Two long-term contraceptives which currently cost hundreds of dollars will now be fully funded by the government - a change being described as 'life-changing' for some women. Pharmac has announced it will fund the Mirena and Jaydess I=U=D devices from November. The change is expected to benefit more than 20 thousand women. Joining me now is Dr Orna McGinn who petitioned Government to talk about the impact of Pharmac's announcement

European correspondent, Olly Barratt, speaks with Karyn about the unfolding week in London from today's meeting between NATO's Jens Stoltenberg and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while the Metropolitan Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhwere in London, as the Brexit deadline of 31 October gets closer with dates between now and then that mean something to a deal or no deal.

Bartailed godwits fly 29-thousand kilometres a year between their Christchurch feeding grounds to breed in the Arctic tundra - the longest known non-stop migration for any bird. Arctic terns also travel massive distances and swifts spend 80 percent of their lives on the wing - even sleeping airborne. In our occasional series, I Didn't Know That, Massey University's School of Agriculture associate professor, Phil Battley is a expert in long-distance migration and explains how they do it.

The cafe manager at MacDonald's on Rotorua's Fenton Street, Fisher Wang, used Instragram and Facebook as his go-to for campaigning as he planned to give the Rotorua Lakes Council a "breath of fresh air". Karyn speaks with Fisher about why he decided to run in the local government elections as an independent candidate wanting to focus 100-percent on his new council role.

While our local government elections were underway here, in Hong Kong two candidates running for the upcoming District election have been assaulted in the space of a week while they were out canvassing in their districts. Karyn speaks with Kris Cheng from Hong Kong Free Press.

Finn Johansson joins us with a preview of three new music selections on Out Lately. In November, Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie) is releasing the Mount Eerie album Lost Wisdom pt. 2 with Canadian singer-songwriter and former Eric's Trip singer Julie Doiron, a sequel to their 2008 collaboration Lost Wisdom. Great Grandpa's debut album Plastic Cough was good enough to earn them a spot on our Best New Bands Of 2017 list. But with their new album Four Of Arrows, the Seattle band is seriously leveling up. Lead single "Mono No Aware" and its follow-up "Digger" were both fantastic. Now they're sharing a new song called "Bloom," and it's just as good.

Jeff Koons' Bouquet of Tulips sculpture tribute to the victims of the 2015 attacks in the Paris has divided opinion in the City of Light. It features a 12 metre high hand holding eleven giant tulips, the flower often used to symbolise love.

The work is created in Koons' typical kitsch style.

Rafael Pic is the Editor-In-Chief of Le Quotidien de l'Art and he speaks with Karyn form Paris about the work and the response to it.

It's time for the rest is history when we look into the week's news in the past. This week we're going to be a tiny bit sacrilegious. Our resident historian Robert Kelly is looking back to the first screening of Monty Python and the impact British comedy had here in New Zealand.

The NZ Security Intelligence Service has apologised to investigative journalist Nicky Hager for unlawfully acquiring months of call logs for his phone.

The All Blacks final Rugby World Cup pool match against Italy has been called off due to the arrival of Super Typhoon Hagibis in Japan on Saturday.