Laura Caygill reviews Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron, published by Penguin Random House NZ

Over the last eight years, Dave Letele has helped thousands of people lose weight and get fit through his Brown Buttabean health programme. The progamme spun out of Dave's own journey in which he lost over 100 kilograms and turned his life around. Now, in addition to running free fitness programmes, his organisation runs education, youth and employment programmes, as well as a food-share scheme. Dave Letele was recently named Kiwi Bank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year Award.

In what could be a massive blow to Russia's ability to pay for its Ukraine invasion, there are increasing reports of an imminent EU ban on Russian oil. And in France, just a week of being re-elected as French President, Emmanuel Macron has been the focus of angry street protests marking May the 1st Labour Day marches. Unions and left-wing political parties joined tens of thousands of people calling on Macron to drop his plans to raise the retirement age.

New research into what community healthcare workers experienced in the early days of the pandemic has been released this morning - finding many answered 'a call of duty' to care for their patients, sometimes at the expense of being with their own families. They went the 'extra mile' to care for their patients, often without access to proper PPE and with little in the way of tangible thanks. Dr Eleanor Holroyd, Professor of Nursing at AUT is the lead author of the study - which had 3644 responses, and in-depth interviews with 22 community healthcare workers. It's part of work by the CARUL Collective, which investigates how people in Aotearoa and in the UK have engaged with and experienced the social restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She says there's five recommendations to safeguard community healthcare workers in future pandemics - including demystifying the heroism and self-sacrifices projected onto them.

A senior barrister and former crown prosecutor says unless this month's budget contains new funding for the legal aid system, it is is danger of collapse. Hourly rates for legal aid work haven't changed since 2008 and are around half what a Crown Prosecutor or independent counsel receives. As a result there has been an exodus of lawyers willing and able to offer legal aid. The Law Society commissioned an independent report by Colmar Brunton last year, which surveyed nearly 3000 lawyers on access to justice. Three quarters of the legal aid lawyers who participated said they had to turn away people seeking legal assistance because they didn't have the time to take on the client, or because their firm had reached the maximum amount of legal aid clients it could afford. A quarter of legal aid lawyers said they intend to stop in the coming year. Tiana Epati is a barrister, former crown prosecutor and as immediate past president of the Law Society, commissioned the Colmar Brunton research. She holds grave fears for the legal system if the budget later this month doesn't include a funding boost for legal aid.

Comedians Te Radar and Michele A'Court with a few laughs - including a gifting idea that involves sausages!.

Sam reflects on a great week for canoe racing, a shocking one for the Warriors and the ongoing, seemingly never ending Silver Lake saga for New Zealand Rugby.

The State Services Commission has announced an independent review of workplace culture and complaint handling at Fire and Emergency. The review was requested by the Chair of FENZ, Rebecca Keoghan. It's three years since former judge Coral Shaw delivered a devastating report into the culture at FENZ, finding bullying and harassment were rife at all levels and across all regions within FENZ. Since then a stream of current and former firefighters - both volunteer and professional - have expressed frustration over the lack of change in FENZ culture, and a lack of trust in complaint handling processes. Kathryn gets an update from Nine to Noon Executive Producer Clare Sziranyi.

Kiran Dass reviews Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, published by Picador

Charlotte Philby's latest novel tells the story of her grandfather, Kim Philby, the notorious double-agent in the Cambridge spy ring. Edith and Kim is her fourth novel, and tells the linked stories of her grandfather and Edith Tudor-Hart, the Vienna-born photographer and Communist agent who recommended Kim Philby for recruitment by the KGB. Charlotte Philby's father was a child when her grandfather defected. He tracked him down in Moscow years later, and as a five year old, Charlotte went on a family visit to Kim in Russia. She says initially she didn't want to write about Kim Philby because she didn't want to define herself through his life. But after years of having other people project versions of her grandfather, the time has come to reclaim the story.