Blog

Photo: supplied Review - The Western view of modern Iran is hardly flattering - a nation permanently at war perhaps, run with the sort of religious fundamentalism that made Oliver Cromwell so disliked? But when we see Iranian films - Iran is an enthusiastic producer of both art-films for foreign festivals and commercial films for home consumption - there seems to be a definite disconnect. My Favourite Cake may be about the difficulties faced by Iranian women - especially older women. But to look at, it could be any city in the Western world. The shops, the clothes, the cars and the people - at a distance it looks like New Zealand, albeit New Zealand 30 years ago, maybe. We meet Mahin - aged about 70 and long-time widowed, now living alone. Her social life is mostly limited to phone calls...

By Trevor Hunnicutt, Reuters Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images via CNN Newsource Democrat Kamala Harris is hoping the "BeyHive" will help propel her to victory in the 2024 presidential election. The celebrity singer Beyonce headlines a Houston rally for Vice President Harris on Saturday, an event Harris' campaign hopes will help excite voters and propel them to the polls as she faces a tight race with Republican former President Donald Trump. Here's what we know about the event. Where is the event? It takes place at 21,000-seat Shell Energy Stadium, which normally hosts Houston's Major League Soccer team. What time does it start? The event is "first come, first served." Doors open at 3pm local time (9am Saturday NZT) and organizers advise not to arrive later than 7pm (1pm NZ...

Steve Burrows in Dodge City, Kansas, in 2016. The New Zealander has been chasing storms since 2003. Photo: Supplied Steve Burrows remembers the day he was hit by a tornadic waterspout. It was 2014, and he and his friend had just tracked down a waterspout forming out from the Ashburton river mouth. The pair watched it from the safety of their car as it swirled and swirled - and then, it broke on the shoreline. "It hit us and you could actually feel the back of the car lifting up. It got smashed with pebbles and everything, and when the wind picked up we could feel the back of the car bouncing up and down." To most people, getting caught in a storm probably sounds like a nightmare. But for Burrows, it was a moment of pure adrenaline - all part of the territory of being a storm chaser. ...