Morning Report for Friday 26 October 2012

8:56 AM.Let's have a chat to our Canberra correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Audio

8:52 AM.A new chapter in America's cup history opens in Auckland tonight, when Italy's challenger Luna Rossa launches its 72-foot catamaran. Audio

8:49 AM.Te Arawa kaumatua, Toby Curtis, is calling for its women to have the right to take up key tribal roles; Senior Maori representatives in Tamaki Makaurau want Auckland Council to re-think its decision… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.Western and African political leaders are calling for military intervention in the African nation of Mali, a country called by some "the Afghanistan of West Africa." Audio

8:40 AM.The Maori Party says it will rebrand itself in an effort to regain the ground it lost at the last election. Audio

8:36 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.A New Zealand transplant surgeon says patients who are given new hips and other medical implants are being treated like unwitting guinea pigs. Audio

8:24 AM.Auckland's rates debate has been overshadowed by a dispute over whether Maori representatives should be allowed to take part in discussions. Audio

8:16 AM.The Secondary Principals Association says the Government is going soft on drugs by proposing law changes that would stop schools drug-testing students, or using dogs to search for drugs. Audio

8:09 AM.The police are considering an appeal in the bungled Nelson Red Devils case, following a damning High Court judgement against them. Audio

7:55 AM.This year's preparations for the annual Franklin Road Christmas lights in Auckland have hit a bump in the road with news that a council permit will be required for the opening event. Audio

7:52 AM.A big shake-up is coming for computer users with the world-wide release today of Microsoft's new operating system. Audio

7:49 AM.Chinese investors who illegally purchased four of the Crafar farms are selling up. Audio

7:46 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:40 AM.Barack Obama heads to his home town of Chicago today to do something that has never previously been done by a President - vote, nearly two weeks before the election. Audio

7:36 AM.The Valley Longwall International Drilling company will be sentenced today for safety failures at the Pike River coal mine, which exploded in November 2010, killing 29 men. Audio

7:28 AM.The Auckland Council is shutting its Maori representatives out of its rates debates. Audio

7:24 AM.The government's decided to give up to 25 Afghan interpreters working with the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan a chance to settle in this country. Audio

7:20 AM.A prominent surgeon is demanding much better scrutiny of all hip and other medical implants used in this country in the wake of new overseas findings. Audio

7:16 AM.The Government wants to change the law to bar schools from drug testing students and using sniffer dogs to search for drugs. Audio

7:09 AM.Police are promising to reassess how they conduct undercover operations after a harshly critical judgment in the High Court in Nelson involving the Red Devils gang. Audio

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

6:40 AM.The publisher of the Otago Daily Times newspaper is proposing to shed about a quarter of its sub-editing staff in a cost-cutting move. Audio

6:37 AM.A legal expert expects more criminal charges will be thrown out by the courts as the fall out from a fake police prosecution in Nelson escalates. Audio

6:27 AM.Senior Maori representatives in Tamaki Makaurau want Auckland Council to re-think its decision to leave them out of a key vote on the city's budget; Te Arawa kaumatua, Toby Curtis, is calling for its… Read more Audio

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

6:17 AM.The latest from the Pacific region. Audio

6:10 AM.The Maori Party says it will rebrand itself in an effort to regain the ground it lost at the last election. Audio

6:00 AM.Predictions more criminal charges may be dismissed, after the ruling that police deceived the court with a fake prosecution. School leaders say the government's going soft on drugs by proposing to bar… Read more Audio