Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

A gunman opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping mall, one of the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, killing an unspecified number of people and wounding several others on Sunday, police said. The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping mall on the southern outskirts of the capital, said police inspector Søren Thomassen, head of the...

National has come out swinging against the new Immigration Minister. Michael Wood's accepted some concerns the sector's raised over foreign worker shortages... But says businesses should be considering how to make low-wage jobs with insecure working conditions,  more attractive places to work. National party immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford told Kate Hawkesby he's gaslighting the industry,...

Scott McLaughlin has claimed his second victory of the IndyCar season after taking out the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio this morning. Starting in second behind Pato O'Ward, the Kiwi benefitted from a yellow flag to take his first pit stop and hold first place. It's a much-needed boost for McLaughlin after a poor run of form lately. He won the opening race of the season in St. Petersburg before a second...

As a parent whose kids are at the ‘wander the mall on their own’ age, I do worry about headlines like “Screams heard before mall stabbing in Auckland”. It’s terrifying that young people are carrying weapons; it’s terrifying that they’re so brazen about using them, it’s terrifying that Police still appear powerless to stop youth offenders. One of our kids asked us the other day why the country feel...

Put down the drink and spare a bit of money this July. New Zealanders are being asked to give up alcohol for the month to raise funds for those going through cancer treatment, as part of Dry July. Cancer support charity Look Good Feel Better is experiencing higher demand than ever for practical services and care. General Manager Clare O'Higgins told Kate Hawkesby given the rise in the cost of livi...

New Zealand's new Free Trade Agreement with the European Union isn't perfect, but it may be the best we're ever going to get. The 27-country bloc has agreed to remove tariffs on most New Zealand goods. But the dairy and red meat sectors will still face tariffs, and much lower quotas than they'd hoping for. Trade Minister Damien O'Connor told Mike Hosking this may be the best deal Europe was ever g...

A new dawn for New Zealand's heath sector. The country's 20 DHBs have been officially disestablished to make way for the Health NZ juggernaut and the Maori Health Authority. After years of debate and reports, the new Health NZ agency has launched with Health Minister Andrew Little promising a new way of tackling health issues in New Zealand. Along side the new agency is the Māori Health Authority...

“Politicians have sucked the life out of young New Zealanders” this according to a very good opinion piece in the Herald yesterday by University Macro Economics professor Robert McCulloch. He makes the point that even though students and staff returned to campus post lockdowns, “students are reluctant to physically attend class.” He says it’s because ‘they can’t see a future, their mojo and buzz a...

Nominations are now open to run for your local school's board of trustees. With elections in September, New Zealand School Trustees Association wants to make sure "decent people" actually run for school boards, as during Covid, we realised how much power these boards have in our children's education. NZSTA president Lorraine Kerr joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Demand for passports has risen significantly, with a 400 percent increase since January. This now has the Department of Internal Affairs scrambling, with nearly 50,000 passports yet to be processed and around 8600 people still waiting for responses to queries. Many are worried they may have to cancel their school holiday plans due to the backlog. Brent Thomas is the House of Travel chief operating...

Questions are being raised around the sentence given to a young man whose driving resulted in the deaths of five Timaru teenagers. Tyreese Fleming has been jailed for two-and-a-half years in the High Court at Timaru. He was just 19 at the time, driving on a restricted licence and had been drinking when his car slammed into a power pole at up to 115 kilometres an hour. Victims' advocate Ruth Money...

Call me naïve, and look when to comes to this stuff I probably am. It’s a mixture of not being that clued into forensically what goes on technologically with my information, but also a bit of head in the sand too. Like I sort of know this stuff happens but don’t think about it much, hence I’m always shocked at the reality of it.  But you know how the apps we exist on these days are grabbing all ou...

So the Supreme Court has ruled that traditional values group 'Family First' will no longer qualify for charitable status. The ruling is that the group's work isn't of a charity and that the organisations education wasn't fair, balanced or respectful. But questions remain as to why just Family First. They aren't the only charity with an agenda, take Greenpeace and animal welfare group S.A.F.E for e...

A former US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner says human trafficking's become financially lucrative to people smugglers. It follows the deaths of 50 migrants inside a Texas truck. They were discovered inside a trailer unit yesterday in San Antonio, with temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius. There were no signs of water or working air conditioning. Gil Kerklikowske told Kate Hawkesby th...

Claims the emergency housing situation in Rotorua is "out of control". Newstalk ZB can reveal the Government has so far spent one billion dollars on emergency housing since coming to power five years ago. Restore Rotorua Chairman Trevor Newbrook told Kate Hawkesby there are 40 motels in Rotorua full of people in emergency housing. He says the situation is at "breaking point" with one third of peop...

Like a lot of parents I imagine at the moment, I got the call up to the school sick bay yesterday to collect my daughter. Not another respiratory virus thank goodness, but a shoulder injury. School suggested I take her to A&E or a doctor to check it out. Now anyone who has been sick lately, or paying attention to the news, knows that now is not the time to try to see a doctor or try to get into an...

Good insulation is something we know keeps people out of hospitals, therefore reduces pressure on our health system. But vulnerable homeowners could be eligible for free insulation installation in their homes, and not even realise. The Community Energy Action group in Canterbury are offering free insulation to homeowners this winter, in a bid to keep people out of hospital. CEO of the group Caroli...

No time is a good time to give a child a phone. A new Canstar survey shows only 10 percent believe a child is safer with a mobile phone than without one. Meanwhile, 28 percent of people believing children should have one by the time they’re at high school. Telecommunications Forum Chief Executive Paul Brislen told Kate Hawkesby it can depend on whether they do a sport or if they have to travel to...

A construction expert says we're in for turbulent times, with the slowdown in the market for new housing builds igniting fears property prices could begin to spiral. The Master Builders Association says supply chain issues and rising material costs are behind a drop in sales and inquiries, as lending becomes tougher and banks want fixed-price contracts. AUT's John Tookey told Kate Hawkesby some co...

No one in the history of spin has spun more than this current Government, which is why I find it so ironic that Grant Roberston’s accused Chris Luxon of ‘political spin’ when it comes to the party’s views on Roe v Wade being overturned.   Pot, kettle.  What Luxon did, was clarify the party’s position, after a personal statement was made by one of his MPs who clearly momentarily forgot that he's pa...

Prince Charles' office has denied there was any wrongdoing in the heir to the British throne accepting bags full of cash as charity donations from a Qatari politician. The Sunday Times said the prince was given a total of €3 million ($5 million) by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar. It said the money was handed over to Charles at private meetings betwee...

It's being suggested Simon O'Connor has created an unfortunate distraction for the National party and his leader. Chris Luxon says a social media post by O'Connor celebrating the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US was taken down because it was causing distress and doesn't represent the party's position. Political Commentator Ben Thomas told Kate Hawkesby abortion issues are traditionally treated...

More than $1 billion is spent on takeaways and fast food each year in Auckland. High deprivation areas have a higher concentration of the outlets, and fewer places - like supermarkets - selling fresh food. Nutritionist Nikki Hart told Kate Hawkesby for people with low incomes, working multiple jobs and with large families to feed, the food looks attractive after a long day. She says the industries...

By Andrew Alderson at Headingley The synonym jar is almost empty to describe the narrow margins in the cricket test series between England and New Zealand. The same applies in the third and final test at Headingley. The visitors hanker to claim something tangible as runners-up, yet the hosts' nerve have consistently held to win the key moments. Stumps on the fourth day brought that same sense of f...

It’s so good to be back. I was a bit nervous about coming back because when you’ve been sick for three weeks unable to stay awake for long periods and feeling so crap, it’s hard to imagine how you’ll ever get up at 3am again. But as it turns out I was so nervous about being able to wake up at 3am, that my body never actually went to sleep, always the way isn't it. So I'll be having a big Nana nap...