Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Unanimous support for a Government motion calling on all parties involved in the Israel and Palestine conflict to take urgent steps towards a ceasefire.

It came after the adoption of an amendment from Labour's Phil Twyford that a two-state solution must be maintained.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters defended his motion, and hit out at fellow MPs.

ZB political editor Jason Walls recapped the standout moments from this first session.

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Former controversial radio personality and Wallabies coach Alan Jones has been accused of inappropriate behaviour.

Jones is being accused of preying on multiple young men, engaging in indecent assaults and inappropriate behaviour without their consent while working at the radio station.

The 82-year-old broadcaster firmly denies the allegations.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says there'll likely be more stories about Jones' actions coming to light.

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Christchurch's largest food bank is set to close just days before Christmas.

Foodbank Canterbury has been forced to introduce a service fee to meet rising costs, meaning it's become ineligible for council funding.

It says they'd be putting their ability to pay staff at risk if they operated past December 22.

The foodbank supports 160 charities across Christchurch.

Potters Kitchen manager Robbie Drew says they're now going to lose most of their food.

"The funds have run out and it's right on Christmas, so there's going to be hundreds of families that are going to miss out."

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The Black Caps know they've got a battle on their hands heading into day two of the second cricket test against Bangladesh.

New Zealand will resume under pressure at 55 for 5 in Dhaka, but only trail by 117 runs after skittling the hosts for 172 on day one.

Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explains further.

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Former UK PM Boris Johnson will have a chance to defend his handling of the pandemic in two days of questioning at the Covid inquiry.

He is expected to apologise to the inquiry and admit his Government made mistakes during the pandemic. 

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says sources close to Mr Johnson say he will argue he got big calls right that saved lives.

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Tonight on The Huddle, current affairs commentator Josie Pagani and former National staffer Ben Thomas joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day- and more!

This year's PISA results left a lot to be desired. National's Erica Stanford has since laid out plans to change these results for the better. Are they something we need to be worried about?

Kiingi Tuheitia is inviting iwi to meet at Turangawaewae Marae on January 20 to form a unified voice in holding the Crown to account. National MPs have pushed back- will this achieve anything?

Sky Television is putting up the price of its Neon streaming platform next year- and include advertising. Is this a good idea?

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Good news for Kiwi motorists, with a pre-Christmas fall in petrol prices.

Brent Crude has fallen from $81 US dollars on Friday to $77 this morning.

The average price for unleaded 91 petrol has already fallen about five percent since the start of the month.

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen explains this sudden shift.

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The fourth consecutive carbon auction of 2023 failed to clear, leaving millions of units unsold.

This means the Government missed out on anther $900 million worth of revenue.

Milford Asset Management's Frances Sweetman says all the units built up from this year will be cancelled- but predicts an improved balance for 2024.

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The Reserve Bank is downplaying the impact of new mortgage lending rules they might impose on banks.

It's given the banks until April 2024 to prepare for debt-to-income ratio restrictions to be imposed- but has indicated new changes will be too restrictive.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says DTI restrictions are unlikely to have too much of an impact on prospective borrowers.

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The new Government has set out its expectations for how the Commissioner of Police should do his job.

The publicly-released letter calls for frontline officers to be considered the priority when investment decisions are made.

It also reminds Coster of his responsibility to deliver on the Government's law and order commitments.

That includes plans to ban gang patches, give police greater powers to search gang members and begin cracking down on youth offending.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he thinks it's the first time a letter like this has been made public. 

"There's been a loss of confidence around the Labour Government and their failure to take public safety seriously or put public safety at the heart of what they're doing, I thought it was important to have a reset."

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