Holiday Breakfast

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on European countries to intensify coronavirus measures as the region deals with a new variant that was first detected in the UK. WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said Thursday that further measures were needed to "flatten the steep vertical line" of rising cases in some countries. While the variant appears to spread more easily than others, there's no...

Newstalk ZB is back with another edition of Hidden Spots on Summer Breakfast. This is where we take you on a bit of a virtual road trip around the country - and give you tips on attractions you may not know about. Rollickin' Gelato is an absolute staple in Christchurch. The first new Regent Street shop opened six years ago, and there's now three stores in the city. It tailors its flavours to whate...

Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be brought forward to February for frontline workers in border control and hotel quarantine and it may be mandatory in some workplaces. After rapidly bringing forward the timetable in recent weeks from late March to early March just 24 hours ago, the Prime Minister announced the first public rollout of the vaccine will now commence in mid-February. Those w...

Facebook will ban President Donald Trump's account from posting for at least the remainder of his term in office and perhaps "indefinitely," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post.  "We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," Zuckerberg wrote in the post. "Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Faceb...

President Donald Trump for the first time acknowledged his defeat in the Nov. 3 election  and announced there would be an "orderly transition" on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, after Congress concluded the electoral vote count early Thursday local time certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory. Trump's acknowledgement came after a day of chaos and destruction on Capitol Hill as a mob of his suppo...

A growing number of lawmakers -- including from Democratic leadership -- are calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office either through impeachment or the 25th Amendment to the Constitution after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer put out a statement Thursday denouncing the "insurrection" at the Capitol "in...

Protesters backing President Donald Trump massed outside statehouses from Georgia to New Mexico, leading some officials to evacuate while cheers rang out at several demonstrations as a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol. Hundreds of people gathered in state capitals nationwide to oppose President-elect Joe Biden's win, waving signs saying "Stop the steal" and "Four more years." Most of them di...

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has joined a chorus of people around the world in condemning the riots and severe unrest in the US Capitol Building. "Never in one's wildest imagination could one have envisaged the dangerous events involving mob violence unfolding in Washington DC today," Clark said on Twitter this morning. "An invasion of the premises of a democratic legislature anywhere is an a...

Foreign governments, including our own, are being urged to take a stand against what is happening in the United States. The US Capitol was put into lockdown after thousands of Trump supporters descend on Congress, encouraged by claims of a stolen election and voter fraud.  The Electoral College was forced to pause the certification process of incoming-President Joe Biden's election victory. Robert...

Often we get to this time of year and people are taking a hard look at their health and lifestyle choices. Dr Michael Mosley is a trained doctor, science journalist, television presenter, bestselling author of many, many health and wellbeing books. He is also gut specialist and the brains behind the popular 5:2 intermittent fasting diet. And he's back just in time for the New Year with a new book...

Newstalk ZB is back with another edition of Hidden Spots on Summer Breakfast. This is where we take you on a bit of a virtual road trip around the country - and give you tips on attractions you may not know about. Today we're on the West Coast of the South Island, where Barrytown Knifemaking needs a visit. It's a whole day out, and there's axe throwing and target practice thrown in there too. Stev...

Almost everyone has become addicted to their cell phones. An Australian study shows more than 99 percent of users are hooked to their smart phones. NZ Tech Podcast host Paul Spain told Tim Dower Kiwis are no different - describing us as almost robots we're so closely connected to them. "These numbers are pretty staggering, aren't they, because who do you know that doesn't have a smart phone these...

Most people have had a guts-full of pandemic reality, but now there's a new film about it. HBO Max is bringing out a romantic comedy titled 'Locked Down' - about a couple pulling off a heist against the backdrop of quarantine. Oscar winner Anne Hathaway and nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor play the unhappy pair, stuck together because of London's lock down. Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newell told Tim Dower...

Quarantine-free travel to Brisbane from Auckland's open - but it's still an ordeal to hop the ditch. Air New Zealand operated the first flight to Queensland's capital city this morning, as part of the one-way trans-Tasman bubble. Anyone travelling there must sign a travel declaration form - asserting they've been in New Zealand for the past two weeks. And people wanting to come back to New Zealand...

A number of European nations have kicked off 2021 in familiar fashion, locking down residents and struggling to curb Covid-19 cases. The tightened restrictions come as a new variant of the virus causes alarm among governments across the continent. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a strict new national lockdown in England on Monday. The restrictions will last for at least six weeks. "It's...

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that his government would use "every available second" to shield the elderly and the vulnerable from the virus rampaging across Britain as he told Parliament why the country needed to return to a COVID-19 lockdown. Lawmakers were recalled from their Christmas recess to discuss the measures, which came into force at midnight. Despite some grumbling, they vo...

Defying President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he does not have the power to discard electoral votes that will make Democrat Joe Biden the next president on Jan. 20. Pence said in a statement issued minutes before he was to begin presiding over a joint session of Congress to count those votes that it was "my considered judgement that my oath to support and defend the...

From a 6m dragon to a taxidermied sailor rat, and even a Nintendo Switch: the Bay's top Trade Me Marketplace listings of 2020 were inspired by the weird and wonderful. The auction site has released its top five most viewed listings of the year in the Bay of Plenty. Topping the list was a $3500 dragon, better known as "Drogon" - named after the central dragon from Game of Thrones.  Drogon is ready...

Newstalk ZB is back with another edition of Hidden Spots on Summer Breakfast. This is where we take you on a bit of a virtual road trip around the country - and give you tips on attractions you may not know about. Today, our road trip takes us to the top of the South Island, where you can find the Nelson Theatre Royal.  It is the oldest purpose-built performance theatre in New Zealand, painstaking...

Justine Smith has been awarded New Zealand’s best female comedian of 2020, and she snapped up best mc while she was at it. It's her fourth time winning best female comedian at the comedy guild awards. It comes after a rocky year for comedy, with the lockdowns and social distancing restrictions seeing the Comedy Festival cancelled and a number of clubs and venues go months without shows. Smith join...

Big hotel chains being used as MIQ facilities could find their image tainted by a link to Covid-19. Hotels need the revenue as there aren't any tourists, but when government contracts end, there could be long-lasting tarnish to their brand. Marketing Associate Professor Dan Laufer told Tim Dower otential brand damage will vary, but could be worse for some hotels working as quarantine facilities. "...

The two owners of a cafe in Orange, NSW have described the "devastating" consequences of their venue's exposure to the coronavirus.   A slew of venues in NSW’s west were hit with COVID-19 warnings yesterday after being visited by an 18-year-old who went on a camping trip across the state while unknowingly infected. One of them was Birdie Noshery cafe, which is co-owned by Leah Morphett and Simonn...

A rush of investors means New Zealand's housing market is set to implode. CoreLogic's last House Price Index for 2020 shows properties nationwide increased by 2.6 per cent over December. It takes growth in the final quarter to 6.1 per cent - a rate only matched by February 2004's final boom of 6.6 per cent. Head of research, Nick Goodall warns the rate we're going, can't be sustained over this yea...

Georgians cast high-stakes final votes in elections to determine the balance of power in the new Congress, deciding Senate runoff elections sure to shape President-elect Joe Biden's ability to enact what could be the most progressive governing agenda in generations. Republicans are unified against Biden's plans for health care, environmental protection and civil rights, but some have feared that o...

The ACT party believes stripping violent gang members of their gun licences could reduce shootings. Gang clashes have flared up in Auckland and Christchurch, while a Police pursuit in Manawatu on Monday night ended in officers dodging bullets. Act's law reform spokesperson Nicole McKee told Tim Dower they have concerns that innocent families will be caught up in the next gang shooting. She says ha...