Chief Executive of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Lewis Holden led the New Zealand delegation at the second Edinburgh International Culture Summit, held at the Scottish Parliament last week. New Zealand was one of 25 international government delegations brought together with speakers, arts leaders and culture experts from across the world.

Australians and New Zealanders tend to get annoyed when their accents get mistaken for one another, but there's one thing they do share. Both countries can lay claim to hosting the world's friendliest city, with Melbourne and Auckland jointly taking top honors in a new survey. Another southern hemisphere destination -- South Africa's Johannesburg -- didn't fare quite as well, being named as the most unfriendly.

The European Union (EU) has invested €4.6million to establish six EU Centres across Australia and New Zealand for the 2014-2016 period. The EU Centres, co-funded by their host universities, include a wide variety of partners from all sectors of the community. "This is the largest public outreach program for the EU in Australia and New Zealand and expands the existing network from four to six centres", said EU Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Mr Sem Fabrizi. 

Australians retain warmer feelings to other English-speaking nations than to their neighbors in Asia, according to a new poll. But Britain rated only third, behind the United States and New Zealand, in the Lowy Institute poll, the results of which were released on Tuesday. The poll by the Sydney-based institute asked respondents to nominate Australia's 'best friend' from a list of six countries.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM)predicts there will be somewhere between 25 million and 1 billion people [internally or externally displaced] by the effects of climate change by 2050, with 200 million the closest specific estimate. The fate of these people is a distinctly moral question for developed nations that have contributed the majority of greenhouses gas emissions for decades and continue to do so today. Are those responsible for rising sea levels responsible for those who end up underwater?

New Zealand's Maori king has refused to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their baby Prince George during a royal tour next month, saying a proposed 90-minute slot would not allow enough time for the meeting. 

New Zealand's national airline unveiled a giant image Monday of the dragon Smaug on one of its planes to celebrate the premiere of the second movie in the Hobbit trilogy. Air New Zealand showed the 54-meter (177-foot) image that's featured on both sides of a Boeing 777-300 aircraft. The plane is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles in time for the premiere of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," which screens Monday, Pacific Standard Time at the Dolby Theatre.