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Tag >> Independent (The)
MP Efeso Collins a Champion of Equality
Green Party MP Fa’anānā Efeso Collins, who had only recently started his new role as member of parliament, has died at the age of 49. He was participating in…
Tilt at a Record Fourth World Cup Crown
“To think New Zealand had entered this tournament with questions about their ability to assert themselves up front; this was a frightening display of forward strength, leaving Argentina’s Rugby…
We Are Writing Our Own Food History
In an article for UK newspaper The Independent, New Zealander Molly Codyre, editorial assistant and food and drink writer for the publication, decides to find out what New Zealand…
Victory for Bat in Bird of the Year Competition
The winner of New Zealand’s Bird of the Year 2021 contest has been announced and it’s the country’s only native land mammal – the pekapeka-tou-roa long-tailed bat. The UK’s…
New Zealanders Overseas Talk Being Behind Borders
When Jacinda Ardern closed New Zealand’s borders, chasing a zero-Covid policy, many New Zealanders were effectively locked out of their own country, Molly Codyre writes, having interviewed “those left behind” for…
Antarctica Trip Motivates Lorde on All Levels
New Zealand-born singer Lorde, 24, has teased fans with more information about a new album while announcing her book, Going South, inspired by her 2019 trip to Antarctica. The Independent’s Isobel Lewis…
Sam Neill Back on Set with Anna Paquin
The Jurassic Park star Sam Neill has been entertaining the masses during lockdown with his ukulele playing and ‘Cinema Quarantino Productions’. He talks to The Independent’s Alexandra Pollard about…
New Zealand Passes Zero Carbon Law
New Zealand has passed a law to reduce its emissions in a bid to become mostly carbon neutral by 2050, Britain’s Independent newspaper reports.
The zero-carbon bill aims to tackle…
Tourists Banned from Swimming with Dolphins
Tourists have been banned from swimming with bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand in a bid to protect them from “being loved into extinction”. Chiaro Giordano reports for UK newspaper,…
Chef Monica Galetti Recounts Rise to Cooking Fame
Samoan-born New Zealand chef Monica Galetti was the first woman to become head chef at La Gavroche and now runs her own restaurant, Mere, in London with her husband….
New Zealand’s Sacred Mermaid Pools Closed Indefinitely
“Picturesque Mermaid Pools in Matapouri in New Zealand have been closed indefinitely after human waste and litter were repeatedly found at the sacred Māori site, Joanna Whitehead reports for
England Denied Victory over All Blacks
“The All Blacks looked a shadow of their usual selves in the first half but eventually fought back as Damian McKenzie and Beauden Barrett cut the deficit,” the Independent’s…
Why Countries Are Competing in Happiness Rankings
Move over GDP, happiness is angling to become the metric of the future. Nation states have begun to compete in global happiness rankings and plan policy according to statistics…
Sign Up to Help Protect Our Iconic Bird
Kiwis for kiwi is a national charity working with community and Māori-led conservation projects to put a stop to the horrific decline of our national icon.
With the support of…
New Zealand Is a Haven of Liberal Politics
“Unlike most other countries, New Zealand’s parliament appears to have realised that no one’s going to get anywhere by pretending to agree with, or make bargains with, Donald Trump,”…
NZ Passport Ranked 7th Most Powerful
New Zealand has been placed on rank #7 – tied with the Czech Republic and Malta – in this year’s Henley Passport Index, which ranks…
Rare ISS Moon Shot Captured by Josh Kirkley
Auckland amateur astrophotographer Josh Kirkley captured a shot so unusual the cameraman can be heard gasping as he films clip. Kirkley describes his “shock” at capturing footage of the…
New Zealand World’s Second Safest Country
New Zealand has been ranked as the second safest country in the world in this year’s edition of the Global Peace Index. Iceland was ranked the world’s safest place…
Photographer Launches Project to Prevent Bullying Against Redheads
New Zealand photographer Bianca Duimel “is hoping to change the conversation around red hair with a powerful art project.” Sarah Young reports for The Independent.
“I…
Frances Schoemack’s Abel a Worthy Investment
Vegan perfume lovers must not only avoid fragrances made with extracts of milk, honey, leather and beeswax, but also secretions from animals used to mark their territories, which are…
How the Flat White Conquered UK Coffee Scene
Latte, Americano, cappuccino … the flat white might be relatively new to the scene (and sound less glamorous), but it now amounts for about 10 per cent of UK…
World Cup-Winning Coach Graham Henry Joins Auckland
The mastermind of the 2011 Rugby World Cup success, Sir Graham Henry, has returned to the side where he first came to prominence joining provincial side Auckland to assist…
Uninhabited Tiritiri Matangi Where Birds Thrive
Tiritiri Matangi – a 75-minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland – is one of several offshore islands that New Zealand has turned into sanctuaries for its native birds. The…
Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines Teaser Released
The first footage of Peter Jackson’s fantasy movie Mortal Engines, an adaptation of Phillip Reeve’s novel, has finally landed,” writes Jack Shepherd in an article…
André Spicer Desperately Seeks Self-Improvement
Like a couple of lab rats, professors New Zealander André Spicer and Swede Carl Cederström have subjected themselves to every conceivable test in pursuit of perfection, hoping to become…
Flight of the Conchords Announce UK Tour Dates
Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are back, and will tour the UK and Ireland in March 2018 for the first time in more than seven…
New Zealand’s Best Ales Available in UK
“Antipodean ales are on the up, with more and more becoming available this side of the equator. These are the breweries you need to know about,” brewer…
Norwegian-Kiwi Duo Anna of the North
The Norwegian-Kiwi duo “Anna of the North is a product of heartbreak, and the recovery that comes after,” writes Roisin O’Connor in an article for
Brunch at Peter Gordon’s Providores
“Marylebone is certainly a nice place to be on a weekend morning – especially if the sun’s out – with its beautiful shop fronts and stylish eateries, it feels…
Connan Mockasin’s Faking Jazz Together in Spotlight
A Connan Mockasin song features on an Independent list of most-listened-to tracks the UK newspaper’s staff played the most last year on Spotify.
“Oddly, my most-listened to track of 2016 wasn’t from…
48 Hours In Wellington
Wellington “is a small city and practically everything in the downtown district is in a straight line between the mountains that rise to the west and the bay to…
New Zealand – 13th Most Competitive Country
New Zealand has been identified as the 13th most competitive country in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report.
“Countries were ranked according to the “12 pillars of competitiveness,” which…
Taika Waititi’s Creative Journey
”The vast majority of us lack the happy-go-lucky charm of New Zealand’s favourite writer/director,” writes Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent. She is talking about Taika Waititi, who currently…
Girls Stars Front Unretouched Lonely Lingerie Ad
Creator and star of hit American television show Girls, Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke are championing the unretouched precedent for Lonely Girls, a journal featuring inspiring women modelling underwear…
Medal Per Capital Table Puts NZ up Top in Rio
New Zealand computer scientist Craig Nevill-Manning’s Medal Per Capita table put this year’s New Zealand Olympic team near the top, placing fourth with 18 medals and a population of…
New BBC Doco Explores Our Mythical Islands
“In New Zealand, you’ll be interested to learn, there are more species of penguin than anywhere else in the world,” the Independent’s deputy managing editor Sean O’Grady writes in…
Marvel-lous Opportunity for Niki Caro
New Zealand independent director Niki Caro is one of two frontrunners to oversee Captain Marvel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The other possibility to helm the film is Australian…
Bianca Andrew Wins London Song Prize
Wellington-born mezzo-soprano Bianca Andrew, 26, has won the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize for her performance of Hugo Alfvén’s “Skogen sover” and Hugo Wolf’s “Nimmersatte Liebe”. According to the Independent’s…
New Zealand’s Food and Drink Make It A Land of Plenty
With their “Zingy “sauv blanc”, rich flat-white coffee and citrusy hops which now flavours British craft beers, “Kiwis have been making much more impact on our tastes than simply…
New Zealand One of The World’s Most Generous Nations
New Zealand is the country with the second highest rate of charitable donations as a percentage gross domestic product (GDP) according to a new report released by the Charities…
Beatrice Tinsley Acknowledged by Google Doodle
Beatrice Tinsley, “one of the least acknowledged – and most original – thinkers in astronomy is being acknowledged by Google Doodle”, writes Jess Staufenberg in an article for
Top of the Lake Season 2 to Start Filming This Spring
“It’s been almost three years since Top of the Lake first aired and it’s still hard to shake the series’ sense of creeping dread”, writes Jacob Stolworthy in an article on…
Sundance Welcomes Taika Waititi’s Latest
Taika Waititi’s new film Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a dramatisation of Barry Crump’s 1986 novel, Wild Pork and Watercress, has premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Boy director Waititi…
New Zealand’s Lavender Farms Inspiration for Novel
Research for her first novel Jakob’s Colours took British writer Lindsay Hawdon and her two young sons to the Land of the Long White Cloud and its fragrant lavender…
Simon Denny Merges Tech and Art at Serpentine
For an artist, Simon Denny has an unusually agile grasp of corporate jargon, according to the Independent. Discussing his forthcoming Serpentine Sackler Gallery exhibition in London, Products for Organising,…
Thomas Pavitte Revives the Art of Dot-to-Dot
New Zealand-born designer Thomas Pavitte is taking a minimalist approach to the current craze for adult colouring books, requiring his readers to draw the images themselves and turning dot-to-dot…
Incredulous Anna Smaill on Booker Nomination
One of three debut writers on the Man Booker longlist, 35-year-old Anna Smaill will be unfamiliar to all but the most avid reader of contemporary fiction: her previous publication…
Anna Hansen Says It’s Not Fun Boiling a Pig’s Head
New Zealand chef Anna Hansen, 45, who worked with Michelin-starred Fergus Henderson and fusion expert Peter Gordon before opening her own London restaurant, The Modern Pantry, talks with the…
Hard as Nails Keven Mealamu Has an Arty Side
The second most-capped All Black of all time tells the Independent how illustrating children’s books helps keep him grounded before big games, like the forthcoming defence of the World…
Shushila Takao Stars in Cook Island-Set Thriller Tatau
Like many of the cast of BBC3’s new supernatural thriller Tatau, Shushila Takao is a New Zealander. She stars alongside British newcomers Joe Layton and Theo Barklem-Biggs…
Richie Benaud’s career made possible by Timaru pharmicist
The cricketing career of Richie Benaud – Australian captain and the first man to take 200 wickets and score 2,000 runs in Tests – was had a critical intervention…
Sam and James O’Connor Row for Winning Oxford Team
New Zealand brothers Sam and James O’Connor have helped Oxford University beat Cambridge in the annual University Boat Races held on the River Thames in London.
Sam, 27, (pictured left)…
Writing Struck a Chord for Author Anna Smaill
According to the Independent, New Zealand author Anna Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes is “superb … intriguing, ambitious and strikingly written.” Harper’s Bazaar tips it for “book of the…
Rainbow Hunters Find Their Violet in New Zealand
One mother and two young boys are on a trip around the world to seven countries to find the origin of seven colours. The Rainbow Hunters, as…
North Island a Land of Volcanoes and Vineyards
Over the coming six weeks, the world’s greatest cricketers will be zig-zagging across New Zealand. So for the cricket fan the Independent’s David Whitley suggests, that’s a fine excuse…
Anna Smaill’s Debut Novel Communicated Through Music
New Zealand poet Anna Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes, reviewed in the Independent, is “dystopian fiction but not quite as we know it.”
“Smaill draws on her training as a…
