Morning Report for Friday 21 January 2022

8:55 AM.The sixth World Schools Sevens tournament takes place at Auckland's Pakuranga rugby club this weekend, with some of the country's best school-aged talent on display.

For the first time, a New Zealand… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.Ecologists are researching the reefs around the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano to see how the biodiversity might fare.

When the volcano erupted in late 2014, it temporarily changed water… Read more Audio

8:49 AM.There's something in the water in Timaru.

The town has had discoloured drinking water for more than a month after Timaru District Council switched to a secondary water supply.

Some residents have… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.The price of tomatoes has doubled over the past year.

Statistics New Zealand says the summer staples cost $3.30/kg in December 2020, but by the end of last year, they were $6.61/kg.

Grocery foods… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.The rollout of the medicinal cannabis scheme, which aims to provide quality access to products for patients, has made little progress, a Massey University study found.

Delays in approving products… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.Australia's Nick Kyrgios put yesterday on a show against the tournament favourite Daniil Medvedev, but it was the Russian who managed to clinch the win.

There were also two major shocks in the… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Disruption during the pandemic may be to blame for a fall in NCEA pass rates and a steep drop in exam attendance.

More than 160,000 students found out their results yesterday.

The Government says… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.After 48 days at the 'red' traffic light setting, Te Tai Tokerau has finally joined the rest of the country at 'orange'.

Northland has been relatively Covid-free this summer - clocking up just a… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.Tonga's recovery is making progress, but the future remains unclear as assessments still take place.

Aid flights have arrived from New Zealand and Australia; and NZDF ships are helping clear the way… Read more Audio

8:11 AM.Crucial aid has started arriving in Tonga.

Yesterday a New Zealand Defence Force aircraft carrying food, water, communications equipment and other emergency supplies landed in the capital.

Limited… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.It's been another summer without international visitors - the lifeblood for five tourist hotspots.

For weeks, operators in Fiordland, South Westland, Queenstown, Mackenzie and Kaikōura geared up to… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.It's been another summer without international visitors - the lifeblood for five tourist hotspots.

For weeks, operators in Fiordland, South Westland, Queenstown, Mackenzie and Kaikōura geared up to… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.Counties Manukau DHB has this morning released a range of projections on just how bad Omicron will hit the Auckland region.

Director of Population Health Dr Gary Jackson's findings show case numbers… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.Urgent planning is underway to ensure Auckland's hospitals can cope with double the number of Covid-19 patients when Omicron starts spreading in the community.

This morning they've revealed modelling… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.Urgent diplomatic talks are continuing in Europe, as world leaders try to stop a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The US secretary of State Antony Blinken warned again today that if Russian forces… Read more Audio

7:36 AM.This morning Northland has woken up in the orange traffic light setting, after the Government ended its seven week stretch in the restrictive red light setting at midnight.

The move comes as the… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.The National Party is not impressed with the Government's plans to manage an outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Yesterday, the government urged New Zealanders to prepare for potentially… Read more Audio

7:22 AM.New Zealanders are being urged to prepare for potentially thousands of daily Covid-19 infections once the Omicron variant starts spreading in the community.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern set out the… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.Communication is trickling through to ash-blanketed Tonga, but the sheer number of people trying to check on whanau and friends is overwhelming the system.

It's been a tough week for Tongans -… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.Today specialist New Zealand Defence Force staff will be busy checking Tonga's shipping lanes are passable and its main wharf is safe so desperately needed humanitarian supplies can get through.

So… Read more Audio