Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

The number of people studying nursing in New Zealand has stalled and is closing in on a decade low. The Nurses Organisation are concerned the mounting pressure on current nurses are keeping people from entering the profession. Dr. Sandy Richardson, College of Emergency Nurses chair, told Kate Hawkesby “It’s more what do we do with them once we’ve got them into nursing? How do we find placements fo...

Britney Spears' father has asked the court overseeing his daughter's conservatorship to investigate her statements to a judge last week on the court's control of her medical treatment and personal life, which she called overly restrictive and abusive. James Spears emphasized in a pair of documents filed that he has had no power over his daughter's personal affairs for nearly two years. His filing...

Prince Harry and Prince William almost look as though they've buried the hatchet, putting on a united front to celebrate their late mother's 60th birthday early Friday (NZT). The feuding brothers smiled and laughed with each other as they arrived together at Kensington Palace, looking to be in high spirits as they greeted a small number of guests at the unveiling of Princess Diana's memorial statu...

More companies around New Zealand and overseas are letting staff pick their own working hours. Deloitte Australia is the latest big player to give it a go. One staff member is making the most of it by working two hours in the morning, surfing in the lunch break and then coming back to do another six. A dairy farm in Canterbury, Align Farms started the same thing recently. Align Farms CEO Rhys Robe...

I am just wondering how many parents are , like me, watching a generation of kids who don’t or won’t cook. And how much of this has been exacerbated by Covid? What I mean by that is, yes during lockdown people cooked from home more, but they also ditched the supermarkets a bit and got into meal kits and takeaways. We know this from a recent Herald survey which looked at life ‘post-Covid’ for Kiwis...

A set of professional conduct rules kick in today for New Zealand's lawyers. Enforced by the Law Society, the rules clarify the standards of behaviour expected of lawyers around clients and colleagues. Aotearoa Legal Workers Association director Harrison Cunningham says there are three key changes. He told Kate Hawkesby two are clear definitions of bullying and harassment. “And the third one is a...

As the world comes out of the pandemic, the international luxury hotel market is heating up. After what would have been a difficult period for most, there's now going to be more pressure on hotels to push the boundaries, and try outdo each other. For the last few years, the Gevora Hotel in Dubai has been the world's tallest hotel. But, there is competition now with the J Hotel Shanghai Tower also...

There's scepticism at predictions water bills could balloon to nine thousand dollars a year, if water services aren't consolidated. The services of 67 councils could be put into just four water entities, under the Government's reforms. South Canterbury mayors say they don't know where the Government's getting its numbers from. Timaru District Mayor Nigel Bowen told Kate Hawkesby he has his doubts...

Bill Cosby has been freed from prison after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction. In a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as "America's Dad," the state Supreme court ruled that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's agreement not to charge Cosby. Cosby, 83, has served nearly three years of a three- to 10-year senten...

British police said Tuesday that they are investigating the circumstances around the seeming harassment and intimidation of England's chief medical officer by two men in a park in central London. The incident, which was captured in video footage and shared on social media, shows Prof. Chris Whitty struggling to get away from the pair, who appeared to be manhandling him while trying to take a selfi...

In the never ending battle of what we can and can’t eat, the one consistent evil these days appears to be sugar. And now a new study published by Frontiers in Neuroscience says ‘children who consume too much sugar could be at greater risk of becoming obese, hyperactive, and cognitively impaired as adults’. Cognitively impaired, that's serious. So just how much sugar are we eating? According to the...

The Statue of Liberty is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world. And in an exciting week in New York, a second Statue of Liberty is arriving just in time for Independence Day. Like the original, the statue has been gifted by France, it is slightly smaller though, about one sixteenth the size of the original. President and CEO of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Jesse Brac...

Oranga Tamariki is being told it needs to find staff who are up to the job. A whistleblower has released footage taken at a secure residence. It shows staff tackling a boy and twisting his arms behind his back, and putting another into a headlock before throwing him to the ground. Whanau Ora chair Merepeka Raukawa-Tait told Kate Hawkesby children in Oranga Tamariki care have complex needs, requiri...

Today is the last possible day for the government to release the next set of its three year targets for child poverty reduction. But despite some fighting words from the Labour government in tackling child poverty, there is word it will be a press release and that there will be no major changes to targets. Jacqui Southey, the Advocacy and Research Director at Save the Children told Kate Hawkesby c...