Morning Report for Wednesday 21 October 2020

6:06 AM.New Zealand cyclist George Bennett's team has made an immediate impact on the Tour of Spain, with his Jumbo-Visma team-mate and defending champion Primoz Roglic winning the opening stage. Read more Audio

6:08 AM.A third of all managed isolation spaces 2000 hotel rooms have been empty every day since July. Last week there were about 2600 vacancies out of 7000 hotel rooms.

Henco de Beer is one of those wanting… Read more Audio

6:18 AM.There has been news this morning that the US government is expected to file a lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of maintaining an illegal monopoly over Internet searches and advertising.

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

6:37 AM.An epidemiologist says it's unusual so many people in a managed isolation facility tested positive for Covid-19 if they isolated and were tested before arriving into New Zealand.

Yesterday the… Read more Audio

6:41 AM.A Wellington man says he intervened to stop two men, who are the centre of a flood of allegations about sexual assaults on social media, carry out a sexual assault.

The police are now investigating… Read more Audio

6:45 AM.A leading Auckland GP says community testing centres were closed by stealth - and people need to be kept in the loop to encourage them to be tested.

There are no dedicated community testing centres… Read more Audio

6:52 AM.Bottle-fed babies are ingesting millions of tiny microplastic particles a day.

That's according to new research from a team at Trinity College London, which looked at the high-temperature process for… Read more Audio

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

7:06 AM.Manchester United and Liverpool are reportedly in talks with Europe's elite football clubs to join a new FIFA-backed tournament that would reshape the sport's global landscape. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.The government says it has no plans to stop a further planeload of Russian and Ukrainian fishers coming to New Zealand.

That's despite 11 of the fishing crew testing positive for Covid-19 in… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.A Wellington man believes he stopped a woman being sexually assaulted by two men who've been accused online of numerous sex attacks in the city.

The police have launched an investigation and say they… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.An 80-year-old retired humanitarian worker and a presbyterian minister have had their homes raided by police over a donation used to purchase PPE.

Laptops, mobile phones and paperwork were seized… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.National is picking over the carcass of its electoral defeat, still wondering where it all went wrong.

The much-smaller caucus is putting on a united front in their first days back in Parliament, but… Read more Audio

7:27 AM.National Party leader Judith Collins says she always knew trying to beat Labour in this election was "a big ask".

The party is currently picking up the pieces of its weekend electoral defeat, which… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.One person has died in a house fire in east Auckland.

Emergency services were called to the two-storey house on Minerva Terrace in Cockle Bay just before 7pm.

Two other people were taken to hospital… Read more Audio

7:42 AM.As Labour MPs - new and old - crowded into a room for the party's first caucus since the election, one message was clear.

The power of numbers is with the party.

Something else there's no room for -… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.A Hawke's Bay railway line that cost millions to ressurect ran for just one week before Covid-19 stopped it dead in its tracks.

The return of the Napier-Wairoa line was promised as a saviour for… Read more Audio

7:48 AM.The Waitangi Tribunal has heard of how Oranga Tamariki sends in police to remove children before any kōrero with whānau.

It's part of an ongoing hearing into the Ministry of Children's practices and… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.On average, one third of all managed isolation spaces - 2000 hotel rooms - have been empty each day since July.

Foreigners waiting to be allowed into the country say the figures show border… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.Anti-poverty campaigners are urging Labour to move fast and use its massive electoral support to forcefully tackle inequality.

The Child Poverty Action Group is one of several advocating for the new… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.The new Highlanders head coach Tony Brown hopes to put the team in a position where assistant coach Clarke Dermody can take over after the 2022 Super Rugby season. Read more Audio

8:10 AM.The lawyer for the New Zealand Democratic People's Republic of Korea Society is demanding answers from the government after two society members had their homes raided by police.

Matt Robson has… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.A big increase in school enrolment zones is being touted as a way to slow white flight from low-decile schools.

The Education Ministry is introducing or altering 135 enrolment zones in Auckland over… Read more Audio

8:23 AM.Limiting the number of international ports in New Zealand could minimise the risk of Covid-19 spread, according to a medical officer of health.

The Ministry of Health is reviewing measures in place… Read more Audio

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

8:30 AM.Babies are consuming large amounts of microplastics through drinking from bottles, according to new research.

High heats used to sterilise bottles significantly increases microplastic release.

… Read more Audio

8:41 AM.Victoria may have finally achieved its first day of NO new cases of coronavirus.

A single case recorded in Melbourne on Tuesday is still being investigated but it could turn out to be an old… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.Agricultural contractors fear maize, sileage and other crops might go unharvested because of bureaucratic delays in Wellington.

They say people who drive complex machinery like combine harvesters are… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.The aunty of a seasonal worker who died in a crash yesterday says she's worried about the wife and four children he left behind.

The accident between a van and truck happened on the Napier-Taupo… Read more Audio

8:52 AM.NASA is possibly hours away from achieving a world first, when it attempts to land a space craft on an asteroid, collect a sample and then return to earth.

Just before midday, New Zealand time… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.A well-run and welcoming bookshop can be at the heart of a community.

That's the view of Louise Ward, co-owner of Wardini Books in Hawke's Bay, which has been crowned "Bookshop of the Year" at the… Read more Audio