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Sprinklers for chickens? Keeping livestock and produce alive in a heatwave
Sunscreen for grapes and an all-nighter for saleyards might also be the answer for Australian farmers.
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Residents turn to specialist help as insurers get cold feet
30 Jan 2026A first-home buyer in the flood-prone West Coast town says she and her partner could not even convince the vendor's current insurer to offer them a policy.
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Fears dung beetle investment will be flushed away
30 Jan 2026New Zealand's only dung beetle rearing facility says it may have to close if there's not more support.
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Are we stuck in a 'crisis and response' pattern?
30 Jan 2026Experts say the bill for disasters will only continue to rise unless we make changes.
Sprinklers for chickens? Keeping livestock and produce alive in a heatwave
Sunscreen for grapes and an all-nighter for saleyards might also be the answer for Australian farmers.
Residents turn to specialist help as insurers get cold feet
A first-home buyer in the flood-prone West Coast town says she and her partner could not even convince the vendor's current insurer to offer them a policy.
Fears dung beetle investment will be flushed away
New Zealand's only dung beetle rearing facility says it may have to close if there's not more support.
Are we stuck in a 'crisis and response' pattern?
Experts say the bill for disasters will only continue to rise unless we make changes.
Trees explode around the US in extreme cold
What's causing trees to explode in the USA? Joe Zeleznik from the University of North Dakota has the answer about frost cracks. Audio
More than 100 people help clean up Wellington's waterfront
On average each year, the clean up usually collects around 1500 litres of rubbish Audio
How much of a risk are landslides?
Recovery efforts are back underway at the site of the fatal Mount Maunganui slip after they were earlier suspended when more land movement was detected. One of the six people missing has now been… Audio
Otago Peninsula on the verge of being possum-free
Efforts to stamp the pests out, including using AI cameras and detection dog Scout, have been going for years.
Simon Wilson on the climate crisis
Time to solve some of the world's problems. Simon Wilson is here to help put some wrongs to right and today he's focusing on a huge issue; how we prepare ourselves better for the climate crisis. Audio
Midday Report Essentials for Thursday 29 January 2026
Winston Peters has intensified his attack on his own government's Free Trade Agreement with India claiming up to 20,000 Indians will be able to come into the country and the agreement will result in… Audio
900,000-tonne miscalculation makes carbon target even tougher
It's given New Zealand less wiggle-room to meet all of its planned greenhouse gas savings.
Microplastics found in one-third of surveyed Pacific Island fish
The scale of contamination varied significantly across locations however, and the researchers warned against "alarmist" interpretations.
Wellington's city beaches get volunteer lunchtime cleanup today
Wellington's Great Big Waterfront Clean Up kicks off today, organiser Naiomi Murgatroyd talked with Nathan Rarer''e' Audio
Mayor condemns 'ecological vandalism' on beaches
Broken signs, embedded tyre tracks, and blatant disregard for a bylaw are threatening a delicate biodiversity area, a report says.
Midday Report Essentials for Thursday 29 January 2026
Attorney General and Defence Minister Judith Collins, a former leader of the National Party, will retire from politics and not stand again aver the November election; Judith Collins was first elected… Audio
Doomsday Clock 2026: 'We are running out of time'
Scientists have now set the timepiece at the closest it's ever been to midnight, in part due to the impact of AI.
'Everything ready to burn now': Homes feared destroyed after record heat in Victoria
Homes are feared destroyed in one region after a day of record temperatures and extreme fire danger across the state.
Council turns to AI to cut cost of residents' recycling errors
Almost a third of Auckland's recycling now ends up in landfill, costing ratepayers millions of dollars annually. Audio
Shower Thought: Why are agapanthus everywhere?
To help us unpack Nights speaks to Murray Dawson - a botanist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research who has spent years breeding low‑fertility and sterile versions of agapanthus to try to keep their… Audio
More yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland
The number of yellow-legged hornet queens found in Auckland has risen to 45 - 32 of them with nests.