Morning Report for Wednesday 21 March 2018

6:00 AM.Obama's NZ visit: Golf, powhiri, private talks; Govt snipes at Air NZ over regional flights; Air NZ boss reacts to govt call on regional flights; The Facebook, Cambridge Analytica saga, explained… Read more Audio

6:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:19 AM.Some Banks Peninsula farmers say feral goats are becoming an increasingly serious problem, although a new Canterbury Regional Council plan could help eradicate the pest once and for all. Hundreds of… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

6:40 AM.Former US President Barack Obama has arrived in New Zealand. He landed just after midnight having travelled from Singapore by private jet for his three-day visit. Mr Obama's visit will include a… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.Finance Minister Grant Robertson has suggested the government could wield some influence over Air New Zealand through board appointments. Another minister, Shane Jones, has been publicly criticising… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.The US state of Texas is on tenterhooks after a fifth explosion in a month - the latest happened overnight at a Fed Ex parcel distribution warehouse in San Antonio - mildly injuring one person. Police… Read more Audio

7:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:11 AM.Former US President Barack Obama has arrived in New Zealand. He landed just after midnight having travelled from Singapore by private jet for his three-day private visit here. RNZ reporter Eva Corlett… Read more Audio

7:15 AM.The government's telling Air New Zealand it could wield influence over the airline when appointments to its board come up for renewal later this year. Shane Jones has publicly criticised the airline… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.Air New Zealand has caused controversy with the ending of several regional flights recently. In response, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones sniped at the company, dubbing it 'Air Auckland'… Read more Audio

7:27 AM.Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been asked to appear before British MPs who are probing the misuse of users' private data to help swing elections. The request comes after Britain's Information… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Auckland lawyer John Eichelbaum has been censured and fined ten thousand dollars for bullying behaviour that included asking a female colleague to bend over through a window, down to the level of the… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.Authorities face a logjam of months if not years in the scramble to get urgent safety checks done on hundreds of truck-trailers. At the same time, more details have emerged of the two trailer failures… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy is in police custody amid accusations he received 50 million euros for his 2007 election campaign from the late Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. The case… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.The Environmental Protection Authority was warned the behaviour of its chief scientist was damaging trust in the organisation shortly before she resigned. New documents obtained by RNZ News show the… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.A fisherman accidentally caught five Hector's dolphins in his set nets off the Banks Peninsula in February and the snare up could see the practice banned in New Zealand. Fisheries minister Stuart Nash… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

8:17 AM.Two women involved in the collective Wahine Toa will be meeting Barack Obama today and they're absolutely over the moon about it. Wahine Toa is a group of Maori women leaders hand picked by Nancy… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.A Marlborough Sounds eco tourism operator wants to see all shipping stopped in the Tory Channel, which he says is at increased risk of a large-scale disaster. Audio

8:27 AM.More and more businesses are asking for non-smokers in job ads. While smokers might think they've being discriminated against employment experts say the advertisements aren't breaking any laws. Audio

8:28 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:39 AM.The Weinstein Company has officially filed for bankruptcy. The legal move yesterday comes months after one of its co-founders, Harvey Weinstein was accused of multiple sexual assaults. He was fired as… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern sparked confusion on Monday when she recieved a petition from Greenpeace calling for the end of oil exploration - which she said she was "actively considering". Since… Read more Audio

8:48 AM.Community groups in the Far North are accusing the Northland Regional Council of bending over backwards to help avocado growers who've been taking water unlawfully. Audio

8:52 AM.Some Banks Peninsula farmers say feral goats are becoming an increasingly serious problem, although a new Canterbury Regional Council Plan could help eradicate the pest once and for all. Despite… Read more Audio