First Up for Thursday 24 March 2022

5:54 AM.A state of emergency is still in place for the entire Gisborne region after torrential rain and flooding hit the area cutting power to hundreds and forcing people to evacuate their homes. It's still… Read more Audio

5:46 AM.And as you may have heard earlier in the programme, from midnight Friday there will be no limit to outdoor gatherings and 200 people will be allowed to gather indoors, up from 100. And in less than a… Read more Audio

5:35 AM.Vaccine passes are to be scrapped, Covid QR codes torn up, outdoor gathering limits lifted and most mandates assigned to the history books because, the prime minister says, it's now safe to do so. But… Read more Audio

5:24 AM.To Taranaki where a ban on gathering shellfish, that was put in place in January near Opunake, is to be expanded to cover nearly 40 kilometres of the Taranaki coastline. Hapu from Orimupiko Marae put… Read more Audio

5:09 AM.To the UK where economic growth forecasts have been slashed due to the war in Ukraine - joining Nathan Rarere from London is our correspondent Henry Riley. Audio

5:05 AM.We go back to Europe - where the war in Ukraine continues with neighbouring countries re-evaluating their diplomatic relations with Russia. With more on that, Nathan Rarere was joined from Sweden by… Read more Audio