Kakapo Comeback
The Kakapo, a flightless, nocturnal, critically threatened New Zealand parrot that was long thought extinct, has staged a tiny comeback. Scientists are hailing the arrival of 34 kakapo chicks this year, propelling the total…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Whisked Debate
Helen Leach, an academic at Otago University, is hoping to settle the origins of the pavlova with recipes found in a 1933 Mothers’ Union cookbook and in a 1929 rural magazine, both calling the…
Sports Refugee Remembered
Wanganui-born journalist Jock Veitch who as a student at Wanganui Collegiate was regarded as a slacker and told there was nothing wrong with him that a game of rugger or cricket couldn’t fix, has…
Hitched
For those looking to tie the perfect knot, New Zealand is worth the trip halfway across the world, according to Brit Marc Brierly and his fiancée, New Zealander Angie Watson. “Afterwards, everyone said what…
To Save the Queen or Not
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, 59, who has given her valedictory speech to the House after 27 years as an MP, said the country’s institutions had “evolved a long way from our colonial heritage”….
Sailing into the US
New Zealand global procurement company Unimarket is in the process of finalising a move to Annapolis, Maryland in the United States, where it plans to hire 100 new employees by 2011. Founder and chief…
Pride of place
According to the third national Quality of Life survey, nine out of ten New Zealanders rate their quality of life as good or better. Wellingtonians thought they had the best quality of life at…
Questioning change
New Zealander Bob Rigg has published an extensive analysis of the Obama administration’s initial approach to foreign policy in a paper for the South Asia Strategic Forum, a recently launched thinktank on global geo-political…
Time Well Spent
Lieutenant-Colonel John Darwin Maling, awarded an MC on the North-West Frontier and a DSO in Burma has died at the age of 94 in Waikanae. Born in Timaru in 1915 and educated at Christ’s…
Memories of millions
Dame Silvia Cartwright, former New Zealand Governor-General and now serving as one of five international judges on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal in Phnom Penh, has recently criticized Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s disdain for…
Study With Leisure
A recent New Zealand Education Fair held in New Delhi attracted hundreds of Indian students eager to discover the merits of study in this country, many surprised to see New Zealand was more than…
Vying for the ultimate
Radio host and television personality Clarke Gayford is one of 16 finalists for the ‘Best Job in the World’ organised by Tourism Queensland. Queensland Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor on Friday telephoned 15 finalists across…
Dogs Sacked
British supermarket Tesco has ordered its largest suppliers in New Zealand, Silver Fern Farms in Fairton, Canterbury to stop using dogs to herd sheep into the abattoir. Tesco wants the shepherds to wave their…
Pass the Wallaby
The increasingly ubiquitous wallaby may be the newest presence on the New Zealand dinner table, as municipalities around the country are being encouraged to consider different strategies to control their booming populations. The Australian marsupials…
Auckland Calling
New Zealand could be one of the world’s last havens as climate change fundamentally changes the planet according to the scientist and creator of the Gaia theory James Lovelock, and for this reason, on…
Switched Off for Change
New Zealand was one of the first countries to switch of its power for this year’s Earth Hour event aimed at highlighting environmental problems caused by excessive use of energy. Forty-four New Zealand cities,…
Stormy Outlook Ahead
New Zealand’s economy contracted in the fourth quarter at its fastest pace in 16 years as the global turmoil worsened a domestic slump, putting interest rate cuts back on the agenda. The Reserve Bank…
Clark’s UN role confirmed
26 March 2009 – Helen Clark’s nomination to lead the United Nations Development Program has been officially announced by Michele Montas, spokeswoman for the UN secretary general, in New York today. As the former…
Reserved for the Solomons
Last year, New Zealand Territorial Forces machine gunner Private Adam Friend, 33, left the Marlborough Museum where he had been putting together an exhibition on the history of grape growing in the region, to…
Beauty Reigns
National MP Korean-born Melissa Lee has been voted one of “the most beautiful women in politics in the world” by Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos, a poll which also included Hillary Clinton. Photos of 60…
The power of the pedal
New Zealand is considering building a 3, km bike path winding through the country in an attempt to stimulate tourism and maintain an industry central to the country’s economy. The project would cost around…
Catch Him if you Can
Whitianga self-confessed hacker Owen Thor Walker, 19, who was alleged to have been involved with a criminal network which infiltrated more than 1 million computers worldwide, has been hired by TelstaClear as a cyber…
Clark First Choice for UN Role
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been tipped to head the United Nations Development Programme, according to an unnamed UN official. If confirmed in this posting, Clark will be responsible for the…
Copywronged Righted
New Zealand’s Creative Freedom Foundation, opponents of an amendment to the country’s copyright law, Section 92a, have secured victory with the scrapping of the plan which would have required Internet service providers to implement…
Passing Through the Idyllic
For three weeks over the summer, private gardens throughout New Zealand opened their gates to a tour group of 28 Arkansas Master Gardeners beginning at Totara Waters, a 2 acre garden owned by Peter…
Advice from two experts
Auckland identical twin sisters Matilda ‘Tilly’ Hanlon and Beryl Baguley recently celebrated their 100th birthday, a rare occasion indeed with the mathematical chance of identical twins reaching the age of 100, one in 700…
Coup for Longevity
A one-month old tuatara has been discovered at Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary Zealandia, the first baby tuatara to be seen on the mainland in two centuries. “We are all absolutely thrilled with this discovery,”…
The Racing Reverend Rests
Legendary racing announcer Darren Tyquin died in a car crash in Christchurch recently, at 41. Tyquin had been calling races since he was fifteen, when he began covering greyhound and harness meetings for a…
Booming Population
The kakapo – star of a recent BBC documentary presented by British actor and raconteur Stephen Fry – is one of the world’s most endangered birds the kakapo, but thanks to the Kakapo Recovery…
Nabbed online
Wellington High Court judge Justice David Gendall has granted approval for the serving of papers via Facebook, the first time a New Zealand court has allowed such a step. The social networking site became…
Sensitive Subject
Gisborne-born adventurer Graeme Dingle has said British author Jeffrey Archer is “dreaming” after Archer claimed that George Mallory, not Edmund Hillary, was the first to reach the summit of Everest. Archer’s new book Paths…
Across the waves
Auckland-born Sara Seruvatu, 28, hosts a mid-morning lifestyle show on Fiji’s Legend FM station and says radio has enabled her to meet and greet people from all walks of life. In an interview with…
Small With Might
14 March 2009 – In an unprecedented move, Lincoln University, New Zealand’s smallest with just 2,600 full-time students and 610 staff, will merge with government-owned AgResearch “in order to capitalise on the institutions’ strengths and deliver more…
Accent on Mr Big
Auckland University of Technology language expert Andy Gibson says Australian actor Matthew Newton, who plays New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark in the series Underbelly, is using “fush and chup” vowels where real New…
Memorial at Shore’s Edge
Missing Warriors rugby league player Sonny Fai, 20, is remembered with wreaths and garlands at a memorial on Te Henga, Bethells Beach, in Auckland, a poignant image included in a Los Angeles Times photo…
Tough Guy Mourned
Auckland talent agent and former professional wrestler Robert Bruce has died, aged 65. The Scottish-born villain could enrage the crowd with a mere facial expression. Such were his talents and wrestling style, which saw…
Key Looks Ahead
6 March 2009 – The idea of growing a nation out of recession by improving productivity puts Prime Minister John Key and his conservative National Party at odds with Washington, Tokyo and Canberra writes…
A Classical Reaction
Waitakere City has been using classical music to deter vandals and loitering youth, driving them away from a local transit hub with remarkable success. Bob Harvey, mayor of Waitakere, says there has been no…
Time has flown
Auckland watchmaker Malcolm Campbell of Timeshop Watch Repairs, who has been in business in a two metre square Lorne Street premises for almost twenty-two years, is now to retire. Campbell told the ABC’s Kerri…
Dreamy Transformation
26 February 2009 – Aucklander Nadya Vessey, who lost both legs to a childhood illness, now swims as a mermaid might with a custom made wetsuit created for her by Wellington’s Weta Workshop. Vessey…
Broadened Horizons
Twenty-four per cent of New Zealanders with tertiary education live abroad, the highest rate in the OECD, according to research conducted by the University of Waikato management school. The study, led by the University’s…
Redback Revival
Redback spider numbers are rising rapidly on the South Island as the New Zealand climate becomes warmer and drier. Scientists expect the trend to continue, and for the redback to spread as an increasingly…
Relocation for longevity
New Zealand is becoming a popular destination for Americans concerned about the effects of global warming in their own country. The Fier family of Montgomery County decided to move to New Zealand for the…
Claiming the Treasure
Auckland Maori performing arts group Te Waka Huia has claimed the national title and the Donald McIntyre Trophy for the fourth time at the biennial Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Championships in Tauranga. Thirty-six…
No with Black
A protest against Section 92a, an amendment to New Zealand’s copyright law due to come into force from February 28*, has resulted in an “internet blackout”, part of a political protest against the law…
Unbroken Ties
An exhibition — called Passchendaele: the Belgians Have Not Forgotten — commemorating New Zealand lives lost on Flanders soil opens in Wellington on March 6 in the Hall of Memories at Wellington’s National War…
An Ace in the Air
Michael Korda’s new book, With Wings Like Eagles, speaks of a time when a precious few prevailed over all odds, deprived Hitler of victory, and saved the world. It is the story of the…
A Hero Honoured
A Jack Russell Terrier from Manaia has been honored with the PDSA gold medal for sacrificing his life while protecting a group of children from two pit bull terriers. George fought off the dogs…
Pacific bikies do good
11 February 2009 – Auckland Harley Davidson bikers, the Aotearoa Riding Pirates, are currently motoring around Tonga donating supplies to local primary schools, as well as sharing the experience of Maori heritage and culture….
Whiti te ra
The ‘Ka Mate’ haka has been officially designated the intellectual property of Ngati Toa in a compensation agreement signed in Wellington. Ngati Toa was compensated for its decades of use by the All Blacks,…
Onward and Upward
Former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Helen Clark is a candidate for the position of administrator of the UN Development Program, three below the UN secretary-general. The role becomes available in August when…
East Mends West
Victoria University professor of philosophy Kolkata-born Jayshankar Lal Shaw says philosophy helps individuals with a “global perspective and a clear notion on how to alleviate pain from the world”, especially during times of unrest….
On a virtual garden stroll
West Melton gardener Mary, “aka ‘Moosey'”, is mentioned in The Seattle Times in an article recommending her virtual garden tour. The publication writes: “A woman whose children call her ‘Moosey’ has created an easy-to-follow…
Shaking off the Shackles
Waitangi Day is also World Nude Day, a day which originated in New Zealand and which this year promoted itself with the slogan “Nude not Lewd” and a US$10,000 “in gold” online prize for…
High-Country Star-Gazing
Plans for a Starlight Reserve and UNESCO world heritage recognition in the skies above Tekapo continue with former cabinet minister Margaret Austin meeting a UNESCO committee in Paris this month to discuss the proposal….
Gains from history
A Maori welcome onto a marae for visitors, a walking tour with Footprints Waipoua and the All Black performance of the haka are all examples of Maori reclaiming their heritage and promoting their culture…
