Morning Report for Tuesday 9 February 2021

8:58 AM.After weeks of playing shadow tennis in their hotel rooms, the world's best players took to the courts of Melbourne yesterday for the opening day of the Australian Open.

Community cases of Covid-19… Read more Audio

8:54 AM.Auckland councillor Chris Darby has called for the Tino Rangatiratanga flag to fly from the Auckland Harbour Bridge, alongside New Zealand's national flag, year-round. 

The red white and black flag… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.Labour Party MP Glen Bennett married his partner Jon O'Neill in Parliament's legislative chamber.

Bennett said the day was another marker showing the changed attitudes toward same-sex marriage in New… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.Following a lengthy approval process, New Zealand's largest venue will now be able to host six concerts a year.

Eden Park has long been bound by strict rules around musical events - previously, the… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.RNZ has heard from MIQ nurses who are fearful that inadequate staffing could lead to further Covid-19 outbreaks.

One nurse told RNZ she had worked several 24-hour shifts, while another says her… Read more Audio

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

8:26 AM.Tom Brady has etched a place in NFL history and possibly inspired ageing sportspeople around the globe after masterminding the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to victory in the Super Bowl.

The 43-year-old… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei is leading a peaceful hīkoi to the Tāmaki Makaurau High Court. 

The iwi is upset that the Crown is using land within its rohe to compensate another iwi - Hauraki-Maratūāhu - for… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.Some polytechnics are reporting a surge in enrolments as the academic year begins.

They say demand is especially high in trades courses where the government has waived fees to encourage more… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.An RNZ investigation has revealed that Fonterra is using 16 empty farms to dispose of factory wastewater.

That's lead to nitrates leaching into nearby water supplies and there is concern that people… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Air New Zealand could be found to be complicit in war crimes after revelations one of its subsidiaries did work for the Royal Saudi Military, who are blocking supplies from getting into Yemen.

The… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.Another frustrating night for the Wellington Phoenix in football's A-League. Read more Audio

7:56 AM.A tenants' advocacy group is seeing a rise in the number of renters who are having their tenancies prematurely ended.

It comes as new rules for tenants and landlords set in this Thursday, bringing an… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Residents of of Karitane and Waikouaiti will be offered blood tests for chronic lead exposure from Tuesday afternoon.

People in the East Otago towns were told not to drink the tap water after lead… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.National MP Chris Bishop will seek a vote of no confidence against Trevor Mallard, the Speaker of the House, in Parliament today.

Late last year Mallard apologised for comments he made to RNZ in May… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.The government will help employers pay workers who have to wait at home for Covid-19 test results from Tuesday.

The government hopes its new $350 Short-Term Absence Payment will encourage people who… Read more Audio

7:29 AM.Myanmar's military ruler, general Min Aung Hlaing has addressed the nation for the first time since the army seized power last week.

In a television address, General Hlaing sought to justify the coup… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.Managed isolation and quarantine nurses fear there will be another Covid-19 community outbreak if staffing numbers aren't boosted at isolation facilities across the country.

Three nurses have aired… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.Air New Zealand says the decision by one of its companies to take up work with the Saudi military was "poor judgment", and an internal review into how it happened is underway.

The airline has been… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.Fonterra has cleared 16 of the farms it owns and is using the land to dispose of factory wastewater, which has leached nitrates into private drinking water supplies.

The dairy giant has given some… Read more Audio

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

6:42 AM.The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump officially begins tomorrow, with the former US president facing the charge of 'inciting insurrection'.

Democrats are pushing the case, which centres… Read more Audio

6:37 AM.Blood testing starts today for residents of two Otago towns which have had high readings of lead in their water supplies.

People in Waikouaiti and Karitane were first told about high levels of lead… Read more Audio

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

6:20 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

6:18 AM.The Drug Foundation says a medicinal cannabis specialist GP clinic that has opened in Wellington will help stop patients running afoul of the law by buying off the black market.

Very few doctors have… Read more Audio

6:16 AM.A group representing tenants is seeing an increase in the number of renters who are being given 90-day terminations without justification.

New regulations will come in this Thursday, which will stop… Read more Audio

6:11 AM.Protests are continuing in Myanmar after a military coup.

Asia correspondent Richard Ehrlich is based in Thailand, and has been covering the coup and protests in Myanmar.

He spoke to Corin Dann. Read more Audio