Morning Report

Calls and texts to the government's free national mental health helpline have risen sharply since the start of Alert Level 4.

In recent days, the number of calls to 'Need To Talk 1737' is up by 40… Read more Audio

Of the multitude of stunning images from space, one of the most memorable is a photo - taken in 1968 by astronaut William Anders - of a radiant blue-and-white sphere slowly appearing above the horizon… Read more Audio

The National Party says small to medium businesses are paying too a heavy price for the Government's extension of the lockdown period and they urgently need more support.

The government has admitted… Read more Audio

The number of food grants made by the Ministry of Social Development has skyrocketed under Alert Level 4, hitting close to 70,000 a week.

At the same time the demand of food banks has increased… Read more Audio

A Whanganui man whose cancer surgery was put off by Covid-19 believes delays in treatment could lead to a worse nationwide death toll than Covid-19, currently at 14.

Others say they're amazed and… Read more Audio

Health fears and lack of demand are likely to keep many early childhood centres shut when schools partially reopen next week.

Sector leaders say many centre owners and teachers are still not… Read more Audio

It would be anyone's worst nightmare: being stuck on a cruise ship, confined to your cabin, because more than half of the people on board have Covid-19.

But a mere two weeks ago, that was the… Read more Audio

An Invercargill woman fighting for her life in Dunedin hospital and five of her family members still don't know how they got Covid-19.

The family is believed to be among the rare cases of community… Read more Audio

The secretive US data firm Palantir run by billionaire and New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel is in talks with the Government here about combating Covid-19.

Palantir has worked for spy agencies in the… Read more Audio

News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

Germany has approved a human clinical trial in the search for a Covid-19 vaccine.

Two hundred people will receive the vaccine, developed by the German biotech company BioNTech.

The trial is only the… Read more Audio

Almost a month after other countries started repatriating their citizens from India, the New Zealand Government is this week getting its first plane off the ground.

Two weeks ago Germany had already… Read more Audio