Nik Dirga

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Nik Dirga

Explainer - A 19-year-old from Palmerston North died recently playing a version of the controversial violent 'Run It' contest. How can a knock on the head kill? Here's what you need to know about brain injuries. An Australian creation that has taken off in Aotearoa thanks to social media, 'Run It Straight' is a combat sport. Across a field, a ball runner and defender charge at full speed toward one another without helmets or safety gear.

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Nik Dirga

Explainer - King Charles' birthday is commemorated with a public holiday on Monday - what's open, how do those royal honours get chosen and should we still celebrate it, anyway? Here's everything you need to know about the holiday. It is a public holiday, but some people may still have to work depending on their employer. Employees are if a public holiday falls on a normal working day for them. However, if you are a contractor or working for yourself, you don't get those benefits.

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Nik Dirga

Explainer - Former US President Joe Biden's recent prostate cancer diagnosis has once again put a spotlight on the disease, one of the highest causes of cancer death for New Zealand men. Biden's cancer was found to have become metastatic, or spread, elsewhere in his body. That has raised questions about how he was diagnosed and how prostate cancer screening works in general. One in eight Kiwi men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand says.

2 weeks ago | rnz.co.nz | Nik Dirga

Explainer: Brace yourself - your phone will make itself heard on Sunday night. The annual national test of the emergency mobile alert system is scheduled for between 6-7pm. That distinctive buzzing alarm may come as a mild shock to the system, but it can be a matter of life and death, says the National Emergency Management Agency Te Rākau Whakamarumaru.

2 weeks ago | rnz.co.nz | Nik Dirga

Explainer - Spoiler warning: If you're not a numbers person, this might not be your week. Thursday is Budget Day, the biggest day of the year for the government, economists and journalists as Finance Minister Nicola Willis announces how much the National-led coalition will spend, where it will go and how. Simply put, it's when the government lays out how it plans to spend money in the coming financial year, and where that money will come from.