Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has reached out to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In a letter written to the President of the global network Mayors For Peace, Mauger said he recognises a state's obligation to defend itself from aggression, but condemned the massacre of innocents.

Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson says the Mayors For Peace has an extensive global reach and could work together to address the ongoing conflict.

"All of us are seeing what is very a disturbing and horrific humanitarian situation in Gaza, and we've also seen the extraordinary loss of innocent civilian lives- I think it's important to do what we can."

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National's Nicola Willis is defending Luxon as he extends post-election coalition talks.

Luxon has begun another week of discussions with coalition partners ACT and NZ First, and it's looking less likely he'll attend APEC on Wednesday.

The Finance Minister-elect says she's not going to go into detail about who's talking to who, but coalition discussions are progressing. 

"We're making sure we're getting through the issues that matter so we can sign agreements, go to the Governor-General and form a Government." 

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The Coromandel's State Highway 25A's fix has come in ahead of time and under cost.

The road between between Kōpū and Hikuai was cut in two by Cyclone Gabrielle in January, with numerous major slips blocking travel.

It'll reopen by December 20, a full three months earlier than anticipated.

Waka Kotahi's Jo Wilton says the team worked hard and planned ahead- but there were special circumstances behind this faster-than-expected repair.

"Because it was emergency work, the consenting process is retrospective. As long as we built to the standard, we could do the consenting retrospectively. Plus, we didn't need to purchase any land."

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A former Minister says the continuing Government negotiations are starting to look bad for Chris Luxon.

Another week of talks has begun, and the Prime Minister-elect says he's unlikely to be able to leave for the APEC Summit on Wednesday, with nothing wrapped up.

Peter Dunne says Luxon gave the impression his business background would help him strike a deal quickly.

"He's got the second-longest set of negotiations since NZ First was first involved in negations. And he's somehow seems to believe he could do it all differently- and better. He's fallen into the same trap others have."

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ANZ's CEO is defending its cash net profit, at a time where households struggle with the cost of living.

The country's largest bank has reported a 10 percent increase in its cash net profit in the year ending September.

Antonia Watson says their profit of over $2 billion is a lot of money in a New Zealand sense.

"The thing is, we're just really big- and I think that's the hard thing for Kiwis to get their heads around. Our profits are middle-of-the-road."

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An Auckland University researcher has raised concerns over the nation's vaping rates.

OECD data shows New Zealand has the second-highest number of people aged 15 or over vaping regularly, just behind Estonia.

More than 8 percent of those in that age group regularly vape in New Zealand, with higher rates among teens.

Researcher Kelly Burrowes says a high percentage of Kiwi teens have been drawn to vaping, surging ahead of other nations.

"18 percent of that age group are regular vapers- that is a lot higher than in the UK or Australia, where it's only around 5 or 8 percent."

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Flow-on effects from a cyber attack are affecting Australia's second-largest port operator.

DP World Australia, which is responsible for 40 percent of maritime freight, stopped internet access to all its ports on Friday, halting goods movement in and out of the country.

Australian correspondent Oliver Peterson says the ports in Perth and Brisbane have just restarted operations.

But he says Sydney can't accept export cargo for another two weeks.

"So you can imagine the massive delays this is going to create for businesses well into the lead-up to Christmas, they believe they'll be running out of stock in the next few weeks."

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It's starting to get a bit awkward with how long these coalition negotiations are taking, especially now that Chris Luxon’s warned us we might not get a deal until the end of this week.

These talks are about to become the second longest set of coalition talks in the history of MMP.

Former Green Party MP Gareth Hughes went back through all of the elections and counted how long it took from each election date to the end of the coalition talks.

1996 was of course the longest- and most famous for it because Winston went fishing.

2002 under Helen Clark took 12 days, 2005 took 30 days, 2008 under John Key took 8 days, 2011 took 9 days, 2014 took 15 days, and then 2017 with Jacinda and Winston took 26 days.

As of today, these talks are at 30 days. They are tied for the second longest spot with 2005. From tomorrow, they become the second longest only to the infamous 1996 fishing trip talks.

That’s embarrassing for Chris Luxon.

Because he’s the guy who’s talked up his negotiating skills, given he’s done a lot of mergers and acquisitions. And he’s the guy who set the deadline of wrapping this up in time for him to go to APEC.

If he wants to still go to APEC, he needs this wrapped up by Wednesday. Even he now doesn’t think that’s going to happen.

It's awkward for him to be failing in the very first task he’s set for himself as PM.

The start of a Government is a really important period. It sets up voters’ expectations for the first term, that's why Governments often write up 100 day plans.

Because they want to create a sense of urgency and give the impression they’re changing things fast. Literally the opposite of that is happening right now. There is no sense of urgency, nothing's changing fast, there's no momentum.

Awkwardly, it also feels a bit like Luxon might have underestimated a couple of politicians. Namely, Winston and David Seymour, who seem to be running rings around him.

Unfortunately for Chris Luxon, every day that these talks drag on chip away at the perception that voters have of him as being a great mergers and acquisitions guy.

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Calls are growing for the Home Secretary Suella Braverman to resign after she wrote an article attacking the police in London over the decision to allow a pro-Palestinian march the same day as the Armistice commemorations on Saturday. 

The boss of McDonalds in the UK is to be questioned by MPs over claims of sexual abuse, harassment, racism and bullying uncovered by the BBC. 
 
A supermarket chain in the north of England has become the first in the UK to ditch almost all its self-service tills and go back to fully-staffed checkouts. 

UK Correspondent Gail Downey spoke to Heather du Plessis-Allan. 

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Officially we don't know yet whether Xi Jinping will be at APEC in San Francisco next week, but it does look very likely? If he comes, will he meet with Joe Biden? 

Meanwhile, Bloomberg is reporting that Xi Jinping is set to attend a dinner with top us business execs including Tesla's Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook. 

How was Anthony Albanese's visit to China received over there? 

And China has released its long awaited action plan to reduce methane emissions. 

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