Morning Report for Friday 18 December 2020

6:10 AM.The long-running deadlock over historic Maori land at Ihumātao in south Auckland has been broken.

The Government announced yesterday that it is buying the land from Fletcher Building for just under… Read more Audio

6:13 AM.French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for Covid-19, forcing several European leaders to self-isolate after coming into contact with him.

The 42-year-old was tested after developing… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.WOMAD, New Plymouth's iconic music, arts, and dance festival which takes place in March every year, has been cancelled for the first time in its sixteen year history.

It comes less than a month after… Read more Audio

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

6:39 AM.Authorities in Fiji are beginning to find out just how widespread the damage is after severe tropical Cyclone Yasa blasted the country overnight. 

The winds, with peak gusts around 345-kilometres an… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.The National Party and ACT are warning the deal to purchase the disputed Ihumātao land will open the flood gates for other land occupations.

The Māori Party says they are right.  

The Government is… Read more Audio

6:48 AM.Record numbers of children have enrolled in home-schooling this year. 

Education Ministry figures show more than seven-thousand children were being home-schooled on July the first, 619 more than the… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.Houses have been flattened, and people left in only the clothes they're wearing as Cyclone Yasa swept into the island of Vanua Levu yesterday evening, with winds gusting as high as 350km/h.

… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.A breakthrough deal to buy the disputed Ihumātao land has brought an end to years of protest - involving hīkoi, petitions, court action, a trip to the United Nations, and a lengthy land-occupation.

… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.Finance Minister Grant Robertson has vowed the land at Ihumātao will be used for housing.

The government yesterday agreed to buy the land from Fletcher Building for just under $30 million - with a… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.The government says every New Zealander who wants one can get a Covid-19 vaccine, starting midway throught 2021.

It has pre-purchased a further two vaccines - 7.6 million doses will come from… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.The pandemic has driven the biggest-ever annual increase in home-schooling enrolments.

Education Ministry figures show 7192 children were being home-schooled in July, 619 more than at the same time… Read more Audio

7:46 AM.Air New Zealand will rehire some of the cabin crew it furloughed at the beginning of the pandemic, as the planned Trans Tasman Travel Bubble raises the prospect of increased international air travel… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.Transport officials planned to ask residents near the Auckland Harbour Bridge if their properties could be tested for heavy metals, without telling them contamination had already been found nearby.

… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.New Plymouth's iconic music, arts, and dance festival WOMAD, which takes place in March every year, has been cancelled for the first time in its 16 year history.

It comes less than a month after the… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.Russian athletes will be barred from competing at major international events, including the Olympics, under the country's flag until the end of 2022 after the court of arbitration for sport court… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Cyclone Yasa has struck Fiji overnight, with winds gusting as high as 350kmph flash flooding, large waves and strong winds are all a part of the threat to the Pacific Island, the aftermath will be… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.In the US more than 3600 people died of Covid-19 yesterday a new, shocking record for a country that has now recorded more than 17 million cases of coronavirus infection.

A second vaccine is expected… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.Four years after the occupation by "protectors" began, a deal on the future of the land at Ihumātao has been announced by the government.

The breakthrough deal to buy the disputed land has brought an… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.University of Auckland researchers say industry self-regulation is failing to keep the cap on sugar with sugar-laden drinks accounting for almost 80 percent of drinks sold at supermarkets.

Over half… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.A big win for the US and some finger pointing by Team UK dominated the opening day of sailing in the America's Cup World Series in Auckland.

American Magic made the biggest impact on the water with… Read more Audio

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

8:38 AM.Just a week out from Christmas, authorities in New South Wales are racing to rein in a rapidly growing cluster of Covid-19 in Sydney.

On Thursday evening the state government announced that a total… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.The Black Caps welcome their second opponents of the summer in tonight's opening T20 cricket international against Pakistan in Auckland.

The match comes after New Zealand's two convincing T20 wins… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.It's Friday so we cross the ditch to Canberra to talk to our correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Read more Audio