Canada correspondent Ashleigh Stewart speaks to Lisa Owen about the wildfire season kicking off, Freedom Convoy organiser Pat King criminal trial starting and the unlikely victor from Drake and Kendrick Lamar's diss track saga.

Wildfire season kicks off in Canada

News & Politics

In a David and Goliath space-race, Sir Peter Beck, a boy from Invercargill, is more than holding his own. In 2009, Beck's then-fledgling company - Rocket Lab - became the first in the Southern Hemisphere to launch a rocket into orbit. Today, the company is valued at US$2 billion on the stock market, employs 1,800 people globally, and is the most prolific commercial launch provider behind only SpaceX - owned by one of the world's wealthiest men, Elon Musk. Rocket Lab's 49 missions have included NASA's 2022 lunar CAPSTONE mission, and more than 160 satellites into orbit for scientific, national security, and university research. The newly appointed Knight speaks to Paddy.

Sir Peter Beck our newest knight takes flight

Wellington writer Emily Perkins is the country's latest literary darling, taking out the top prize at the recent Ockham Awards for her novel Lioness. Judges described the novel as "an incisive exploration of wealth, power, class, female rage, and the search for authenticity". Today, Emily Perkins joins Paddy with five things to perk us up on a public holiday, and they're far from highbrow.

Emily Perkins: 5 things to perk you up

The arrival of winter leaves no shortage of work in the garden. According to Leah Evans, author of Hands in the Dirt, the next few months are all about preparing for the rush of spring, and if you want garlic, you best have the bulbs in the ground now. Text your gardening questions to 2101.

Edible gardener Leah Evans

When Kat Kaiwai entered the civil construction industry 12 years ago, she was one of few women on the tools. Having grown up in a household free from gender roles she was suprised to find that being a woman set her apart. These days, she runs her own company on the East Coast - Tairawhiti Contractors - a critical service in a rohe that has suffered multiple severe weather events in recent years. During Cylone Gabrielle, Kaiwai and her crew of 38 - half of whom are women - ensured life-saving fuel was available to the only medical facility in the area - Te Puia Springs Hospital. These days she actively encourages women into the industry through the outreach programme Girls in Hi-Vis and runs a school lunch service feeding close to 500 tamariki. Today, she is honoured with a King's Service Medal for her mahi and services to women and the civil construction industry.

Wildfire season kicks off in Canada

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