In From the Cold
Former New Zealand PM, now WTO-head Mike Moore plans to see China a WTO member in time for the November meeting in Qatar.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Happily.Married
Wellingtonians Rob and Liz Flavhive.Hill say ditch the hyphen – the dot is so much more 2001.
Rating Well
Standard and Poors lifts New Zealand’s long-term foreign currency credit rating to stable on the back of a government surplus and declining debt burden.
Co-operation
The time is right for co-operation between India and New Zealand on food processing, IT and forestry, says Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Phil Goff.
I’m Looking for a Holy Man: Green, Short, Talks Kinda Funny?
The full force of the law is against them: despite attempts to have Jedi registered as an official religion on this year’s census form, it won’t happen unless adherents can produce solid evidence the religion exists. …
Use the Force
The force of email is being tested by a New Zealand group attempting to get Jedi recognised as an official religion.
Antipodean Greatness
Aussie journalist ponders greatness, noting New Zealand’s “two truly international figures,” Sir Edmund Hillary and Ernest Rutherford.
Caught on Film
Father of Polaroid George W Wheelwright III had eclectic interests – including the fodder potential of “exotic grasses from New Zealand”.
Orchid Can-do
Volunteers at the new International Orchid Centre in Florida will “communicate their enthusiasm for orchids and an attitude of ‘Hell, if I can grow them, you can too’,” says American Orchid Society director of education, Kiwi…
It’s in the Genes
“Is this new arrival destined to take on the roistering tendencies of his Viking ancestors, the dour fatalism of his grandfather’s West Highland forebears, the mercantile instincts of Scots traders on his grandmother’s side, his mother’s New…
Ambassador Goes Nutty
“I love New Zealand and New Zealand has been a warm and just an extraordinary experience,” says former US ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun, returning to the States to take up pecan farming.
Edge Unity
“There are no two countries in the world that are closer historically, culturally and economically than Australia and New Zealand,” stated Australian PM John Howard on a friendship visit, claiming a “relationship that has substance and durability…
Judgement in Paradise
Retired New Zealand Appeal Court judges Sir Maurice Casey and Sir Ian Barker lead the judicial charge for democracy in Fiji.
Bad Bird
“Even in New Zealand there are sheep farmers that lose stock to wildlife, namely the Kea, a large native and protected parrot. It may seem incredible, but it’s true.”
Protest Flotilla
“The people who live around the Japanese reactor that the plutonium is destined for don’t want it, Australians and New Zealanders don’t want their seas being used to transport it and Pacific Islanders are vehemently opposed,” says…
Furry Love
Wellington residents disturbed by amorous possums engage in chemical warfare to keep the peace.
Kiwis in Oz
Taking the edge to the world, Russell Crowe and former Australian Channel 9 boss, now Telstra board member Sam Chisholm are examples of Kiwi excellence that “will always float to the top”.
View From an Ass
Masterton man Geoff Roder will fight for his right to watch the drive-in from his donkey.
Natural Edge
New Zealand’s innovative network of marine reserves are seen as a prototype for international action to preserve the health of the ocean.
Argument Success
The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team carried their point, finishing sixth at the World Schools’ Debating Championships in Johannesburg.
Making Waves
“Where once New Zealand seemed bent on shrinking the public sector to anorexic proportions, it is now pumping it full of new blood. New Zealand has a long record of setting global trends. It was first…
Big, Bad Bird
“A San Francisco Zoo employee was injured yesterday when a 5-foot tall bird native to New Zealand tore into his leg with its powerful claws … The animals are found in the rain forests of New…
Into the Black
New Zealand leads the pack in debt reduction, cutting government debt from 65% of GDP in 1993 to 31% in 1999.
Sooty Mania
New Zealanders respect a real man – or a real guinea pig. Sooty, the rodent famous for fathering 43 babies in one sweaty night, received a large volume of Valentines postmarked New Zealand. “He has…
Seats of Power
New Zealand backpackers unwittingly helped end apartheid, acting as bus-filling decoys for safari-organising gun-runners.
Thar’ She Blows!
New Zealand representatives at the International Whaling Commission are keeping up the pressure for a South Pacific Whale Sanctuary.
Refresher Course
“New Zealand celebrates its National Day today. Situated in the South Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia, it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It has an area of 27,534 square kilometers. Its…
Former Gov-Gen Dies
Sir David Beattie, former Governor-General and Supreme Court Judge, died suddenly in his home, aged 76.
Headmaster Steps Down
New Zealander John Lewis, the first non-British headmaster at Eton and the man who shielded Wills from the press, will resign in 18 months, at the age of 60.
Spy on Top
Of the bestseller lists that is. New Zealander Richard Tomlinson’s account of his time with MI6, The Big Breach, proves popular despite legal wrangling over publishing and copyright.
Leader Saluted
“They don’t make people like Bob Mahuta very often,” said former treaty negotiations minister Sir Douglas Graham, paying tribute to the Tainui leader who died early this month.
Alas, No Elias
It’s time Britain had a female judge a la New Zealand Chief Justice Sian Elias, the conspicuous lone woman on the Privy Council.
Earthquake Aid
The New Zealand government has pledged $500,000 in earthquake aid for Gujerat, home state of many of New Zealand’s Indian immigrants.
Don’t Try and Amuse
The computer at a Japanese bank – “it isn’t wired for humour,” says the ex-New Zealand student Ramesh Thakur.
Big Breach
Kiwi ex-MI6 operative Richard Tomlinson’s memoirs, The Big Breach hits Russian bookshops and are serialised in the Sunday Times, to the dismay of the secret service establishment in Britain.
Bonded Money
A province of Ontario 2008 bond in New Zealand dollars creates a flurry among savvy Canadian investors.
Fit to Judge?
New Zealand research shows juries have “fairly fundamental” misunderstandings of the law in over 7% of cases.
Over the Back Fence
“I think we should say this is not small-town New Zealand, it’s big town America. Whether we meet as neighbours is something for the future,” says Jim Bolger, asked about Bill and Hill, his ex-Presidential neighbours.
Anti-nuke Action
Rainbow Warrior survivor Chris Robinson and New Zealand-based Henk Haazen and his family form part of the flotilla prostesting the shipping of nuclear waste through the Tasman sea. Australian shipments also raise ire.
Different Age
Queen Victoria reigned over an age of adventure and conquest, innovation and development. She was Empress of the Empire on which the sun never set, including New Zealand, her furthest-flung domain.
Saucy Story
“Lee & Perrin’s bottles, with their characteristic long necks, designed to make it easy to Shake Well Before Using, have turned up in shipwrecks, encrusted with barnacles; in the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet; and in…
World Without Oz
If Australia didn’t exist, “Kiri Te Kanawa would be known as La Stupenda,” “New Zealanders would outnumber sheep” and “the pavlova would be indisputably a New Zealand Creation.”
Evidence Compelling
“The economic evidence to support broadened and deepened negotiations is compelling,” states former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore, now trying to kick-start free-trade talks in his role as WTO chief.
Fly Away Nanny
Free trips home to New Zealand are among the perks offered to nannies in London’s tight market.
Hotel Harridans
New Zealand women using hotels make more noise during sex, watch more porn, leave their rooms messier and steal more stuff than men. “I think women are becoming more assertive,” offered a Novotel spokesperson.
Human Rights for All
New Zealand-born and educated John Fisher is Canada’s leading gay rights activist. “Human rights, for me, are universal and transcend national boundaries,” says Fisher. “Everyone knows someone who is gay or lesbian, and a society that affirms…
