Latest news with #Chinese-NewZealand
AU Financial Review
6 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Trump attacks on unis leave international students in limbo
It's late at night, but Harvard MBA student Fangzhou Jiang is awake and juggling phone calls. The dual Chinese-New Zealand national did his undergraduate degree on a rare full scholarship at Australian National University before embarking on his Ivy League dreams.
The Spinoff
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Welcome back to the chaos and comedy of Homebound 3.0
Tara Ward watches the return of New Zealand's funniest romantic comedy. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In a week where good news has felt scarce on the ground, it was with unexpected joy that I found myself sitting on my couch and chuckling loudly over a fake pregnancy, some emotional karaoke and an Uber driver who just won't quit. Homebound 3.0 returned to our screens this week for another season of Sam Wang's delightful local romantic comedy, which follows the weird and wonderful love story between aspiring writer Henry Li (Wang) and dermatologist Melissa Wu (Michelle Ang). Season one of Homebound 3.0 saw Melissa and Henry's desperate attempt to stop their parents from interfering in their lives by pretending to be in love – but their bizarre plan went awry when they actually started to develop feelings for each other. 'Wang's Chinese-New Zealand spin provides a fresh and engaging take on the [romcom] genre, and the show is laugh-out-loud funny,' Naomii Seah wrote in her season one review. 'From the larger-than-life personalities to the sparkly stage set of Aunty Linda's eponymous restaurant, there's a lot to love about Homebound 3.0.' There's a lot to love about season two of Homebound 3.0 as well. The new season picks up where the first ended, with Melissa and Henry deciding to give their fake relationship a go and their families rejoicing over Melissa's positive pregnancy test. Melissa isn't actually pregnant, but if she and Henry can keep up the audacious ruse for three short weeks – long enough to claim a distant relative's inheritance and buy a house in Auckland – then Melissa will be set up for life. A reluctant Henry agrees by applying his own weird logic to Melissa's bizarre idea. If faking a romance helped him and Melissa to actually fall in love, then pretending to be responsible adults can only strengthen their new relationship. Right? If only it were that easy. In the real world, nothing about Homebound 3.0 would stand up, but the show's whip-smart writing and the committed performances make every over the top, implausible moment seem entirely believable. Even when Homebound's characters are at their worst – Melissa and Henry lie, scheme and trick the people they love the most, manipulating a fake pregnancy to get their hands on a huge wad of cash – we're still on their side. It's a credit to the show's humour and warmth that these characters' bad decisions are still so endearing. It also helps that they are surrounded by an ensemble of loveable, charming characters. The competitive family dynamics between Henry and Melissa's parents (played by Irene Siu, Gabriel Ren, Xiao Hu and Patrick Leung) are a highlight, as are the scene-stealing performances from Henry's book agent Jen (Hannah Marshall) and reformed conspiracy theorist Vaughn (Aaron McGregor). David Correos is a welcome addition as the Uber driver who charms his way into their friend group, while Pax Assadi pops up as a mortgage broker won over by Vaughn's dodgy scheme to draw down Melissa's inheritance ('who knew it would be so simple as refinancing our homes and opening a few offshore trusts in each other's names?'). But it's Michelle Ang's vibrant, flawed Melissa who holds Homebound together. Ang breathes life into Melissa with both ferocity and vulnerability, turning this sharp-tongued tornado into someone you can't help but cheer for. It's obvious where this season will take us (if Henry and Melissa's scam relationship saw them fall in love, then surely the scam pregnancy will result in a real baby), but with a romance this unconventional, there's no guarantee about how we'll get there. The first two episodes canter along at a cracking pace, but I do wonder how many more messy misunderstandings Homebound can serve up before it tests our patience. Fingers crossed we go deeper into Henry and Melissa's relationship, giving us a little space to watch their warped love story unfold. Whatever happens, Homebound 3.0 is not your traditional romcom – and thank goodness for that. Wang has created a fresh and funny take on a familiar genre, and while the show tells the tale of two Chinese-New Zealand families (plus the occasional Uber driver and mortgage broker), its themes of love and acceptance will resonate with everyone. Melissa and Henry are on a bumpy filled journey to love, and Homebound 3.0 is taking us all along for the ride.
Miami Herald
31-01-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
‘Long' purple sea creature — with 24 ‘feet' — pulled from depths. It's a new species
Several miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists aboard a submersible scanned the shadowy seafloor for signs of life. Soon enough, a 'long' purple sea creature caught their attention — and for good reason. It turned out to be a new species. A joint Chinese-New Zealand research team set out in October 2022 for a six-monthlong survey of the Kermadec Trench in the South Pacific Ocean, Yun-Lu Xiao and Hai-Bin Zhang wrote in a study published Jan. 22 in the peer-reviewed journal Zoosystematics and Evolution. They used a 'manned submersible vehicle' to systematically survey the depths. During one of their dives, researchers noticed an unfamiliar-looking sea cucumber resting on the seafloor about 3.5 miles deep, the study said. Its presence surprised them. Intrigued, they carefully collected the animal and brought it to the surface. Taking a closer look at the sea cucumber, researchers soon realized they'd discovered a new species: Laetmogone multiradiolus, or the multi-rayed sea cucumber. The multi-rayed sea cucumber measured about 1 foot long and 3 inches wide when alive but shrank after being preserved, researchers said. It had a 'long,' 'dark violet' body with 17 'large' tentacles and 24 'robust' tube feet. Photos show the new species in its natural habitat and after being collected. Overall, it looks blob-like with appendages along its sides and ends. Researchers said they named the new species after the Latin words 'multi,' meaning 'many,' and 'radius,' meaning 'ray or beam,' because of the spoke-and-wheel shape of its microscopic body structures, scientifically known as ossicles. Researchers only found one multi-rayed sea cucumber in the Kermadec Trench, the study said. It was discovered 'on flat sedimentary terrains' and set 'the deepest record for this genus.' The Kermadec Trench sits off the eastern coast of New Zealand and extends northeastward toward Tonga and other Polynesian islands of the South Pacific Ocean. Researchers suggested follow-up surveys both for deep-sea sea cucumbers specifically and for exploring marine life in the region more generally. 'Since many areas of the Pacific, including numerous seamounts, have not yet been systematically explored, many more species remain to be discovered,' the study said. The new species was identified by its tube feet, microscopic body structures, tentacles and other subtle physical features, the study said. DNA analysis found the new species had at least 3% genetic divergence from other related sea cucumber species.
