Nights

Swimming in it was banned for a century, but Paris has announced it will reopen the River Seine for swimming competition during the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic games, and then allow public swimming. Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports, talks to Mark about the costly and complex cleanup of one of the world's most romantic rivers.

Aotearoa New Zealand's first pandemic lockdown was a catalyst for change for many. It certainly was for PhD student Nimeesha Odedra - whose family recipes became an internet sensation. She and her mother's 'how to' videos for their authentic Indian curries jumped from 70 followers to almost 10,000 by the time lockdown lifted. A business was born - Sobhna's, which left Nimeesha juggling a start-up while also researching an issue close to home.

As humans we're highly attuned to the cacophony of sounds we make and hear in the world around us, but little do we realise that there's a whole symphony of sounds to be heard in the ocean, too. Scientists say listening to the sounds of the ocean can help unravel the mysteries of the deep and paint a complex picture of what life is like beneath the waves. Steve Simpson is professor of marine biology and global change at the University of Bristol in the UK.

A kitten has been discovered stuck behind the grille of a taxi following a whopping 500-mile round trip. The intrepid kitten was spotted by long-distance taxi driver, Tom Hutchings, from South Wales.

For almost 200 years, we've been missing a key ingredient from our native forests - the wetapunga, the largest of New Zealand's 11 species of giant weta. For the past decade Auckland Zoo has been breeding wetapunga, and just last week released over 300 juveniles onto two predator-free islands in the Bay of Islands. Auckland Zoo ectotherm curator, Don McFarlane, says the importance of weta for a healthy ecosystem can't be overstated.

After an anxious wait, the snow is finally on the ground at Mt Hutt and skiers and snowboarders are flocking to the slopes, and with them a film crew. After its successful debut earlier this year, filming is once again underway for Mt Hutt Rescue - an unflinching look at the thrills and spills on the mountain - and the team that swings into action when things go south ... The Canterbury skifield is also celebrating its 50th year of operation this week, and with its state-of-the-art technology and new facilities, its fair to say its come a long way in a half-century. Mt Hutt's ski field manager James Mckenzie joins Mark.

They're our closest neighbours and we share a history and culture going back more than 250 years. So should New Zealand formally become part of Australia? That was a suggestion put forward by parting Labour MP Jamie Strange during his valedictory speech last week. Professor of political science at Charles Sturt University in Australia Dominic O'Sullivan, who is also a New Zealander, thinks we should at least think about before rejecting it out right.

Director Paul Oremland describes his most recent film as a 'labour of love'. And no wonder. His second feature 'Mysterious Ways' has been on the road to the silver screen for more than a decade. At it's core, it's a love story about a gay Pakeha vicar and his young Pasifika lover, and what's unleashed when they want to be married in the church. Set in Auckland and shot on a shoestring budget, it could have tipped over at any moment were it not for Paul's passion, and the cast's belief in the project. He speaks to Mark.

It's a disease that causes progressive decline in memory and thinking skills, and behavior. Alzheimer's is a type of dementia, and although exact cause of the disease is not yet fully understood, scientists are striving to find an answer. Researchers in Scotland hope they're one step closer. Professor Craig Ritchie, founder and CEO of Scottish Brain Sciences, talks to Mark Leishman about a deal with a major pharmaceutical company to develop blood tests which could detect Alzheimer's disease in the very earliest stages.

The BBC's Rich Preston joins Nights with a wrap of international news.