An Auckland bus driver is in hospital after a passenger dragged him from his seat and struck him repeatedly in an 11-minute “violent and unprovoked” attack during a late-night suburban run.And police today revealed it was the second…

A student stuck on the edge of the Auckland region has been repeatedly denied an exemption to get to her school in Hamilton – and her mother fears her education is suffering.Sophie Stening, 14, has been isolating at home in rural…

Former MP Taito Phillip Field, who has died in Auckland, was a source of both pride and shame for the Labour Party.First elected in 1993, he was New Zealand’s First Pacific Island MP but was later the first MP jailed for corruption…

The Labour Party’s governing council is moving to change the way it elects the party’s leader, giving more power to the party caucus.If the changes go ahead, it would mean the next Labour leader could be elected by the party’s caucus…

Review: In the ten years since my friends and I would routinely compete for bragging rights, NBA 2K has been fine tuned on the court.

But much like this year's MyPlayer hero, it's distractions off the court that let it down.

Last year's 2K21 got a free pass for delivering a substantial graphical upgrade on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

2K22's gameplay improvements are far more subtle. The most significant is how your player's exhaustion is now directly linked to their ability to shoot.

READ MORE: How to prove you've had your COVID-19 vaccinations

If you love to hold down that right trigger and sprint everywhere, the sweet spot for hitting your shot will be substantially reduced making typical charges to the hoop in a flurry of fast breaks harder and more detrimental to pull off.

Ultimately, it slows the game down and forces you to play team basketball.

Pick-and-rolls are the easiest way to get an open shot and the game makes a concerted effort to teach you how to call one early on.

All the modes you'd expect return in NBA 2K22.

Purists can still play online or off using as every current NBA or WNBA team, plus a plethora of classic teams. But MyCareer and MyTeam continue to be the focal point.

READ MORE: GoPro lifts lid on new HERO10 Black camera

Both modes require hours, upon hours of dedication to reap any real reward.

The novelty of designing and taking your player from college to big leagues has worn off in MyCareer.

That's saved to a degree in 2K22 by a more modernised story and better acting, but is ultimately a slow and frequently boring grind that demands you play full-length quarters if you're to have the best shot of making more baskets and plays to lift your rating.

Fans will likely sink the most time into MyTeam.

The concept of building your own roster of legends and competing online has been around since NBA 2K13, but barriers to that simple fun have only gotten worse for the sole purpose of forcing players to spend more money.

Navigating the menu alone is so ridiculously convoluted that horribly designed fluro green arrows and text pop-up on screen to point things out to you when you first arrive and don't get me started on opening packs of player cards.

READ MORE: The gadget that can help you learn a language

Like old school Pokemon cards, you build your roster by opening packs of player cards, trading those cards with others online or straight up buying cards.

The grind is extreme and for whatever reason you can't open all the packs you've earned at once.

Doing this seven times to open packs of three cards, and then being forced to select two face down cards at random to add to your line-up, all before before an online match, was incredibly tedious.

You know a menu is poorly designed when you often end up on a screen with nothing on it except a button that says 'next.'

There's no other option, just take me to the next screen automatically.

NBA 2K, like Fortnite and Rocket League, shifted to the idea of "seasons" a long time ago; a series of timed challenges and themes that fuel progress and the chance to unlock new players, in-game currency and cosmetic items.

In reality, the rewards are so minor that it would take the average player upwards of 10, 20 or even 30 hours to afford to buy a few favourite players you'd want in your starting five.

The game is geared towards those willing to "pay-to-win," which would be fine if the game was free, but NBA 2K22 still demands an $89 price of admission on next-gen consoles and $149 for the 75th anniversary edition.

What do you get for that extra $60? Guaranteed "sapphire" cards of Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitski and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a bunch more packs to open, more skill points to spend on your custom player, exclusive clothes for them to wear and 100K VC (NBA 2K's in-game currency). For the record, $75K VC costs about $30.

Keep in mind, NBA 2K already bombards the player with ads mid game under the guise of its real world accurate presentation.

NBA 2K is not the only game guilty of this. FIFA and other sports games do the same.

Question is, where is that line? These games are expensive to make and those that do deserve to be paid handsomely for our entertainment, but at what point does that emphasis on gambling – in the form of paying for randomised player packs – take over and hurt the fun?

Arguably, that line is already being crossed.

Kiwi-owned waste recycling and minimisation company Green Gorilla is pitching in for the fight against Covid-19 by promoting staff vaccination. It was a logical step for the company, which prides itself on progressive policies includingcarboNZero…

Australia's new nuclear submarine fleet is set to prove a test for China in an area of naval warfare the rising superpower lags the West.

While China has been rapidly modernising and expanding its navy, it remains behind the US in anti-submarine capability, defence expert Marcus Hellyer says.

"The US has a significant advantage over China in submarine development," Dr Hellyer, of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said.

"Chinese submarines are at least a generation behind American ones.

"Also in anti-submarine warfare, the US and other western nations have traditionally led China."

READ MORE: Why police put a 'no-fly zone' over Melbourne

Under the new AUKUS agreement, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines from the US.

They are expected to be deployed in waters contested by China – such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait – when they enter service – expected to be by 2040.

Powered by a nuclear reactor, the vessels can remain beneath the water indefinitely, making them harder to detect.

But Dr Hellyer told nine.com.au that China is will be ramping up its anti-submarine forces before the Australian subs hit the water.

READ MORE: French ambassador to return to Washington

In addition to its current anti-submarine surface vessels and aircraft, China is also eyeing new underwater technology.

"They are increasingly looking at drones and sensors under the water," Dr Hellyer said.

The Chinese military already has underwater acoustic sensors that can track submarines in the strategically vital waters near the Taiwan Strait, parts of the South China Sea and at the Chinese navy's submarine base on Hainan Island.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia has received "overwhelming support" from the US and UK for its participation to acquire nuclear submarines under the AUKUS defence pact.

READ MORE: How world reacted to Australia's nuclear submarine decision

Mr Morrison was speaking from Washington after he met key officials from the Biden Administration and leading US politicians.

"We received overwhelming support when it came to Australia moving ahead to establish a nuclear submarine fleet for Australia, to ensure that we could contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific," Mr Morrison said.

Police describe a man seen on CCTV footage walking on Mt Albert’s Grande Ave yesterday morning as a “person of interest” as they launch a homicide investigation into the death of Lena Zhang Harrap.Detective Inspector Aaron Pascoe,…

A man has been arrested after a vicious alleged gang fight in Huntly’s main street.Not only were four men seen kicking and punching each other, but one young child also tried to get in on the fight by throwing punches.It was…

A memorial for victims of the 2002 Bali bombings will go ahead next month after intervention from the New South Wales Health Minister.

The initial application for an exemption to hold the yearly ceremony with 100 people on October 12 was rejected by NSW Health.

However, Brad Hazzard intervened and overruled the decision made by his department, allowing the event to go ahead, 2GB reported.

LIVE UPDATES: More of NSW to leave lockdown as state records 1063 cases

This year is the 19th anniversary of the deadly 2002 attacks in the tourist district of Kuta, on the Indonesian island of Bali.

Eighty-eight Australians were killed, including six members of the Coogee Dolphins Rugby League club.

Coogee Dolphins President Paul Vanni told 2GB's Chris Smith this morning the memorial is important to the community.

READ MORE: The cruel text tricking customers waiting for a delivery

https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/bali-bombing-memorial-exemption-rejection-overturn/embed

"The actual service is hosted by Randwick City Council … it's been conducted every single year since the Bali bombing," Mr Vanni said.

"We're so proud and we're so happy that it's going to go on, and from the club's perspective, it means so much.

"We lost six of our guys in Bali, and Australia lost 88 people.

"It's a time for us to remember those guys, our friends who passed away but also celebrate the resilience of the Australian way of life," Mr Vanni said.