1Dying for a Drink A beer with the boys is a national institution in New Zealand, but how many beers could be a life or death question. It is estimated that alcohol abuse costs New Zealand $900 million a year and there are countless stories of human misery associated with alcohol abuse. A look at some of the facts about alcoholism in New Zealand.

2What about the Workers? New technology and new machines are enabling production to be quicker and more efficient, at less cost. However, this raises the prospect of workers being replaced by robots leading to redundancy and even higher unemployment. However, in Japan, technological change is a fundamental fact of its economic life, and it has experienced none of the problems of job losses. How do they do it?

3Board games are back in fashion - but with a crucial difference. The modern version is three-dimension, with players acting out the role of fantasy characters and go on adventures. Dungeons and Dragons and other fantasy board games are proving popular with people of all ages.