Morning Report for Wednesday 31 August 2011

8:58 AM.Otago University has found women who eat slowly are less likely to be overweight. A nationwide study - the first of its kind - found the speed at which women eat is linked to weight, though they're… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.The humble trike has become the thrill-seeker's vehicle of choice, and it's causing a major headache for police in Christchurch. They've charged one "drift trike" rider in Cashmere Hills with careless… Read more Audio

8:52 AM.Here's a headline you won't be reading anytime soon - Maori King Drunk in America. That's because the Funkwerks brewery in Colorado, which has been selling a beer called Maori King, has changed its… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.A Taranaki iwi member says he likens the next Governor-General being sworn in today, to the late Sir Paul Reeves; Fisheries staff and iwi members are heading for the coast in the Far North today - for… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.France lost the first Rugby World Cup finals, giving New Zealand its only win in the tournament in 1987. But they've been a nightmare for the All Blacks since then, knocking the All Blacks out of the… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.The New Zealand tennis player Marina Erakovic has exited the US Open in the first round after a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to her Croatian opponent Mirjana Lucic in New York. Audio

8:35 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:27 AM.After more than 130 years of supplying stories to newsrooms across the country, the New Zealand Press Association will today cease to exist. New Zealand's only national news agency has been winding up… Read more Audio

8:25 AM.Otago Regional Councillors are welcoming plans by the city council to take Dunedin's bus system off their hands. Dunedin's mayor says he expects to begin consulting the public by the end of the year… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.The International Rugby Board says it will come down hard on any companies carrying out illegal marketing campaigns around the Rugby World Cup. Just over a week from the tournament's kick off, the IRB… Read more Audio

8:12 AM.Earthquake recovery minister, Gerry Brownlee speaks to Morning Report. Audio

8:06 AM.Members of the building industry say a serious skills shortage is looming as the Government releases new estimates of the number of homes seriously damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. Audio

7:57 AM.With New Zealand refusing entry to Fijians connected with the country's military regime, it hasn't been straight forward for Fiji to field a team for the Rugby World Cup. But with political hurdles… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.A waistcoat that may have originally belonged to Captain James Cook will be auctioned in Auckland next week. The embroidered white silk piece is reliably dated to the 18th century, and almost… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.As the National Party gets ready to campaign on asset sales, the Treasury is scouring the world for a new blueprint for privatisations. Treasury officials have crossed the Tasman to size up the float… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.The Libyan transitional government has given pro-Gaddafi forces until Saturday (Libya time) to surrender their last major strongholds, or face an all out assault. Audio

7:44 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:40 AM.Polytechnic tutors around the country are fighting to stop their employers slashing their nine weeks a year of annual leave. The Tertiary Education Union says most of the eight polytechs now in pay… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.Plans for a multi-billion makeover of downtown Auckland go before the region's council today to make it a city focussed more on people than cars. Audio

7:28 AM.A Whangarei mother who lost her son to meningococcal septicaemia 11-years ago is dismayed to hear of a second death connected with the White Cross private accident and medical clinic in Whangarei. Audio

7:25 AM.Meanwhile the England rugby team has arrived in the country. Audio

7:22 AM.Despite 170-thousand Rugby World Cup tickets still being unsold, the chief executive of the International Rugby Board is confident almost all the tickets will be snapped up, including sell-outs for… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's director of import and export standards, Tim Knox, speaks to Morning Report. Audio

7:15 AM.Just a week after allowing the first New Zealand apple imports in almost a century, Australia has blocked a consignment bound for its shores. Audio

7:10 AM.The Government would have to bear the full brunt of the cost of another major natural disaster, as the coffers at the Earthquake Commission are now bare. Audio

6:47 AM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:38 AM.Solid Energy says it's not abandoning plans to mine lignite in Southland. Those plans created a furor when they emerged in a draft copy of the government's Energy Strategy leaked in April, though the… Read more Audio

6:35 AM.The Earthquake Commission has more than doubled its estimate of how much it will pay out for Canterbury earthquake claims, from three billion dollars to seven billion dollars. Audio

6:27 AM.Fisheries scientists say it may be possible to limit the spread of an invasive Australian sea squirt in the Far North; A Whangarei teacher says a programme designed to raise pakeha teachers' cultural… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:18 AM.The latest from the Pacific region. Audio

6:00 AM.EQC coffers bare so govt would bear full brunt of any other disaster;Australia blocks NZ apple shipment;MAF reacts to Australia apple quarantine;IRB chief drumming up support for RWC ticket… Read more Audio