Midday Report

Get out now. That's the stark warning from Foreign Minister Winston Peters to New Zealanders in Iran, as former U.S. President Donald Trump weighs possible military action against the regime in Tehran. We speak directly with the Foreign Minister about the risks, the advice to Kiwis on the ground, and how New Zealand is preparing for a rapidly escalating situation; New child poverty statistics are...

The latest statistics show that beer drinking in New Zealand fell 10% to 265 million litres in the year ended December 2025. Dylan Firth, executive director of the Brewers Association of New Zealand spoke to Guyon Espiner.

An update on the latest news from RNZ's rural team.

The latest from the United States with reporter Laura Taglianetti in New York.

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

Cash might not be king anymore but, according to the Reserve Bank 80% of us use cash 'sometimes' for everyday purposes and the central bank says Kiwis have a resounding, unambiguous yes when surveyed about whether access to cash was a priority for them. Roger Beaumont, the CEO of the New Zealand Bankers Association spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Child Poverty stats released this morning show no change in child poverty rates for the year ended June 2025, according to Stats NZ. Children's Commissioner Claire Achmad spoke to Guyon Espiner.

New details have emerged about exactly what was hacked in the MediMap data breach. Midday Report can reveal that recorded medication and substance allergies were compromised, along with records of known medication intolerances. The company itself is not fronting, but we speak to the Privacy Commissioner about what patients and families can do and how MediMap can be held to account. And if you are...

Latest sports news from RNZ's sports team.

New Zealand is AI illiterate, and if we don't act soon, it could seriously harm our economy. That's the warning from technology expert Mark Laurence, who is questioning why AI is not a key election year issue. He spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The latest rural news from RNZ's Rural team.

Zach Montellaro of Politico spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The latest news from RNZ's business team.

Golden Bay Air has become the first airline to benefit from a $30 million pool of money the government is going to lend to regional airlines to help them keep services on vulnerable routes in the regions. Associate Transport Minister James Meager spoke to Guyon Espiner.

We know the hack led to some patients being marked as deceased and others who had their names to Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was shot dead in the US last year. Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster spoke to Guyon Espiner.

A high-profile longevity influencer and author Peter Attia is the latest to have his reputation shredded as the fallout continues from the Epstein files. Correspondent Simon Marks talks us through the trans-atlantic divide over the scandal, reputational damage in the US but police action in Britain as Peter Mandelson joins Andrew Mountbatten Windsor as the latest public figure arrested over his ti...

We might be seeing a changing of the guard at the White Ferns - sport with Daniel Gilhooly.

We might be seeing a changing of the guard at the White Ferns - sport with Daniel Gilhooly.

Will NZ legislate to remove Andrew from line of succession - political reporter Lillian Hanly.

News from the rural farming sector.

The latest news from the United States with correspondent Laura Taglianetti in New York.

News from the business sector.

The government is pouring in $200 million of taxpayers money into the power firm Genesis. The money is to make sure it keeps the Crown shareholding at or above 51% - and is needed because the government shareholding is to be diluted as Genesis embarks on a capital raise. Investment guru Sam Stubbs runs the fund manager company Simplicity and spoke to Guyon Espiner.

The blast radius from the Epstein files continues to mushroom, as influencers, princes and kings are caught in the cross fire. US correspondent Simon Marks spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Police will be given new powers to move on beggars and homeless people, but there is a catch: officers say they do not have the time or resources to enforce them, and it could mean they are unable to respond to your house burglary complaint. We get the 10-1 from the Police Association. Meanwhile, the tariff saga involving Donald Trump takes another turn, with the Supreme Court of the United States...