humans on New Zealand forests is being studied by scientists from Montana State University in a project titled “Ecosystem resilience to human impacts: ecological consequences of early human-set fires in…
Speedshear fundraiser
Te Kuiti veteran shearing champion David Fagan will join current World Champion Cam Ferguson, 1994 World Champion Alan MacDonald and 1984 World Champion Tom Wilson amongst others in a Speedshear to …
Gallantry Cross awarded
Wellington-born Rifleman James McKie, 29, a member of the British Forces, has been presented with the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross at Buckingham Palace. McKie was providing security for a new patrol base when a live…
Lifestyle for sale
A Waimauku three-bedroom cedar home on five acres is advertised for sale in a recent New York Times. Priced between $1.2 and 1.4 million, the main house has a steeply sloped asymmetrical roof and…
Defined by humour
The best way to understand another country is to get to grips with its sense of humour, says Guardian writer Joris Luyendijk. Included in a list of jokes told in various countries — generally…
Ozone Hole Shrinkage
Auckland-based National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) studies have found that the ozone hole over Antarctica has shrunk to the smallest in five years, decreasing about 22 million square kilometres from 24…
Memorial for miners
More than 1, people attended a memorial service for the 29 men killed in the Pike River mine disaster, which was held at Greymouth’s Omoto Racecourse on December 2. Each man was remembered with…
Diabetes aware walk
From New Zealand national park to New Zealand national park American Greg Lineham, 5, will walk over a two and a half month period to raise money for juvenile diabetes research. Lineham’s daughter, Halley,…
Hall of Fame
Sir Edmund Hillary is part of an august group of adventurers, entertainers, geniuses, and outlaws in Lapham’s Quarterly’s Celebrity issue “Hall of Fame”. “The Mountaineer” rubs shoulders with Theseus, Confucius, Socrates, Gengkis Khan, Leonardo…
Underground Stars
“The world renowned Waitomo Glowworm Caves should be high on any visitor’s wish-list,” recommends Monsters & Critic’s writer Jennie Radue. “The most obvious difference between the Waitomo Glowworm and its European counterpart is that…
Inquiry for Pike River mine
A Royal Commission of Inquiry to determine the causes of the tragic explosion as well as the safety practices at the Pike River mine has been confirmed. “I think it’s a demonstration to the…
Rural Studies Merge
Lincoln University, New Zealand’s smallest university, is to merge with Telford Rural Polytechnic, both institutions specialists in the rural sector. Lincoln has about 27 full-time students, including some 7 international students, while Telford has…
Peterborough-honoured
Papakowhai-based Revd Alison Pitts will be awarded the title of Distinguished officer of Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Council in New Zealand at the RSCM awards to be held at a special service…
Distinctive Edginess
Unnerved: The New Zealand Project, an exhibition of 26 contemporary local artists in various media, including photography, sculpture, video, painting and installation has opened at the National Gallery of Victoria in Brisbane. The pieces…
U2 pay tribute
The 29 men who perished in the Pike River coal mine tragedy were honoured during the song One Tree Hill at the November 27 U2 concert, with their names listed on a massive stage…
Nation in Mourning
PM John Key declared that New Zealand was a “nation in mourning” after the deaths of 29 miners in explosions in the Pike River coal mine. “New Zealand is a country where we are…
General Ovations for Liddell
General Motors CEO Dan Ackerson and Vice-Chairman and CFO Chris Liddell (center, at the New York Stock Exchange listing) received standing ovations from the trading floors of JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley to cap…
