Morning Report for Monday 24 August 2020

6:12 AM.The sentencing of Mosque gunman Brenton Tarrant ,on 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and one charge under the Terrorism Suppression Act, will begin in on Monday in the Christchurch High… Read more Audio

6:12 AM.More New Zealanders are looking to charter private flights as the sector reels from the effect of Covid-19.

Border closures has meant the luxury travel option has shrivelled following the loss of… Read more Audio

6:17 AM.The Central Pulse successfully defended their ANZ netball Premiership title last night with a 43-31 win over the Mainland Tactix in Invercargill.

The Pulse raced out to a 12-6 lead after the first… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Read more Audio

6:38 AM.Cabinet will decide on Monday whether Auckland will remain at Alert Level 3 or if restrictions will ease.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says for the most part Auckland businesses have coped well… Read more Audio

6:41 AM.Vaccine diplomacy is heating up in the Pacific, and in the case of Papua New Guinea maybe a little too quickly.

A Chinese state-owned mining company has revealed that it's been trialling Covid-19… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.The gravely ill Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, remains in a coma after drinking what his supporters suspect was poisoned tea.

The well-known Russian opposition leader and Vladimir Putin critic… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:10 AM.The sentencing of the man responsible for the 15 March terror attacks will begin on Monday in a court hearing that will be far different from any seen in NZ before.

Fifty-one worshippers were… Read more Audio

7:18 AM.Those injured by bullets or whose friends and family were struck down in the mosque attacks, will today have a chance to look the man responsible straight in the eyes, and tell him how they feel.

The… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.Aucklanders will find out on Monday if they're stay in Alert Level 3 or if the Covid-19 outbreak is contained enough to relax the lockdown.

RNZ reporter Chen Liu has been out in the CBD talking to… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.Auckland's current Alert Level settings will be reviewed at Cabinet on Monday afternoon, with the Prime Minister set to announce whether the city will leave lockdown as scheduled shortly afterward.

… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.After a long and disrupted season the Central Pulse won back to back ANZ Premiership titles last night, beating the Mainland Tactix 43-31 in Invercargill.

Covid-19 level 2 restrictions meant there… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.A Pacific health leader is cautiously optimistic New Zealand may be witnessing the "triumph of community" wrestling Covid-19 back under control.

Yesterday there was just one case linked to the… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.An academic involved in a trial in Nelson of the CovidCard has high hopes for its use as a tool in the battle against coronavirus in managed isolation facilities.

The CovidCard is a device the size… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.Discarded latex gloves and disposable masks are making street clean-ups more hazardous for waste contractors and could lead to environmental problems downstream.

Meanwhile, the waste sector says… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.Students at Otago are fighting a proposal from the university to limit the number of medical school admissions for Māori students through its Māori entry pathway.

The pathway - which currently has no… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.Former members of Gloriavale Christian Community say people still inside the community do not have the freedom to vote for who they want to in the general election.

According to the Gloriavale… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.So far, so good for New Zealand's Scott Dixon at the Indy 500.

With 98 of the 200 laps completed, the 2008 champion has the lead at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Monday is decision day for Auckland's Alert Level 3 restrictions, but has two weeks of lockdown been enough to rid the city of the virus?

Aucklanders crowding skate parks, basketball courts and… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.It will be an enormously emotional day for many in the High Court at Christchurch today.

The Christchurch mosque attack shooter will be sentenced on 51 counts of murder, 40 of attempted murder and… Read more Audio

8:22 AM.A top Christchurch lawyer says the judge presiding over today's sentencing of Brenton Tarrant, will be under intense pressure to control proceedings.

With 66 people giving victim impacts statements… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.Security has been beefed up around the Christchurch justice precinct ahead of the sentencing of the man behind the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Christchurch reporter Katie Todd is there.

She… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Read more Audio

8:31 AM.Rape survivor Louise Nicholas says she will not give up advocating for victims of sexual violence, despite the government axing her contract.

The Ministry of Social Development announced the decision… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.The Takapuna Beach Business Association is calling for a new Alert Level 1.5, which they argue could allow Auckland businesses to get back on their feet sooner.

Their chief executive Terence Harpur… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.Researchers are urging the government to stop funding low-level tertiary courses that put young Māori into debt with no benefit to their future earnings.

They say young people are getting $17,000… Read more Audio

8:49 AM.Petrol heads will have been preoccupied this morning following the fortunes of our own Scott Dixon, competing in the famed Indy 500 motor race.

The race is due to end around 9.30am and the as of just… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.Nearly three quarters of New Zealand's water treatment plants are breaching rules that allow them to send sewage onto land and into waterways.

The country's new water regulator, Taumata Arowai, won't… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.Record high gold prices have prompted hobby prospectors to dust off spades and pans and head to South Island rivers in the hope of striking it lucky.

The precious metal recently hit NZ$3000 an ounce… Read more Audio