Larry Williams Drive

Are the Blues the new Crusaders? It must be hard to be a Warriors fan at the moment.Sports commentator Phil Gifford joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's every parent's worst nightmare – sudden infant death syndrome.  Now a breakthrough study out of Sydney suggests there is a genetic marker that makes some kids more at risk to SIDS than others.  Lead researcher Dr Carmel Harrington from the Children's Hospital Westmead joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government looks set to announce a range of climate initiatives and plans this month ahead of the Budget.That might mean companies may have to check their own climate goals as well.The first step of this will be on Monday when James Shaw will lay out how the Emission Reduction Plan has been created.Business commentator Rod Oram joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A statue of King George V in Matakana has been beheaded for the fourth time in 20 years.The statue’s conservator Adrienne Miller has said on social media that she wants to move it somewhere else and is clearly not safe there.Adrienne Miller joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

China's top leader Xi Jinping has issued the strongest warning yet against anyone who questions the country's zero-Covid policy, as stringent, frequent lockdowns fuel public discontent and deal a devastating blow to the Chinese economy.At a meeting chaired by Xi on Thursday, the ruling Communist Party's supreme Politburo Standing Committee vowed to "unswervingly adhere to the general policy of 'dynamic zero-Covid,' and resolutely fight against any words and acts that distort, doubt or deny our country's epidemic prevention policies."This is the first time Xi, who according to state media made an "important speech" at the meeting, has made public remarks about China's battle against Covid since public furor erupted over the harsh lockdown in Shanghai."Our prevention and control strategy is determined by the party's nature and mission, our policies can stand the test of history, our measures are scientific and effective," the seven-member committee said, according to government news agency Xinhua."We have won t

People in Britain voted Thursday in local elections that will decide the makeup of local authorities across the country — and possibly the fate of embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.Polling stations were open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. (2100GMT) in contests for thousands of seats on 200 local authorities in in England, Scotland and Wales. Most results are due Friday.Opinion polls suggest the governing Conservatives will lose hundreds of seats in elections that are considered a barometer of public opinion.In Northern Ireland, voters are electing a new 90-seat Assembly, with polls suggesting the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein could win the largest number of seats, and the post of first minister, in what would be a historic first.The local-authority elections will decide who collects garbage, fixes potholes and handles other essential services across the country.Johnson, who voted at a polling station near his 10 Downing St. residence — accompanied by his dog, Dilyn — said in a social media video that “it’

We’re a couple of weeks away from this year’s Budget and people are starting to come out with wish lists for Finance Minister Grant Robertson.An MYOB survey found business and consumers alike think the Government needs to focus on relieving the effects of rising costs.Consumers are after a permanent reduction in petrol taxes and more action on housing affordability and SMEs are predominantly after a reduction in the company tax rate to 25 percent and ongoing lower road user charges.Employers & Manufacturers Association Head of Advocacy and Strategy Alan McDonald joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand Super Rugby teams will be licking their wounds ahead of this weekend’s round.Last weekend saw the Crusaders and the Hurricanes lose to the Waratahs and Brumbies respectively, and the Force were able to gain a bonus point in a narrow loss to the Blues.Real Madrid pulled off a legendary comeback against Manchester City mid-week in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.They looked certain to be down and out before two injury time goals equalled the tie and an extra time penalty was enough for Los Blancos to qualify for the final against Liverpool in Paris.The Warriors certainly had an interesting couple of weeks in the buildup to the Sharks match this weekend.After a record drubbing against the Storm, the Warriors followed that up with another golden point win against the Raiders.Phil Gifford and Abby Wilson joined Heather du Plessis-Allan to discuss the week's sports newsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queenstown businesses have reached a new level of worker shortage.There are now more job vacancies than ratepayers in Queenstown and hospitality venues are paying unqualified staff up to $27 an hour.And even with more money on offer, they're struggling to get locals to fill the slots in time for international visitors.Queenstown Chamber of Commerce CEO Ruth Stokes joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone knows about Wordle, and some people may have heard about Heardle - a game for guessing songs.Heardle got a Kiwi makeover for New Zealand Music Month.Musician James Mac, who developed this version of the game, joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

KiwiSaver provider Milford Asset Management will try to engage with DGL Group instead of excluding the company.Company CEO Simon Henry made offensive comments about My Food Bag's Nadia Lim.Other Kiwi Saver providers Kiwi Wealth and Simplicity have added the company to their exclusion list.Milford Asset Management's Frances Sweetman told Heather du Plessis-Allan their sustainability policy is to try and work with the company on the issue before restricting it.“Our first strategy is to get in contact with the company, share our views about this issue, what we want to see happen and go from there.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Competition may be the driving force behind Countdown's decision to drive down costs.From Monday, the supermarket chain will freeze prices on 500 essential over the winter months in response to the cost of living.It includes a wide variety of staples - from tinned tomatoes, to butter, sugar, flour and more.Nite n' Day general manager Matthew Lane told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's likely a result to The Warehouse breaking into the market.He says it's hard to break into this market due to the major competitors, so The Warehouse is giving a good nudge with the likes of $4 butter and $3 milk.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinda Ardern has weighed in on Simon Henry’s comments on Nadia Lim.Ardern said this afternoon that the comments do a complete disservice to Nadia and it would’ve been insulting to all women.Meanwhile, the Government is spending $10 million on removing coal boilers from schools.The move is going to reduce carbon emissions buy around 35,000 tonnes over the next ten years as part of a wider $23 million announcement as part of decarbonisation.The buildup to the Budget later this month continues.In this week alone, there have been announcements on driver licenses, truancy issues and biosecurity.Newstalk ZB Chief Political Reporter Jason Walls joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Joe Biden on Thursday named Karine Jean-Pierre to be the next White House press secretary, the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve in the role. Incumbent Jen Psaki is set to leave the post next week.Jean-Pierre takes on the role as the White House faces an uphill battle to help Democrats hold onto the House and Senate in this fall's midterm elections, and as the administration struggles to address Americans' concerns about soaring inflation and the state of the economy. She also comes into the job as Biden faces a daunting array of foreign policy challenges, including the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's escalating nuclear testing program. Biden is set to visit South Korea and Japan later this month and Europe in June.Biden is also bringing back longtime Democratic strategist Anita Dunn as his senior adviser. She had served in the Biden White House last year for several months after Biden was sworn into office.“Karine not only brings the experience, talent and int

Tauranga bus drivers will no longer stop at three of the city's main bus stops if they see youths gathered.The boycott comes as drivers fear for their safety amid incidents of violence and aggression from young people at bus stops, most notably the Willow Street interchange.Police say they were called to deal with a youth who was found with an offensive weapon on Willow Street on Wednesday.First Union organiser Graham McKean told Heather Du Plessis-Allan bus drivers have no option but to avoid key bus stops for their own safety.“They’re totally feeling threatened. It’s just a matter of time before some of them are seriously injured, harmed, or beyond that.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ll have to give Countdown a little bit of credit here.A price freeze is definitely better than no price freeze during a cost of living crisis.But I think buy now we’ve realised that this price freeze is not quite as great as it looks, right?First, it doesn’t actually reduce the burden on shoppers very much.A price cut would mean that your grocery bill would come down, but a price freeze is just going to keep your grocery bill as high as it already is.A price freeze just locks in the profits that Countdown’s already making on those items and it locks in those profits for the possibly the next three months because that’s apparently how much supply supermarkets will already have on their books on that price.So Countdown probably already knows that the price freeze will not hurt them much at all for the next three months, therefore they can afford to do it.Secondly, I’m not entirely sure if you’ve looked through the list of these products, but they’re not necessarily the highest priorities for squeezed shopper

Duck hunting is set to start at 6:45 am on Saturday.Fish and Game New Zealand says that good bird populations and the ease of Covid restrictions means this season looks to be the best in years.However, unfortunately, the weather may look to be in favour of the ducks this weekend.The Country host Jamie Mackay joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is a bit of a supply shortage problem going on at PlaceMakers.On Thursday, PlaceMackers delivered price rise and shortage information, revealing Pink Batts has had production issues.Another product of concern is Gib, with customers being told to order it now for July.NZ Herald Business Editor at Large Liam Dann joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever since the "Partygate" scandal rocked Boris Johnson's premiership at the end of last year, the British Prime Minister has repeatedly dodged questions about his future by asserting that what the public wants is for politicians to get on with running the country, not obsess over events that took place nearly two years ago.Later this week, Johnson will have some indication of whether or not that claim is right. On Thursday, people across England, Scotland and Wales will vote in local elections, the closest thing to a mid-term that Johnson has faced since taking office in 2019.The vote takes place as Johnson and his governing Conservatives are surrounded by scandals and crises so bad that members of his own party have publicly called for his resignation. Indeed, the most pressing of these scandals, which saw Johnson fined by police for breaching his own Covid rules during the 2020 lockdown, might have led to his ousting from office under normal circumstances.And yet, Johnson has time and again proved himself

Auckland Transport are appointing a designated staff member to oversee solutions to the recent ram raids experienced by local businesses.In some cases bollards will be installed outside shops that feel they're being targeted.But retailers feel it's still too hard to get permission for the bollards.Newmarket Business Association chief executive Mark Knoff-Thomas joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.