First Up for Thursday 4 March 2021

5:50 AM.With New Zealand's borders closed, the timing was always going to be challenging for New Zealand to host the Women's Rugby World Cup later this year. A dozen teams, with up to 50 staff and players… Read more Audio

5:45 AM.The deputy leader of the National Party Shane Reti says that people whose first language is English would struggle to understand the Government's Covid-19 advice, let alone someone for whom it's their… Read more Audio

5:32 AM.It was a double loss day for NZ cricket yesterday as both our Men's and Women's teams lost in a T20 double header in Wellington. Sophie Devine's White Ferns lost by 7 wickets to England, while Aaron… Read more Audio

5:23 AM.New research shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has cut fossil fuel emissions by 2.6 billion tonnes in 2020, it's the biggest drop scientists have seen since humans started burning fossil fuels. It's… Read more Audio

5:15 AM.Every week we catch up with the brilliant reporters from the Local Democracy Programme, which is dedicated to covering parts of New Zealand that sometimes get overlooked by the big news outlets.

We… Read more Audio

5:12 AM.Over the year Selwyn Community education in Auckland runs over 600 classes, with about 900 people a week taking classes in pottery, woodworking, and Japanese among other courses on their packed… Read more Audio

5:07 AM.Kamahl Santamaria is our correspondent in Doha and he tells Nathan Rarere about watching the first tentative steps between the new US administration and Saudi Arabia. Audio