Leading New Zealand BMX rider Kurt Pickard heads overseas next week to begin the international competition season. After the disappointment of crashing out of the London Olympics Mr Pickard hopes to build on his success last year and be ready for a big performance at the 2017 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro

Newstalk ZB journalist Rachel Smalley has today issued a tearful apology after calling New Zealand women "heifers" and "lardos" while thinking her microphone was off yesterday. At the end of her 5am-6am early edition show today, Smalley issued an on-air apology, her voice breaking as she expressed her regret over the comments.

Captain David Morgan gives us a rare look inside Air New Zealand's new 787 flight simulator.

Prime Minsiter John Key gave a pre-budget speech ahead of the National-led Government’s sixth budget.

Prime Minister John Key made a pre-budget address in Auckland, revealing some of what National will announce in the Budget 2014.

New Zealand officials organising next week's royal visit have rejected reports by British media that publicity for events during the tour gives a "manual for terrorists, nutters and fixated people hoping to harm them". The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their 8-month-old son Prince George will spend 10 days in New Zealand from Monday.

Alex de Jong and Miles Davis take an irreverent look at the Premier League…the world’s most exciting, glamorous and action-packed football competition! Whether it occurs on or off the pitch, the team at Premier League BackPass is committed to bringing you all the action and most of the gossip, not that long after it happens! Goals! Scandals! Skills! Giveaways! Italians! From glorious action to shameless stupidity, discover the best, and worst the Premier League has to offer, and find out just what makes it the finest competition, in the greatest game on earth…

New Zealand internet sensation Jamie Curry and charismatic Kiwi The Mad Butcher are behind two anti-bullying campaigns aimed at teens. Curry, who has more than eight million followers on her Facebook page Jamie's World, has teamed with Netsafe and Google NZ for an initiative called Web Rangers. See more information here netsafe.org.nz/webrangers Courtesy Jamie's World/YouTube

A concerned parent is picketing outside a store which sells Dunedin synthetic cannabis, Farmer Calvin Hooper, of Blackhead, said he is picketing outside Cosmic Corner in George St because his adult child was admitted to Wakari Hospital after smoking the synthetic cannabis Tai High.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has welcomed an international court's decision that Japan's whaling in the Southern Ocean is illegal but has warned Japan could still try to side-step it.

The birth rate in Denmark is at a 27-year low. This advert from Danish Travel agency Spies wants the Danish People to solve their population crisis... in the old fashioned way. And it's also a competition for the locals to win. Courtesy Spies Rejser

The Royal New Zealand Navy hosted the biggest multinational mine countermeasures exercise in the Hauraki gulf. MCMEX involved over 600 divers from 14 nations. Basing the exercise scenario on providing humanitarian assistance to disaster stricken country, during the exercise the participants performed all aspects of mine countermeasures ranging from pouncer ops to underwater salvage. During the exercise the dive teams also discovered an abandoned defensive mine dating back to WWII, and successfully disposed of it. Courtesy NZDefenceForce/YouTube.

See a fly through video with artist's impressions of what Auckland Airport will look like in 30 years time.

The annual Beach Hop festival rolled into Waihi on Wednesday for a warm-up party as thousands of classic cars and hotrods head to the Coromandel for 4 days of revelry.

The P-3K2 Orion used in the search is equipped with state of the art technology that makes it a world-class aircraft for search and rescue missions. A fresh crew left Auckland airport today to man the RNZAF Orion involved in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370.

Mr Dotcom launched the online membership drive for his party this afternoon under the cloud of claims his ownership of a rare copy of Hitler's book Mein Kampf is evidence of Nazi sympathies.

Mr Dotcom launched the online membership drive for his party this afternoon under the cloud of claims his ownership of a rare copy of Hitler's book Mein Kampf is evidence of Nazi sympathies. Mr Dotcom also addressed issues around hundreds of thousand of dollars owed to former staff and contractors by the company which runs his large luxurious home which was the scene of a paramilitary raid by police in early 2012. He said he had now paid all of them.

The Niue, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga stages were in full swing in front of an enthusiastic mid-week crowd. Polyfest spokesman Dean Wilson said the crowd size - about 22,000 - was encouraging considering the event had been delayed three days.

Vote Chat is a series of public interviews of politicians, candidates and commentators brought to you by the University of Otago Politics Department. In this chat author and journalist Max Rashbrooke is interviewed by Dr Bryce Edwards. The idea is to foster a different type of political environment whereby the audience doesn't just get the usual well-rehearsed campaigning speech from a politician. Audience participation is encouraged and you can ask your questions either in person, by tweeting @OUVoteChat or by using the hashtag #VoteChat14.

Equestrian action will be spectacular - the eventing cross country phase runs through the grounds, including the lake at Waikoko Gardens. The many branches of equestrianism are on display on over the weekend, from Clydesdales and miniature horses to mounted games and the $200,000 JB Olympic Cup.

Olympic gold medal winner Lisa Carrington took a rare day off from kayak training to accept an honour from the Governor-General today. The 24-year-old was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to kayaking

General Manager of AMSA's Emergency Response Division John Young and Air Commodore John McGarry from Defence give an update on the search for Malaysia Airlines' flight MH370. AMSA took coordination of the search for MH370 in the southern Indian ocean on Monday at the request of the Malaysian government. Courtesy Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

Many children around the world take the bus to school but in a mountainous area in the north of Vietnam, plastic bags have become the means of transport. This video, filmed by a primary school teacher, shows school children and teachers squeezing themselves into plastic bags so that they can be carried across a river. Courtesy WorldClips101/YouTube

Rhys Darby's new television series will screen on America's Netflix this April. Short Poppies is a comedy written by and starring Darby. The show follows journalist David Farrier as he meets "not so ordinary" characters in a small New Zealand town, who are all played by Darby. Filmed in New Zealand, the mockumentary-style show also features appearances by the likes of The Office writer Stephen Merchant. Courtesy Netflix/YouTube.

Glen Stuart from ZBTV reviews the new flick Need For Speed,and gives his verdict on the sequel 300: Rise Of An Empire.

Labour leader David Cunliffe feels Education Minister Hekia Parata is hiding information from the public, that the Te Kohanga Reo National Trust should have public accountability.

Lorde has asked fans to wear "rainbow clothing" to her upcoming show in Kansas after discovering plans by an extremist church to protest outside the concert. The Westboro Baptist Church announced plans to picket Lorde's concert at Midland Theater on March 21 because she "doesn't have enough sense to put in a thimble".

Alex de Jong and Miles Davis take an irreverent look at the Premier League…the world’s most exciting, glamorous and action-packed football competition! Whether it occurs on or off the pitch, the team at Premier League BackPass is committed to bringing you all the action and most of the gossip, not that long after it happens! Goals! Scandals! Skills! Giveaways! Italians! From glorious action to shameless stupidity, discover the best, and worst the Premier League has to offer, and find out just what makes it the finest competition, in the greatest game on earth…

Earthquake-damaged Christchurch homes that are awaiting demolition are being used as toilets, it has emerged. CERA staff recently found tourists setting up camp inside a Crown-owned home, with their tent pitched in the lounge and a BBQ set up for cooking beside it. "That may well have been a misunderstanding, but the behaviour of the group to then use one of the bedrooms as a toilet was inexplicable"

Malaysia says the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet now encompassed an area slightly larger than the entire landmass of Australia.