The All Blacks are set to face Ireland in Chicago for the first match of their Grand Slam Tour. 

This will be the first time the two sides have faced each other in nearly a year, where the All Blacks beat Ireland 23 - 13. 

ZB's Voice of Rugby Elliott Smith told Francesca Rudkin that '[the game] promises to be a special occasion even if it's not tearing the headlines off the front pages.'

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Health Minister receiving advice on allowing babies to receive measles vaccine as the outbreak spreads.

New Zealand has two new Auckland cases bringing the total to 13. 

A national immunisation week starts on Monday - to help bring it in under control. 

Minister Simeon Brown told Francesca Rudkin there is the potential that if children are immunised earlier than 12 months, their longer term immunity wouldn't be as good.

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Is Donald Trump testing the limits with his latest nuclear weapon testing comment?

The US President posted on social media - saying he has no choice but to restart testing, because of other countries testing programs.

If the US follows through it'd mark the first official nuclear weapon testing - apart from North Korea - this century.

Geopolitical Analyst Geoffrey Miller told Francesca Rudkin that it's part of Trump's game.

He says he's constantly playing this game of brinkmanship, where he'll go right to the brink before pulling back.

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Signs are looking good for Fonterra's major sell-off to get the green light this morning. 

By 10:45 today, the shareholders will decide if selling big brands like Anchor and Mainland to global dairy giant Lactalis is the right decision. 

Fonterra Shareholder and Supplier Garry Reymer told Ryan Bridge that the majority of shareholders seem to be in favour of the sale.

'I hear a few farmers who tell me they're gonna vote against it, but by and large the majority seem to accept,'

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Opinion remains split on whether we have to renew our vehicles' Warrants of Fitness,  too often. 

Proposals up for consultation from today would further stretch out WOFs for light vehicles, to once every two years. 

The one-year rule would continue for vehicles older than 10 years. 

AA Principal Policy Adviser Terry Collins told Ryan Bridge that they've surveyed their members to get their thoughts.

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You know how we're a free trade country?

It’s our thing.

We export, we earn, we sell, we get richer.

And we want open supply chains and free movement of goods across borders, etc., etc.

Well, today Trump and Xi of China are finally signing that deal—or at least the framework of a deal—to bring an end to this war.

This should, in theory, benefit both of them. The region. And us. That's a good thing.

We're also likely to sell our dairy consumer brands to the French today, in a deal worth $4 billion. That's a good thing.

Yesterday, Westpac released some research—they reckon our GDP wasn’t actually that bad in June.
They revised down their estimate from a 0.9% contraction to just 0.1%.

They say it all came down to an accounting glitch related to the closure of the Marsden Point oil refinery.

In all of these stories, two ideologies are playing out. Are we a free trade, open-the-door, globalist sort of country?

Or are we the Winston Peters, protectionist, don’t-sell-your-milk-brands, keep-Marsden-Point-open type of place?

Are we New Zealand First?

Because the more countries out there protecting themselves, the stronger the argument becomes for us doing the same.

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Belief that both employers and the Government need to up their game to ensure Kiwis are being hired before migrants. 

The Immigration Minster's getting tougher on employers hiring more migrants than unemployed New Zealanders.

Erica Stanford says employers will be stripped of the chance to recruit migrants if they're not looking closer to home.

Business NZ Immigration Specialist Rachel Simpson told Ryan Bridge the Ministry need to help businesses prioritise Kiwis. 

She says employers will always look locally but immigration is about the skills those people bring to the country. 

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Listen to the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast for Thursday 30 October.
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More MPs and longer parliamentary terms have been deemed key to modernising a decades old electoral system. 

Fresh New Zealand Initiative research found 30 years on from the introduction of MMP, our parliament is in the need of a four year term and 50 more members. 

That would take the Parliament to 170.

Report author and Senior Fellow Nick Clark says MMP has delivered fairer and more representative parliaments. 

But he says these changes would create better balance between members and the executive. 

Clark says right now there is a huge number of ministers compared to members, making it harder for MPs to hold those ministers to account.

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