Morning Report for Thursday 16 December 2021

8:57 AM.Many of us consider our lives a balancing act, but 74-year-old British strongman John Evans takes balancing to a whole new level. Corin Dann spoke to John before he broke his 99th world record -… Read more Video, Audio

8:47 AM.After a long, exhausting and punishing year in politics, MPs have returned home for what will hopefully be a quiet summer break.

So much has happened in 2021 it's hard to keep track.

Luckily… Read more Audio

8:45 AM.A leading Taranaki doctor is warning that cases of Covid-19 are likely to continue rising there, and it'll mean a tough Christmas for some.

A Covid-19 cluster has cropped up in the South Taranaki… Read more Audio

8:41 AM.England will hope old stagers James Anderson and Stuart Broad can hit their stride quickly in the second Ashes cricket test, starting in Adelaide today.

The two veteran pace bowlers missed the heavy… Read more Audio

8:38 AM.An investigation into one of the country's largest freight companies has found drivers felt forced into falsifying their logbooks and ditched mandatory rest-times in order to make their runs on time.

8:27 AM.Fewer than 10 days out from Christmas, the Finance Minister's given a sneak peek of his gift to New Zealanders - a six billion dollar spend up in next year's Budget.

Investment in climate change… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.The Government has today unveiled more details about its plans to upgrade 24 local hospitals to boost capacity to deal with Covid-19.

The plans include providing around 30 new beds for intensive care… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.Firefighters have been struggling with equipment failures that are putting them at risk.

Fire and Emergency has an ageing fleet of big ladder trucks ladder hoses, pumps or controls leaked, and has… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.Foreign nationals could be using fraudulent vaccine exemptions to get out of having a jab before entering the country.

There are worries health authorities might not be alert to the problem.

Conan… Read more Audio

8:09 AM.It's been a restless night for Cantabrians, with torrential rain having caused slips, flooded properties and a handful of evacuations.

More than 100 millimetres of rain has fallen over the past 24… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.Covid-19 case numbers in Australia are surging again - coinciding with the arrival of Omicron in the community - and it's prompted some alarming projections.

One model suggests the state of New South… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.Nearly 2000 Aucklanders touched down in Queenstown on the first day of border-free travel but locals say their early impact was a muted one.

Several bars and restaurants spoken to by RNZ say business… Read more Audio

7:49 AM.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing fresh questions over his authority - even his own party is turning against him.

Almost one hundred of his own MPs rebelled against the introduction of… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.More information has surfaced about the 6 January storming of the Capitol.

Text messages from former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, have revealed Donald Trump Junior and Fox News hosts… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.A new, independent redress system for survivors of abuse in state care will be created following the release of a damning report.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry interim report has highlighted what it… Read more Audio

7:37 AM.Survivors of abuse in state and church care say it's now critical the government moves quickly to set up an independent system to compensate them for what they have suffered.

A Royal Commission… Read more Audio

7:25 AM.A Christchurch hero has been awarded the country's highest bravery accolade - the New Zealand Cross. On March 15th 2019,

Abdul Aziz and his four sons were attending prayer at the Linwood Islamic… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.Twenty-four hospitals from Kaitaia to Invercargill will have pandemic improvements made.

Health Minister Andrew Little has announced the upgrades to 350 hospital beds around the country to better… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.Wednesday night saw flooding across the Manawatū area, including in-and-around the Makino stream.

There were 80 flood related callouts and two houses were evacuated in Feilding.

A welfare centre was… Read more Audio

7:09 AM.There were around 80 flood related call outs in the Manawatu town yesterday evening.

Fire and Emergency says some of the calls were quite serious and a number of homes were evacuated.

It was a… Read more Audio

6:42 AM.Rain eased in Christchurch overnight and council contractors are out and about this morning to assess damage.

Torrential rain caused flooding, closed roads, prompted slip warnings and wastewater… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A controversial attempt to get water from the Ruataniwha Basin in Hawke's Bay is angering some in the community.

Eight farms want to take 15 million cubic metres of water out of the local aquifer for… Read more Audio

6:08 AM.Torrential rain made for a restless night for those in Christchurch.

Around 140 millimetres of rain fell over the past 24 hours, roughly three times the normal rainfall for the entire month of… Read more Audio