Morning Report for Monday 21 December 2020

7:06 AM.Tim Seifert has led the Black Caps to a nine wicket win over Pakistan in Hamilton to give them an unassailable two-nil lead in their three match Twenty20 cricket series. Read more Audio

7:09 AM.The police in Wairarapa have admitted to illegally taking photos of young people after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers stopping and photographing young Māori on the street.

Whānau… Read more Audio

7:17 AM.Police in Wairarapa have admitted to illegally taking photos of young people after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers stopping and photographing young Māori on the street.

Wellington… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.The United Kingdom's Christmas plans have been scuppered by a new, more infectious strain of Covid-19.

While most of Britain was already in some form of lockdown, the government had intended to… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.A growing Covid-19 cluster is poised to throw Christmas into disarray in Sydney.

Thirty new cases announced on Sunday bring the state's total count of community infections to 68.

New South Wales… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.Epidemiologist Dr Michael Baker is calling for increased restrictions on people entering New Zealand, as Covid-19 surges overseas.

London and New South Wales are both facing increasing pressure due… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:42 AM.An internal stoush at the drug-buying agency Pharmac has blocked funding for a life-extending drug for bowel cancer patients, that's available in 52 other countries.

Meanwhile, patients are going… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.The Labour Party campaigned on keeping the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point open for another three to five years.

But as Christmas approaches, the smelter's 1000 staff go into the holidays uncertain… Read more Audio

7:50 AM.Motorists should expect delays travelling to holiday hotspots with another big year of summer roadworks planned.

More cars than ever will be on the roads because of Covid-19.

Hamish Cardwell has the… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.The votes are in and New Zealand's word of the year is ready to be unveiled.

As it does every year, the website Public Address sought online votes from a long-list of words, many of which came into… Read more Audio

8:06 AM.The Wellington Phoenix's A-League football season opener is in serious doubt as a result of Sydney's coronavirus outbreak. Read more Audio

8:11 AM.Controversy continues to dog how hospitals get permission to operate on patients.

The guidelines have now been strengthened - a little bit - but women's health advocates say they are still too weak.

8:18 AM.US President Donald Trump is denying he plans to introduce martial law in the United States, after multiple news organizations reported there was a "screaming match" at the White House over the issue… Read more Audio

8:19 AM.The Black Caps' bulldozing cricket form this summer has continued, having wrapped up their T-20 series against Pakistan with a game to spare.

The hosts won game two in Hamilton by nine wickets last… Read more Audio

8:28 AM.The America's Cup has has had mixed results.  Read more Audio

8:32 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Read more Audio

8:38 AM.An internal stoush at Pharmac means funding for a drug for terminal bowel cancer patients have been shelved for more than a decade.

The Cancer Society's medical director Chris Jackson told reporter… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.For more than a decade, calls for abortion services to be provided in South Auckland have fallen on deaf ears, now there seems to be some movement.

In 2008, the government appointed abortion… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.Tropical cyclone Yasa has killed at least four people, and there are reports of severe damage and destruction, with Fiji's northern islands bearing the brunt of the storm's force.

Correspondent Lice… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.It may have been the phoney war, but Team New Zealand emerged from last week's racing on the Waitematā Harbour looking in good shape to defend the America's Cup next year.

Team New Zealand was… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.The giants of our solar system have aligned, giving New Zealand star gazers a chance to witness a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.

It's hundreds of years since Jupiter and Saturn have appeared… Read more Audio