Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories.
This week, the latest movements on Covid-19, the unanswered questions from election night, why experts have so little hope for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, the West Coast's shock defection to the National Party, and a spotlight on Otago University's at times extreme hazing culture.
Whakarongo mai to any episodes you might have missed.
Covid: Still here, still deadly
Every week we see thousands of cases, hundreds lying in hospital beds, and around 20 deaths.
Sorry to say it, but Covid-19 is still alive and kicking.
"It's a bit like an unwelcome guest that no one wants to talk about, but it hasn't gone away, that's for sure,'' University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker tells The Detail.
University of Otago epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker Photo: University of Otago Wellington / Luke Pilkinton-Ching
"It's our number one infectious disease threat... it's really displaced influenza as our biggest single infectious disease killer."
Tom Kitchin gets an update on the virus from Baker and vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris.
Election '23: The hangover
The election is over, we've had a crucial win at the Rugby World Cup, it's springtime, and the cost of a caulflower has dropped to $3.99. Surely all sound reasons to be in a good mood and get over our bitter divisions.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Yes and no, says Peter Dunne, political pundit, former government minister and United Future party leader.
A World Cup win by the All Blacks will be an important rallying point but a short term factor. But prime minister-in-waiting Christopher Luxon has a "glorious opportunity to put the past behind him" and unite the country.
And there's still a lot we don't know post-election day. Sharon Brettkelly asks Dunne the lingering questions from Saturday night.
Israel v Hamas: The war without end
Nearly two weeks after Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel, international attention has turned to the hundreds of thousands of Gazans forced to flee their homes before an imminent Israeli invasion.
Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes in Gaza City on October 12, 2023 as raging battles between Israel and the Hamas movement continue for the sixth consecutive day. Photo: AFP / Ibrahim Hams
Response to the disaster has been far-reaching, from the top levels of the US government, to protests in cities around the world. Yesterday, there was some relief after the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an agreement to develop an aid plan for civilians in Gaza, without benefitting Hamas.
The breakthrough comes as aid agencies describe the situation as 'humanitarian collapse'.
Sharon Brettkelly looks at what was behind the attack, what it would take to get a ceasefire, and how the media has covered the conflict, with Auckland University associate professor of politics and international relations Stephen Hoadley.
The West Coast's surprising shade of blue
The West Coast-Tasman electorate – home to the spiritual birthplace of the Labour Party – is one electorate that few pundits picked to change allegiance this election.
Damien O'Connor and Maureen Pugh Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver, Samuel Rillstone
It's due to go blue if National's candidate Maureen Pugh's majority of 915 isn't flipped by the special votes.
Yes, that's the Maureen Pugh of Simon Bridges' "f...ing useless" insult.
Tom Kitchin speaks to Reefton-based Newsroom journalist Lois Williams and Buller District mayor Jamie Cleine about the history of the area and what's happened in the last six years for voters to flip the switch so dramatically.
Otago's extreme student initiations
Holding eels up like a trophy prize, eating the feet off a live duck, passing out in a wheelie bin while you're smoking.
University of Otago students celebrating St Patrick's Day. Photo: Supplied
These are some of the crazy stories about Otago University flat initiations that've been hitting the headlines recently.
Tom Kitchin talks to Fox Meyer, editor of the student-run magazine Critic Te Ārohi, and also to the director of the classic Otago student film 'Scarfies' Rob Sarkies about what these initiations are all about and what could be done to reduce the harm.
Long Read: There and back again
This is The Detail's Long Read – one in-depth story read by us every weekend.
Photo: Giselle Clarkson / NZ Geographic
This week, 'There and back again' by Kate Evans, published in New Zealand Geographic magazine's September-October issue.
How do animals know where they’re going? Humans have been puzzling over the mysteries of migration and navigation for centuries, and our ideas about it have gone from absolutely wild to only slightly less so.
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