Holiday Breakfast

There are hopes new meth-contamination statistics will quell concerns.    Meth-testing company Safe and Healthy Home Solutions says it picked up detectable residue in about half of properties it tested between 2023 and 2025.  Safe and Healthy Homes Solutions Director Miles Stratford told Andrew Dickens most have a very low level of contamination, which won't have much impact on well...

US taxpayers could be on the hook to subsidise the rebuilding of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.   The US launched strikes over the weekend and took President Nicolas Maduro into custody, shipping him back to New York under duress and detaining him on drug-trafficking charges.  It’s pressuring Venezuela to end drug smuggling and let in American oil companies.  US President Donald Tr...

Despite a wobble in the polls last year, Green Party Co-Leader Chlöe Swarbrick thinks the party is in a good place.  Over this term the party's reached as high as 15% in some surveys, but it dropped to 7% in the last 1News Verian poll of 2025.  Swarbrick told Andrew Dickens she’s proud of the plans they’ve put on the table and thinks they’re in a really good place going into election yea...

The days of cyclone recovery are over, and the Coromandel is open for business this summer. Thames-Coromandel District Mayor Peter Revell joined for a chat about the region’s recovery, rates, and all the gorgeous places you can visit on your summer roadtrip.  LISTEN ABOVE  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retail New Zealand's Chief Executive says the closure of Australian retailer EB Games would have a wide-reaching impact.   The Australian video-game retailer's proposing shutting its 38 New Zealand stores and its Distribution Centre.  Staff reportedly have until Monday to feed back on the plan.  Retail NZ's Carolyn Young told Andrew Dickens the retail climate's been really challengi...

A child online safety advocate's calling for stronger restrictions on access to pornography after a coroner's linked a teen's death to content found on the internet.  The inquest found the teen had probably been attempting to imitate sexual acts seen online in 2024.  Advocate Holly Brooker told Andrew Dickens New Zealand's done little to regulate the online space.    She says o...

Conservationists are expecting a lot of breeding action from threatened kakapo over the next month.   The nocturnal, flightless parrots reproduce in tune with rimu, which have a mast season of extra growth every three or four years.  The Department of Conservation says there are 83 breeding-aged females this season, up from 55.  Kakapo Recovery Manager Deidre Vercoe told Andrew Dick...

Residents of Venezuelan capital Caracas are avoiding the streets as armed police patrol the city.   President Nicolas Maduro and his wife are being detained in New York after being captured by US forces over the weekend in a violent attack.   Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has taken over the reins, with some normality returning to the country  But France24 Latin American Corresponde...

The UK Prime Minister is in an awkward position following the US’ action in Venezuela.  President Nicolas Maduro was taken in a US military operation over the weekend, and is soon to stand trial in New York on drugs and weapons charges.    Keir Starmer told the BBC he will shed no tears over the end of Nicolas Maduro's regime, but is not prepared to comment on the US military action...

A Paris court has found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady Brigitte Macron with false online claims about her gender and sexuality.  Their sentences range from cyberbullying awareness training to eight-month suspended prison sentences.  Some of their posts suggested Macron was transgender, born a man, and were viewed tens of thousands of times.  Some linked her 24...

Summer has returned to Auckland and with it the ASB Classic.  The two-week long tennis tournament begins today, and the competition is hot.  Elina Svitolina, Emma Nacarro, and Stan Wawrinka are some of the world-class names taking to the court this year.  Tournament Director Nicolas Lamperin told Andrew Dickens it’s the atmosphere around centre court that makes Auckland unique among...

New Zealand may be in for a more positive property market in the new year.   Cotality’s January Home Value Index shows that property values were down 1% in 2025 – a drop of 17% from the 2022 peak.  Regional performance varied, with Aukland and Wellington remaining weak, but Southland districts and provincial centres such as New Plymouth and Queenstown seeing increases.   Cotality’s...

Concern Tourism New Zealand's chasing clicks, with no breakdown available for the millions spent on social media influencers.  A response to the Taxpayers’ Union shows $9.4 million has been spent since 2023 on 65 influencers across global markets.  They were engaged to promote campaigns ranging from destination marketing to Minecraft downloadable content and online shopping promotions.&n...

Dunedin was in the news a fair bit last year, and its time in the spotlight has continued into the new year with the death of former Mayor Jules Radich. Current Mayor Sophie Barker joined Andrew Dickens to pay tribute to her predecessor, as well as discuss the city's growth and the story that got the most airtime: the hospital. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Venezuela's Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, has been formally sworn in as acting leader.   US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas in the weekend, who today denied drug and weapons charges in a New York court, alongside his wife   He told the 92-year-old judge he is an innocent, decent man, and still Venezuela's leader.   1News US Correspondent Logan Church told Andrew...

Manage My Health expects to start working in coming days through notifying people caught up by last week's data breach.  The privately-owned health platform has now identified who's affected.  Health Minister Simeon Brown says it needs to do better at informing the public what's happening.  But he told Andrew Dickens the notification process will be complex and needs to be quick but...

After months of strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats the USA conducted air strikes on multiple military targets in Venezuela's capital Caracas and captured President Nicolas Maduro. Foreign Minister Winston Peters made the government's first statement following the invasion, saying in a post on X: "New Zealand is concerned by and actively monitoring developments in Venezuela and expects all pa...

Two major data breaches rattled New Zealand's online privacy last week with both Neighbourly and Manage My Health becoming victims of a cyber attack.  Personal information and sensitive medical records are now on the dark web after the hackers, who call themselves 'Kazu', issued a low-ball ransom demand of $60,000. Liz MacPherson spoke to Andrew Dickens about how people and companies can prot...

Ahmed Al Ahmed, who disarmed one of the shooters in the Bondi Beach attack, along with other first responders and community members, were honoured in a special ceremony before the first day of the final Ashes test in Sydney. "There was this rolling applause, standing ovations. It was tremendous, it really, it gave you goosebumps," Australian correspondent Murray Olds said. Olds spoke to Andre...

On December 22 New Zealand reported that 70 people had lost their lives from drowning, in the nine final days of 2025 eight more died.  Water Safety NZ's CEO Greg Scanlon joined Andrew Dickens to analyse how we fared in the water last year, and how to stay safe for the remainder of the summer.  "Look at the common sense things you can do to keep yourself and your friends and your family...

At around 2am local time on January 3 the USA conducted strikes on Venezuela's capital city of Caracas in an alleged effort to remove sitting President Nicolás Maduro.  The US has accused Maduro of leading a criminal drug-trafficking organisation. A mix of celebration and protest have spread through Venezuelan communities, but the question remains on whether the US is breaking international l...

The Hoodoo Gurus are returning to New Zealand to perform at the Greenstone Summer Concert series, alongside Iggy Pop and Joan Jett, and New Zealand's very own Zed.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A study by Strava found that only 8-9% of people stick to their New Year's resolution until the end of the year, and over half give it up by the second Friday of the month.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If your house catches fire today, you better hope it happens after 1pm.  The Professional Firefighters Union is set to strike again today at 12pm - but only for one hour.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A major breach of the country's largest collection of health data has privacy experts concerned.  Manage My Health is an app which allows patients and their GPs to privately communicate, send prescription information and share test results.  Due to a cyber attack, 120,000 of the app's 1.8 million kiwi user's data has been compromised.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...