Holiday Breakfast

It's been five years since Sir Barry Gibb, of the record-breaking pop group the Bee Gees, last released a solo album - but he's ringing in the New Year with his brand new country duets album Greenfields. 
The album features some of the biggest names in country and Americana - including Dolly Parton, Keith Urban, Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crown, Jason Isbell, Olivia Newton-John and many more - Greenfields reimagines classics from the Bee Gees enormous catalogue. 
Recorded in Nashville with the Grammy award-winning producer Dave Cobb at the iconic RCA studios, the album has already shot to number one on the Amazon best-sellers list on pre-orders alone - which Sir Barry says is a first for him. 
In a New Zealand exclusive, Sir Barry joined Newstalk ZB's Tim Roxborogh - who has been a lifelong fan and friend of the Gibb family since meeting them in 1999 at Western Springs - to talk about working with Keith Urban, why Dolly Parton brings people to tears and what he remembers about the first time he met Olivia Newton-John.
He also explained the thrill of recording in the same studio as so many of his heroes, from Elvis Presley to Waylon Jennings to the Everly Brothers. 
In addition to Greenfields, Sir Barry talked about his rumoured upcoming autobiography, the Bee Gees biopic that’s in the pipeline and why he says the emotion of losing his brothers means he can’t watch the new documentary about the Bee Gees, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart.  
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The summer holidays have seen many of us take a break from work - and, it turns out, that break could provide a chance to correct how we're sitting when we get back to work. 
Sports biomechanists Greg Pain - who works largely with rehab - joined Francesca Rudkin to explain how we are sitting incorrectly, other forms of pain, and to answers questions from listeners. 
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2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic saw a lot of people take a financial hit, with many losing their jobs or seeing their pay cut as a result.
Now it's 2021 and the economy is bouncing back - and a New Year means many are looking to look over their finances and make up ground. 
Financial expert Hannah McQueen joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss what people can do to guarantee their financial success, and to take questions from listeners.
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He may still be recovering from surgery on his knee, but that's not stopping gardening expert Ruud Kleinpaste getting out in the summer sun!!
He joined Francesca Rudkin to share his summer tips and tricks, and to take questions from callers. 
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The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was both stunning and predictable, the result of a Republican Party that has repeatedly enabled President Donald Trump's destructive behaviour.
When Trump was a presidential candidate in 2016, Republican officials ignored his call to supporters to "knock the crap out" of protesters. Less than a year after he took office, GOP leaders argued he was taken out of context when he said there were "very fine people" on both sides of a deadly white supremacist rally.
Last summer, most party leaders looked the other way when Trump had hundreds of peaceful protesters forcibly removed from a demonstration near the White House so he could pose with a Bible in front of a church.
But the violent siege on Capitol Hill offers a new, and perhaps final, moment of reckoning for the GOP. The party's usual excuses for Trump — he's not a typical politician and is uninterested in hewing to Washington's niceties — fell short against images of mobs occupying some of American democracy's most sacred spaces.
The party, which has been defined over the past four years by its loyalty to Trump, began re-calibrating in the aftermath of Wednesday's chaos.
One of Trump's closest allies in Congress, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said "enough is enough."
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said Trump's accomplishments in office "were wiped out today."
Trump's former acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, now a special envoy to Northern Ireland, joined a growing number of administration officials who are resigning. "I can't do it. I can't stay," Mulvaney told CNBC on Thursday. "Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they're worried the president might put someone worse in."
Stephanie Grisham, the first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff and a former White House press secretary, submitted her resignation. Deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, White House social secretary Rickie Niceta and deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews also resigned, according to officials.
For the party to move forward, it will need to deal with the reality that Trump lost to President-elect Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes and a 306-232 margin in the Electoral College, a result Congress certified early Thursday when it finished accepting all the electoral votes.
Trump acknowledged his term was coming to a close, but not that he had actually lost.
"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th," he said in a statement minutes after Congress certified the vote. "I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"
Former Republican President George W. Bush described the violent mob as "a sickening and heartbreaking sight." He declined to call out Trump or his allies, but the implication was clear when Bush said the siege "was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes."
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a top House Republican and the daughter of Bush's vice president, was much more direct in an interview on Fox News.
"There's no question the president formed the mob. The president incited the mob," Cheney said. "He lit the flame."
Bush and Cheney were already among a smaller group of Republican officials willing to condemn Trump's most outrageous behavior at times. The overwhelming majority of the GOP has been far more reserved, eager to keep Trump's fiery base on their side.
Still, Trump's grip on his party appeared somewhat weakened when members of Congress returned to the Capitol on Wednesday night, having spent several hours hiding in secure locations after being...

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on European countries to intensify coronavirus measures as the region deals with a new variant that was first detected in the UK.
WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said Thursday that further measures were needed to "flatten the steep vertical line" of rising cases in some countries.
While the variant appears to spread more easily than others, there's no evidence that it's any more deadly or causes more severe disease.
Health officials have also downplayed the possibility that coronavirus vaccines won't work against the variant.
But in the UK, health workers are struggling with a steep rise in cases and deaths. The country recorded a total of 1,041 further deaths on Wednesday, as well as 62,322 new cases.
The crisis is particularly acute in London. On Thursday mayor Sadiq Khan said the capital was at risk of running out of hospital beds in the next few days.
"This virus is out of control," Khan told LBC radio. "The [National Health Service] is on the cusp of being overwhelmed. There has been no time during this pandemic where I've been more concerned than I am today."
Kluge, speaking during a news briefing Thursday, said the UK variant has now been detected in 22 countries across the WHO European region.
"It is our assessment that this variant of concern may, over time, replace other circulating lineages as seen in the United Kingdom, and increasingly in Denmark," Kluge said.
"With increased transmissibility and similar disease severity, the variant does, however, raise alarm: without increased control to slow its spread, there will be an increased impact on already stressed and pressurized health facilities."
"This is an alarming situation, which means that for a short period of time we need to do more than we have done and to intensify the public health and social measures to be certain we can flatten the steep vertical line in some countries," Kluge added.
Kluge then urged countries "to mitigate this burden by doing all they can to reduce transmission and increase vigilance to identify any new variants."
A number of European nations are currently under lockdown or have imposed strict Covid-19 measures, including Britain, Italy, Germany Switzerland and Greece.
text by Sharon Braithwaite, CNN.

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Newstalk ZB is back with another edition of Hidden Spots on Summer Breakfast.
This is where we take you on a bit of a virtual road trip around the country - and give you tips on attractions you may not know about.
Rollickin' Gelato is an absolute staple in Christchurch. The first new Regent Street shop opened six years ago, and there's now three stores in the city.
It tailors its flavours to whatever is happening around town - when David Seymour was on the election campaign in Christchurch, for example, he got to enjoy the David S’more flavor.
Founder Jed Joyce joined Tim Dower to discuss how he went from selling gelato from a cart as a teen to owning a burgeoning business.
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Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be brought forward to February for frontline workers in border control and hotel quarantine and it may be mandatory in some workplaces.
After rapidly bringing forward the timetable in recent weeks from late March to early March just 24 hours ago, the Prime Minister announced the first public rollout of the vaccine will now commence in mid-February.
Those who are not in high risk groups, including people aged under 50, can expect to get the vaccine from mid year, after the first “ring of containment” among aged care workers and the elderly is completed.
But the first ‘guinea pigs’ to receive the Pfizer vaccine in Australia could get the jab as early as late January as soon as the Therapeutic Goods Administration gives the vaccine the tick and it can be imported for batch testing.
“We are now in a position where we believe we will be able to commence vaccinations in mid to late February,” the Prime Minister said.
“There have been no delays in the introduction of the vaccine in Australia there has been the necessary swiftness that has been asked of the TGA and health officials driving this process,” he said.
After the TGA approves the vaccine in late March it will then take up to three weeks to import the vaccine and complete batch testing as a final safety check.
However, the Prime Minister cautioned that “COVID-safe” practices will need to continue to be a feature of people’s daily lives for a long time, possibly throughout 2021.
“Vaccination is not a silver bullet once vaccination starts COVID safe practices do not end they continue, they will be a 2021 lived experience, they continue,” he said.
PLEDGE VACCINATION WILL BE FREE FOR ALL
Professor Brendan Murphy confirmed the vaccine would be free for every Australian and that patients should not be charged GP fees to get the jab.
“We can guarantee the vaccine will be free, and it will be delivered free,” he said.
“We do not want there to be any barrier whatsoever.”
VACCINE WILL BE VOLUNTARY - BUT SOME WORKPLACES WILL REQUIRE IT
Mr Morrison has repeatedly pledged that the vaccine will be voluntary and will not be part of Australia’s “no jab, no pay” welfare rules.
However, he conceded on Thursday that some employers may require vaccination on workplace health and safety grounds.
It may also become a requirement of international air travel to Australia to protect against visitors bringing new strains of the virus here.
“All I have said today is that is a discussion that needs to be had,’’ Mr Morrison said.
“It is voluntary, but that is an important discussion for public health and safety that needs to be had with states and territories.”
PM TO GET JAB LIVE ON TV
The Prime Minister outlined the new timetable for the rollout on Thursday revealing he is also preparing to roll up his sleeve and get the jab on live television to build confidence in the vaccine.
“I don’t think we need to line the whole cabinet up. I think there are more important people who need to get vaccinated,” he said.
“But I think it’s important for a show of public confidence. We will line up for the televised jab.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt said he didn’t want to be seen as a “queue jumper” but was happy to get the jab along with the Labor leader and the health spokesman Chris Bowen as a show of confidence.
WHERE WILL YOU GET THE VACCINE?
Frontline workers who are most at risk of contracting COVID-19 including hotel quarantine workers, border control staff and people driving international travellers to the hotels are first in the queue.
They will secure the COVID-19 vaccine at hospitals where the Pfizer vaccine, that must be stored in freezing temperatures, can be carefully secured.
However, the majority of the population will get their vaccines from respiratory clinics established by the federal government or GP surgeries.
That...

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Facebook will ban President Donald Trump's account from posting for at least the remainder of his term in office and perhaps "indefinitely," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post. 
"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," Zuckerberg wrote in the post. "Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
The decision marks a major escalation by Facebook as it and other platforms have come under intense pressure from advocacy groups and prominent figures to ban Trump following his inflammatory rhetoric encouraging insurrection.
Facebook and Twitter took the extraordinary step on Wednesday of temporarily locking President Donald Trump's account on their platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the election.
If the latest restrictions hold, Facebook could be the first major platform to remove Trump permanently.
Facebook's move now raises expectations for Twitter, known for being the president's preferred social media platform, to follow suit. Twitter has confirmed that Trump deleted several tweets in order to regain his tweeting privileges sometime on Thursday, though the company declined to say when precisely he would be able to tweet again.
Twitter also said that "future violations... will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account."
"There's this element of all the companies hand-wringing until one of them takes a step, and then in a few minutes, everyone does it," said Adam Sharp, Twitter's former head of news, government and elections. "Nobody wants to be the first, and they just take turns on who is going to be the first one to go that time around. Then they all 'Thelma and Louise' it and make the call."
The underlying problem facing most tech platforms, he said, is that the gravity of Trump's misconduct goes far beyond the companies' efforts to build standardized systems for punishing misbehavior.
In his blog post Thursday, Zuckerberg said Facebook had determined that Trump's recent posts were "likely" intended to escalate the violence rather than the opposite.
Trump has shown he "intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden," Zuckerberg wrote.
Facebook has already described the events surrounding Trump's posts this week as an emergency. Now, Zuckerberg has finally revealed where Facebook will draw the line for Trump — at nothing less than a deadly assault on Congress.
text by Brian Fung, CNN

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President Donald Trump for the first time acknowledged his defeat in the Nov. 3 election  and announced there would be an "orderly transition" on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, after Congress concluded the electoral vote count early Thursday local time certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
Trump's acknowledgement came after a day of chaos and destruction on Capitol Hill as a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol and unleashed unprecedented scenes of mayhem in hopes of halting the peaceful transition of power. Members of Congress were forced into hiding, offices were ransacked, and the formal congressional tally of Electoral College votes was halted for more than six hours.
"Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th," Trump said in a statement posted to Twitter by his social media director. Trump's account had been locked by the company for posting messages that appeared to justify the assault on the seat of the nation's democracy.
Trump added, "While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!"

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President. Photo / AP
The president has spent the past two months refusing to concede and making baseless allegations  of widespread voter fraud, even though his own Justice Department, federal courts, including the Supreme Court, and state governments have said repeatedly the vote was carried out freely and fairly.
Trump's refusal to accept reality and his incendiary rhetoric reached a breaking point Wednesday when loyalists violently occupied the Capitol in one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in the nation's capital. Authorities said four people died during the violence, including one woman who was shot by an officer outside the House chamber.
Trump had encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol to protest lawmakers' actions, and he later appeared to excuse the violent occupation by the mob.
"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long," Trump wrote in a message that was later deleted by Twitter. He added, "Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"
Trump spent much of Wednesday afternoon watching the insurrection on television from his private dining room off the Oval Office. But aside from sparing appeals for calm issued at the insistence of his staff, he was largely disengaged.'
President-elect Joe Biden speaks at The Queen theatre in Wilmington. Photo / AP
Instead, a White House official said, most of Trump's attention was consumed by his ire at Vice President Mike Pence, who defied Trump's demands  by acknowledging he did not have the power to unliterally reject the electoral votes that determine the next president. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump only reluctantly issued the tweets and taped a video encouraging an end to the violence. The posts came at the insistence of staff and amid mounting criticism from Republican lawmakers begging him to condemn the violence and tell his supporters to stand down, according to the official.
Even as authorities struggled to take control of Capitol Hill after protesters overwhelmed police, Trump continued to level baseless allegations of mass voter fraud and praised his loyalists as "very special."
"I know your pain. I know your hurt. But you have to go home now," he said in a video posted more than 90 minutes after lawmakers were evacuated from the House and Senate chambers. "We can't play into the hands of these people. We have...

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