On today's First Up pod - the Pacific Islands Forum's in disarray after Kiribati's 11th hour decision not to take part; Japan's election day's under the shadow of the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is it a plane? Is it a boat? We hear from the group trying to save New Zealand's only airworthy Catalina flying boat. First Up - Voice of the Nathan!

On today's First Up pod - UK PM Boris Johnson is to step down as leader of the conservative party; Floods cause chaos in NSW and torential rain is on the radar for NZ and reports of a gunman on the loose cause panic and lockdowns at schools on Auckland's north shore.

On today's First Up pod - UK PM Boris Johnson faces massive pressure to resign; American supporters of reproductive rights are mobilising en masse to fight back against the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade ruling and new sub-variants of Omicron drive a new wave of Covid-19 cases.

On today's First Up pod - an Australian religious sect have been charged in connection with the death of an eight year old girl; 4th of July weekend celebrations have been shattered by multiple violent shootings in the US and NZ city centres are bouncing back post-pandemic.

On today's First Up pod - A 22 year old Danish man suspected of the weekend's shooting in a Copenhagen shopping mall, has appeared in court; Spores that burrow into young cicadas during their long hibernation are beginning to take over control of their bodies and National leader Christopher Luxon takes a trip to Singapore, Ireland and London where he's hoping to get policy ideas that could be applied here in Aotearoa.

On today's First Up pod - the fallout from both the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe V Wade and the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson at the January 6th hearings continue to be felt across the US; The Sharp Blacks - a team made up of New Zealands best butchers, have chopped, sliced and diced their way to the World Butcher's Challenge in Sacramento in September and steadily rising Covid-19 case numbers in recent days are causing concern, with some modelling suggesting we could start seeing upwards of 20-thousand cases a day soon.

On today's First Up pod - as the NATO summit in Spain comes to an end, Western Leaders are united in their attitude to Russian aggression in Ukraine; far-right violent extremists known as The Proud Boys and The Base have been officially declared terrorist groups here in New Zealanda; a growing number of libraries are declaring an amnesty on late fees and a cold and wet winter has seen salad green crops perish and pushed prices to eye watering levels.

On today's First Up pod - Sweden and Finland have ended - in Sweden's case - 200 years of military neutrality by joining NATO; parts of Japan are experiencing temperatures in excess of 40 degrees at the moment and Nathan gets a beatboxing lesson from a little maestro named Maceo

On today's First Up pod - Australian census figues show that India is now the third most common place of birth for residents; Middle-East delegations from Iran and the US are meeting to discuss the ground-rules for a resumption of official talks to get the 2015 nuclear deal back on track; theres a lot of excitement about the latest mission to the moon with Aotearoa front and centre and our hospitals are heaving under pressure as the country sniffles through our first winter flu season in two years. First Up - Voice of the Nathan!

On today's First Up pod - Boris Johnson is in Germany for the G7 and Ukraine is leading the agenda - UNESCO recognises Rewana bread as a cultural icon, New Zealanders over 50 will be offered another covid-19 booster as more people are eligible for free flu jabs.. and National's Nicola Willis addresses concerns her party isn't sympathetic to women who want abortions.