American soul singer Macy Gray's been releasing successful albums and topping charts since 1999 - beginning with the release of the hit 'I Try'.

27 years later she's sold over 25 million albums, she’s got a Grammy, she’s got Brit awards, she's released 10 albums and she’s still going with another due later this year.

She's also set to bring her six-date tour to New Zealand later this year.

"It's had to describe music, it's a little bit of an experiment for me...I'm doing everything that I really, really want to do, saying the things I really want to say, so it's more of a pure project than my ones in the past, and it's been a big learning experience for me."

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Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner's made a name for herself in iconic roles like Alias, 30 Going on 30, Daredevil and Juno, and she's attached herself to a new, star-studded Hayu project.

Five Star Weekend is based on the Elin Hilderbrand novel, and also stars Chloë Sevigny, Regina Hall, D’Arcy Carden and Gemma Chan as a group of friends brought together by a grieving food influencer.

Garner says the 'complexities and layers' of female friendship are hard to find on screen, but this project has more depth than it appears.

"It just so happens that we have this great source material from Elin Hilderbrand, this beautiful book that surprises you on every turn. You think - oh, it's a beach read, and then you read it and you just go - there's a reason this is an all-time best-seller."

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The Nowhere Boy by Anne Cleary. This book won the Allen and Unwin fiction award, which is a hugely contested New Zealand fiction prize. A Dad takes his 3 year old boy to the beach and leaves him in the car while he unloads fishing gear to a site some distance away - and when he returns to the car, his son is gone. He’s been found by a woman who has suffered the loss of children and can’t believe her luck - that there’s a young, seemingly abandoned boy who she can take home and into whom she can pour all her love. But of course the situation is not that straight forward, which she soon discovers as the search for him grows ever more intense.

It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell. Jane Trevally is newly divorced and one night agrees to go home with a man she’s only just met - but she gets a bad feeling in his house and runs away. Years later, she finds herself on the trail of a missing girl, and traces that girl back to the same house in which she found herself 25 years ago - a place with a dark atmosphere and sinister secrets. As she investigates what might have happened, she realises that, if she hadn’t left that place, it could have been her.

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It's no secret that hotel rooms can be gross - but how can you get around the worst of it?

Other people will likely be getting their germs all over the TV remote, the cushions, the ice bucket and concerns have been raised over how safe toothbrushes are in the bathroom.

For more advice about how to get around the worst of the icks, Megan Singleton's made a list of her findings.

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This week on the Sunday Panel, Resident Economist at Opes Partners Ed McKnight and TV producer, journalist and commentator Irene Gardiner joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

The Herald's Poll of Polls came out today, and it shows the minor parties could potentially hold more power this time around. What do we make of this? Do we know which side we want to vote for? What do we want to see from National or Labour?

The Norway v England FIFA World Cup quarter-final took place this morning - what did we think of it? And what did we make of last night's All Blacks v Italy match? Does the TMO have to go?

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Mitochondria are the powerhouses of your cells, and they generate the ATP needed for survival.

Declining mitochondrial performance is strongly associated with aging and age-related diseases.

Naturopath and wellness expert Erin O'Hara reveals how to improve your mitochondrial health, including diet and stress management tips.

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Cook time:30 minutes

Prep time: 1hr 10 minutes

300 gm white flour

100 gm wholemeal flour

220 orange kumara, cooked and mashed

230 ml water

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp fennel seeds (or any herbs)

Pesto

10 kawakawa leaves

(mixer of holes and non)

1 cup curly parsley

1 cup flat leave parsley

1 cup coriander leaves

1 cup sunflower oil

salt and pepper

1 cup almonds, toasted and crushed

1 cup parmesan, finely grated

Mix together flour, yeast and fennel seeds

Add salt and mix

Add mashed kumara and water and mix

Once you have a dough with no dry bits pop it into a oiled loaf tin and pop somewhere warm with a tea towel on top for 1 hour

Preheat the oven to 200*c and bake for approx 30 minutes. Or until it has a nice hard golden top.

Leave to rest for 30 minutes on a rack before eating.

To make up the kawakawa pesto, place the parsley, coriander and oil into a blender and blend in quick bursts. Do not over heat, otherwise you will lose the colour. Add in half the kawakawa and blend. Season and taste. If you can't taste the bitter tones of the kawakawa add a little more until you can.

Finish with the almonds and parmesan.

Serve alongside the bread.

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