First Up for Thursday 20 May 2021

5:51 AM.Flight Centre's chief executive is standing by comments that we need to open international borders even though people will inevitably die as a result. Graham Turner made the comments in defence of… Read more Audio

5:43 AM.It's D-Day.. or B-Day depending on how you look at it. Finance Minister Grant Robertson will deliver his Covid-19 recovery budget today. We already know that Maori Housing, a Tourism Reset Plan and… Read more Audio

5:36 AM.A Rarotongan business owner says that locals shifted their focus to the community to survive the pandemic as they awaited the return of tourists. Charlie Hosking, moved back from Melbourne four years… Read more Audio

5:22 AM.To India now, where not all New Zealanders trying to get out are there for family reasons. Some, like teacher Claire Pirini travelled to India for work, despite the country's escalating Covid-19… Read more Audio

5:13 AM.Basketball now and two of the sport's biggest names will go head to head in a new innovation to the NBA's playoff format, the Play-In Game LA Lakers star LeBron James will meet Steph Curry of the… Read more Audio

5:09 AM.And we head to Europe with our correspondent Anita Purcell-Sjölund in Sweden. Audio

5:05 AM.Let's begin in the Cook Islands where our defence force will help officials distribute the Pfizer vaccine by plane and by boat to people on outer and remote islands. The vaccination programme began on… Read more Audio