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WELLINGTON (AFP) – Two blocks of butter have been found intact after nearly a century in an Antarctic hut used by British explorer Robert Falcon Scott on his doomed 1910-12 expedition, a report said. Television New Zealand reported that conservators found the two blocks of New Zealand butter in bags in stables attached to the expedition Hut at Cape Evans in Antarctica. The extreme cold of the polar region has preserved the hut and expedition equipment inside, but recent signs of deterioration had prompted the Antarctic Heritage Trust to launch a preservation project. The trust's Lizzie Meek said the butter...

Who Really Discovered America? Did ancient Hebrews reach the shores of the North and South American continents thousands of years before Christopher Columbus? What evidence is there for Hebrew and Israelite occupation of the Western Hemisphere even a thousand years before Christ? Was trans-Atlantic commerce and travel fairly routine in the days of king Solomon of Israel? Read here the intriguing, fascinating saga of the TRUE DISCOVERERS OF AMERICA! William F. Dankenbring A stone in a dry creek bed in New Mexico, discovered by early settlers in the region, is one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries in the Western...

A giant mystery sea creature is thought to have been spotted in the turquoise waters of one of New Zealand’s most idyllic bays. A huge unexplained wake can be seen in a Google Earth image of Oke Bay, in the Bay of Islands, an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the country's North Island, captured by satellite at about 11.30am on January 30. Engineer Pita Witehira, who spotted the wake while on Google Earth researching for his holiday home, told Daily Mail Australia the wake could have been left by a creature around 12 metres...

A damning report by the Health and Disabilities Commissioner has recommended an audit of the services provided by the country's top abortion clinic. It comes after a woman complained she had a long-term contraceptive device inserted in her uterus without her consent at the time of an abortion in 2010. The woman, whose identity is protected, only discovered the intrauterine contraceptive device after going for medical tests when she tried repeatedly and was unable to fall pregnant three years later. Investigation by the Health and Disability Commissioner has found a doctor at the Epsom Day Clinic mistakenly inserted the contraceptive...

A four-year-old Jewish boy was attacked by an anti-Semitic thug in New Zealand—the latest such incident in a wave of anti-Semitism in the country. According to the New Zealand Herald, the boy, who was walking home from preschool with a friend and his brother, were approached by a man “of Middle Eastern appearance”, said to be in his twenties, who slapped him—hard—in front of the boy’s mother. He was apparently targeted because he was wearing a yarmulke, or Jewish skullcap. According to New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman, the man then left in a car with four other men—while...

The drummer of hard rock group AC/DC, Phil Rudd, has had a charge of attempted to arrange a murder dropped in New Zealand. Mr. Rudd’s lawyer said the charge was dropped because of lack of evidence. Australian Mr. Rudd will still face charges—announced on Thursday—of possessing drugs and of making threats to kill. […] Mr. Rudd’s lawyer, Paul Mabey, said the “charge alleging an attempt to procure murder should never have been laid”. […] He described the drug charges as “minor” offenses and said the musician would defend the charge of making threats to kill, which carries a maximum sentence...

'They came from nearby North Lawndale and as far away as Oceania to witness a landmark rugby game Saturday at Soldier Field.. Both curious and committed fans crowded into the lakefront arena as New Zealand's All Blacks — the world's top team — opened a 43-6 first-half lead and beat the USA Eagles 74-6 on a crisp, sunny afternoon. The All Blacks never trailed, but results were almost beside the point. Saturday's game celebrated both community and an emerging sport that returns to the Olympics in 2016 after a more than 90-year absence. The sellout crowd of 61,500 was the...

Will the UN Security Council Impose a Palestinian State?Posted By Joseph Puder On November 3, 2014 @ 12:25 am In Daily Mailer,FrontPage | 6 Comments January, 2015 does not bode well for Israel at the United Nations (UN). The UN Security Council (UNSC) will officially induct five newly elected non-permanent member-states replacing outgoing Rwanda, S. Korea, Australia, Argentina and Luxembourg, representing all the global regions. Unfortunately for Israel, the incoming states, particularly Venezuela and Malaysia, are hostile to the Jewish state. The other three, Angola, New Zealand, and Spain are pondering their position on recognizing Palestine as a full member-state...

New Zealand is to hold a binding referendum in 2016 on whether to change the national flag. The announcement by Prime Minister John Key of the referendum came after his government last month won a third term in a general election. A panel of "respected New Zealanders" will lead the public discussion on potential designs for a new flag. Mr Key has previously said he would like to see a new flag featuring a silver fern, on a black background. That would be similar to the banner already used by many New Zealand teams such as the All Blacks national...

New Iraqi defense minister Khaled al-Obeidi has delivered his first official speech, insisting that the Kurdistan Region must hand back terrorists that have been living in the KRI. Al-Obeidi is a Sunni, was approved as the new Iraqi defense minister along with Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, a Shia, who was appointed interior minister. “The Kurdistan Region should hand back criminals who have been charged with terrorist acts to the federal government, so they can face justice,” said Al-Obeidi. “The Kurdistan Region security forces and Iraqi police should arrest all those criminals, as they are threats to the security and stability of...

Explanation: To some, it may look like a portal into the distant universe. To others, it may appear as the eye of a giant. Given poetic license, both are correct. Pictured above is a standard fisheye view of the sky -- but with an unusual projection. The view is from a perch in New Zealand called Te Mata Peak, a name that translates from the Maori language as "Sleeping Giant". The wondrous panorama shows the band of our Milky Way Galaxy right down the center of the sky, with the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds visible to the right. The...

No, this isn't an April Fool's joke or some sort of wacky car commercial. It's the SPCA Auckland (located in New Zealand) coming up with an innovative way of proving that it's possible to teach a rescue animal new tricks. Monty, Porter and Ginny are all dogs rescued by the SPCA Auckland, and each was taught the ability to drive a Mini Countryman around a track. After being strapped into the driver's seat, the dogs are able to use their paws to start the car, steer it and work the gas and brake, which have been modified similar to a car setup...

Ninety-nine years ago today, April 25, in the very early hours before dawn, some 1200 kilometers from Jerusalem, members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – or ANZACs – landed on the western shore of the Gallipoli Peninsula, in modern-day Turkey, at a place we now call Anzac Cove. At roughly the same time, British forces landed at the southern tip of the Gallipoli Peninsula, at Cape Helles, whilst French forces went ashore at Kum Kale, on the Turkish mainland just opposite Cape Helles. Indian and Canadian troops later joined the campaign. This multinational invasion force was to...

Explanation: No, radio dishes cannot broadcast galaxies. Although they can detect them, the above image features a photogenic superposition during a dark night in New Zealand about two weeks ago. As pictured above, the central part of our Milky Way Galaxy is seen rising to the east on the image left and arching high overhead. Beneath the Galactic arc and just above the horizon are the two brightest satellite galaxies of our Milky Way, with the Small Magellanic Cloud to the left and the Large Magellanic Cloud on the right. The radio dish is the Warkworth Satellite Station located just...

 Dr David Kear Climate Depot reports on a New Zealand geoscientist who has worked at the highest levels and has just released a detailed statement about why the threat of rising sea-levels has been blown out of all proportions, and “An ‘innocent gas, CO2, has been demonized and criminalized’”. “The widespread obsession with Global-Warming-Climate-Change, in opposition to all factual evidence, is quite incredible.” Kear laments the ‘Astronomical Cost of Major Measures to Combat a Non-Existent Threat’.His scientific caliber: “Dr David Kear has a background in geology and engineering, becoming the Director General of the DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial...

Media outlets in Australia and New Zealand today reported that two Australian nationals, including one who was a New Zealand citizen as well, were killed in a US predator drone strike in Yemen on Nov. 19. Last year's airstrike took place in Yemen's eastern Hadramout province, a known jihadist haven, and targeted al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighters driving in the Ghayl Bawazir area near Mukallah, the provincial capital. The two Australian nationals killed in the airstrike were identified as Christopher Harvard of Townsville, Australia, and Muslim bin John, a New Zealand dual citizen who reportedly changed his...

In the walk-up to Easter this weekend, New Zealand pizza chain Hell Pizza, known for its saucy marketing campaigns, has put up a billboard that has stirred controversy among animal rights activists because it is covered in rabbit pelts. Boasting the tagline “Made from real rabbit. Like this billboard,” the sign advertises a new pie with “smoked wild NZ rabbit, toasted pine nuts, beetroot & horopito relish, cream cheese, rosemary & garnished with fresh spring onions.”

In a recent interview, Richard Armitage revealed that he was quite emotional about the completion of the trilogy. The 42-year-old actor spoke with BANG Showbiz about finally wrapping the trilogy and how now that the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy was completed, he was very moved. "It will be 15 years of Peter Jackson's work, there'll be six movies to watch, but it could be the final time. There's something moving about that," he said.

Remains of a typical Scottish/Celtic homestead. (from 12th Century New Zealand?) A modern native NZ Scottish/Celt surveys the ruins. Drystone walls have been pushed out and over. The typical hearthstone, the rock for the family's patron saint, the rock on which the dwellings protective God would have sat, and others are all still in traditional and recogniseable positions. Other such remains abound. This site is now difficult to reach by sea and little known. The original boat access is much changed and boat access is best achieved from an adjacent bay. It is also in the vicinity of a...

A plane has spotted objects in the Indian Ocean of the first day of searching a new location for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but officials say it will take until tomorrow to determine whether they are related to the lost plane. The search area moved 680 miles to the north east earlier today, and a New Zealand military plane, one of nine aircraft involved in the hunt, found the objects, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said on Twitter. Amsa said the find needs to be confirmed by a ship which is expected to arrive in the area tomorrow. The search...