Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Napier's mayor accepts a report finding the city was hugely unprepared for Cyclone Gabrielle.

RNZ reports the City Council commissioned an independent review of its response.

The Resilient Organisations report shows the Council wasn't set up to cope with such an event, and only a few staff had emergency management training.

Kirsten Wise says it's good to get the feedback - to plan for future events.

"We certainly acknowledge that we weren't as prepared as we could have been, and that is what we're now focused on- ensuring that we have actually taken on board the recommendations of this report."

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International public opinion is turning against Israel bombing Gaza.

153 members of the UN General Assembly, including New Zealand, voted today to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Former UN Development Programme head and former Prime Minister, Helen Clark, says even the US President - a staunch advocate - has acknowledged Israel is losing support.

She says the situation in Gaza is dire and getting worse.

"Two-thirds of people have no home, 80 percent of them have been displaced. People are given a choice between flee or die."

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US President Joe Biden has slammed Republican lawmakers, as he reiterates his support for Ukraine.

His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visited Washington DC to ask lawmakers to continue supporting their war efforts.

A support deal's been held up by an impasse in the US Congress on tightening immigration and border policies.

US correspondent Mitch McCann says it's unlikely the Republicans will be able to negotiate their way into a solution within a clear timeframe.

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Relief from the New Zealand Sail GP team their home regatta has been rescued by Christchurch.

Lyttleton will shoulder hosting responsibilities for the event in March after Auckland was ruled out as a viable location due to spectator facility issues.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave breaks these events down.

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The Grocery Commissioner is shining a spotlight on grocery prices this festive season.

Pierre van Heerden is challenging supermarkets to implement Everyday Low Pricing on staple items before Christmas.

Demand typically rises at this time of year - and van Heerden says prices often do, too.

He says groceries have been this year's biggest driver of cost of living pressures.

"Supermarkets can actually bring a bit of Christmas cheer and provide something back to consumers."

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Look, I feel like we are now at a global tipping point with Israel and I think tolerance is running very short- and probably about to run out completely for their bombardment of Gaza.

A lot has happened in just the last few days, even just today, to indicate that this is on the cards now.

We've had New Zealand, Australia and Canada putting out a joint statement this morning calling for a sustainable ceasefire, saying that they are alarmed at what's happening to the civilians in Gaza.

A few hours ago, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

And in probably the biggest sign that the time is up, Joe Biden, who has of course been Israel's biggest backer globally, has started to pull his support away from Benjamin Netanyahu and warned Israel it risks alienating its allies if it continues.

He said that they cannot say no to a Palestinian state, and then he went as far as quite pointedly saying to Netanyahu that he had to change this Government- which I think a lot of people will agree with.

A lot of people will blame this Government and the past Governments of Netanyahu for the situation that Israel is currently in. The fact is, these world leaders are basically doing this because they are losing domestic support for continuing to support Israel.

You've seen the pressure mount here in New Zealand on the Government. Labour and Te Pati Māori and the Greens have all put pressure on the Government to call for a ceasefire, there have been protests up and down the country as a result.

In the states, a poll has found that only 20 percent of Americans think that Biden's approach is going to lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

It is not surprising that Israel's running out of runway at all- on this show we said pretty much immediately after the October 7 massacres by Hamas that Israel would only have so long to do what they always do, which is disproportionately punish the Palestinian people before sentiment would change.

Sentiment is now changing, the only thing that is surprising is how long the tolerance lasted, how long the runway was for this bombardment. Especially given that the bombardment was never going to work.

We all knew that, right? We'd never fully root out Hamas, we'd never be able to get all of those people out of the tunnels, all it ever was going to do was punish the civilians - which it has - and foment anger and probably create another generation of terrorists.

And only time will tell whether that's going to happen- but I say it probably will.

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UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak raised a few eyebrows with his refusal to share his WhatsApp messages during the Covid response inquiry.

Sunak claimed he had changed phones many times in recent years and never backed up his messages- leaving no evidence from the pandemic period.

UK correspondent Enda Brady says Boris Johnson also lost 5,000 WhatsApp messages during that period, and reached for a similar excuse.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Ali Jones from Red PR and projects director at Still, Sam Johnson, joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more! 

FIFA's latest report into online abuse reveals players at the football Women's World Cup were 29 percent more likely to be subject to online harassment. Can anything be done to address this? Is abuse just a drawback that comes from being a public figure?

Sir Colin Tukuitonga has resigned from his public positions - should he have made this move? Or would have he been better staying on to advocate for his cause?

COP28 talks could be in jeopardy following an outcry from several nations regarding a 'weak' draft deal. What happens now?

Experts are calling for 'best before' labels to be scrapped, claiming they contribute to the widespread problem of food waste. Is this a good idea?

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2023 is drawing to a close, and economists are predicting what lies ahead for the new year.

New Zealand is still fighting a long, drawn-out battle with inflation, which is set to impact jobs and house prices.

HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says the uptick in migration is set to boost demand for goods and services- meaning inflation will be stickier for longer.

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New Zealand's biggest rural telethon is set to kick off this Thursday from 6am.

The Big Feed will be hosted by TV personality Matt Chisholm, former boxer Dave Letele, and Meat the Need co-founder and Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford.

The Country's Jamie Mackay says the telethon aims to raise enough for 1.2 million meat and milk meals for food banks nationwide.

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