Holiday Breakfast

A child online safety advocate's calling for stronger restrictions on access to pornography after a coroner's linked a teen's death to content found on the internet. 

The inquest found the teen had probably been attempting to imitate sexual acts seen online in 2024. 

Advocate Holly Brooker told Andrew Dickens New Zealand's done little to regulate the online space.   

She says other countries are moving forward, while we lag behind. 

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Conservationists are expecting a lot of breeding action from threatened kakapo over the next month.  

The nocturnal, flightless parrots reproduce in tune with rimu, which have a mast season of extra growth every three or four years. 

The Department of Conservation says there are 83 breeding-aged females this season, up from 55. 

Kakapo Recovery Manager Deidre Vercoe told Andrew Dickens this year's mast is looking great. 

She says this is when there is more fruit on the tree, and this year they have the most in 28 years. 

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Residents of Venezuelan capital Caracas are avoiding the streets as armed police patrol the city.  

President Nicolas Maduro and his wife are being detained in New York after being captured by US forces over the weekend in a violent attack.  

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has taken over the reins, with some normality returning to the country 

But France24 Latin American Correspondent Noris Argotte Soto told Andrew Dickens the streets are tense. 

She says there are formal, uniformed security forces, as well as highly-armed citizen militia.   

She says people are afraid to be jailed by this regime. 

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The UK Prime Minister is in an awkward position following the US’ action in Venezuela. 

President Nicolas Maduro was taken in a US military operation over the weekend, and is soon to stand trial in New York on drugs and weapons charges.   

Keir Starmer told the BBC he will shed no tears over the end of Nicolas Maduro's regime, but is not prepared to comment on the US military action in Venezuela. 

But UK Correspondent Rod Liddle told Andrew Dickens Starmer is under a lot of pressure to condemn the actions of the US. 

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A Paris court has found 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady Brigitte Macron with false online claims about her gender and sexuality. 

Their sentences range from cyberbullying awareness training to eight-month suspended prison sentences. 

Some of their posts suggested Macron was transgender, born a man, and were viewed tens of thousands of times. 

Some linked her 24-year age gap with her husband Emmanuel Macron to paedophilia. 

France Correspondent Catherine Field told Andrew Dickens that among the guilty are an elected official, a school teacher, and a woman who described herself as “a medium”.  

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Summer has returned to Auckland and with it the ASB Classic. 

The two-week long tennis tournament begins today, and the competition is hot. 

Elina Svitolina, Emma Nacarro, and Stan Wawrinka are some of the world-class names taking to the court this year. 

Tournament Director Nicolas Lamperin told Andrew Dickens it’s the atmosphere around centre court that makes Auckland unique among the tennis tournaments happening around the world. 

He says he’s never seen fans dining around the court anywhere else, and while originally he was concerned players might complain about it, it’s something they remember about the city. 

“They love the fact that fans are so engaged.” 

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New Zealand may be in for a more positive property market in the new year.  

Cotality’s January Home Value Index shows that property values were down 1% in 2025 – a drop of 17% from the 2022 peak. 

Regional performance varied, with Aukland and Wellington remaining weak, but Southland districts and provincial centres such as New Plymouth and Queenstown seeing increases.  

Cotality’s Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Andrew Dickens that the reason they’re forecasting increases is because a number of factors that restrain house prices are starting to turn around. 

He says mortgage rates are down, the economy is turning around, and unemployment should come down, which should give households a bit more confidence to act in the housing market.  

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Concern Tourism New Zealand's chasing clicks, with no breakdown available for the millions spent on social media influencers. 

A response to the Taxpayers’ Union shows $9.4 million has been spent since 2023 on 65 influencers across global markets. 

They were engaged to promote campaigns ranging from destination marketing to Minecraft downloadable content and online shopping promotions. 

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams told Andrew Dickens that when you’re spending so much money, it’s not good enough for Tourism New Zealand to give the middle finger to transparency.  

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Dunedin was in the news a fair bit last year, and its time in the spotlight has continued into the new year with the death of former Mayor Jules Radich. Current Mayor Sophie Barker joined Andrew Dickens to pay tribute to her predecessor, as well as discuss the city's growth and the story that got the most airtime: the hospital.

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Venezuela's Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, has been formally sworn in as acting leader.  

US forces seized President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas in the weekend, who today denied drug and weapons charges in a New York court, alongside his wife  

He told the 92-year-old judge he is an innocent, decent man, and still Venezuela's leader.  

1News US Correspondent Logan Church told Andrew Dickens the US has levelled charges against Maduro for several years. 

But he says the trial will take some time, as the wheels of American justice do not turn quickly, and there’s a mountain of evidence to parse through. 

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