Holiday Breakfast

A woman who tested positive for the highly contagious strain of COVID-19 was able to leave quarantine at Brisbane's Hotel Grand Chancellor to go to hospital with her father, The Courier-Mail has revealed.
The newspaper reports an ambulance was called to the hotel on Monday night for the man, aged in his 40s, following a medical complaint.
He was reportedly accompanied to the Royal Brisbane Hospital by his daughter, a woman aged in her 20s.
She is believed to have come into contact with a number of people outside the quarantine bubble and reportedly did not return to the hotel via Queensland Ambulance Service transport.
The pair had been tested but returned positive results after the alleged breach of the quarantine system on January 11.
The Courier-Mail reports she was not knowingly at fault.
In a statement, Queensland Health said:
"Queensland Health is aware of an article regarding an alleged COVID-19 quarantine breach.
"We are concerned some early reporting has misrepresented this situation and it's important people understand the facts.
"In circumstances where a person accompanies a relative to hospital for medical treatment, full PPE and safety guidelines are followed. This occurs even if a patient is being transported for non-COVID related medical issues.
"Quarantine guests are transported to and from the hospital by Queensland Ambulance Service, who have been safely transporting hotel quarantine guests for almost a year.
"All protocols were followed in this case. Guests were transported from and returned to the hotel by Qld Ambulance Service while in appropriate PPE. The suggestion the person caught a ride-share back to the hotel is untrue. Full and proper COVID-19 PPE protocols were followed while these guests were in the hospital.
"We have successfully managed the quarantine of over 100,000 people in Queensland, and have not had a single case because of the movement of these people."
According to Queensland Health, the six cases in the hotel cluster include a man in his 30s and his female partner in her 30s who both arrived from the UK on December 30, a female hotel cleaner in her 20s and her male partner in his 20s, and the father and daughter who arrived from Lebanon on January 1.
The guests to test positive were all in quarantine on the seventh floor.
Greater Brisbane's three-day lockdown, sparked after the cleaner tested positive for the UK coronavirus strain, lifted at 6pm on Monday.

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His place in the history books rewritten, President Donald Trump endured his second impeachment largely alone and silent.
For more than four years, Trump has dominated the national discourse like no one before him. Yet when his legacy was set in stone on Wednesday, he was stunningly left on the sidelines.
Trump now stands with no equal, the only president to be charged twice with a high crime or misdemeanor, a new coda for a term defined by a deepening of the nation's divides, his failures during the worst pandemic in a century and his refusal to accept defeat at the ballot box.
Trump kept out of sight in a nearly empty White House as impeachment proceedings played out at the heavily fortified U.S. Capitol. There, the damage from last week’s riots provided a visible reminder of the insurrection that the president was accused of inciting.
Abandoned by some in his own party, Trump could do nothing but watch history unfold on television. The suspension of his Twitter account deprived Trump of his most potent means to keep Republicans in line, giving a sense that Trump had been defanged and, for the first time, his hold on his adopted party was in question.
He was finally heard from hours after the vote, in a subdued video that condemned the insurrection at the Capitol and warned his supporters from engaging in any further violence. It was a message that was largely missing one week earlier, when rioters marching in Trump’s name descended on the Capitol to try to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
“I want to be very clear: I unequivocally condemn the violence that we saw last week," said Trump. He added that “no true supporter” of his “could ever endorse political violence.”
But that message, partially motivated to warn off legal exposure for sparking the riot, ran contrary to what Trump has said throughout his term, including when he urged his supporters to “fight” for him last week.
Trump said not a word about his impeachment in the video, though he complained about the ban on his social media. And later Wednesday, he asked allies if he had gone too far with the video, wondering if it might upset some of his supporters. Four White House officials and Republicans close to the West Wing discussed Trump’s private conversations on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to do so publicly.
With only a week left in Trump's term, there were no bellicose messages from the White House fighting the proceedings on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue and no organized legal response. Some congressional Republicans did defend the president during House debate in impeachment, their words carrying across the same space violated by rioters one week earlier during a siege of the citadel of democracy that left five dead.
In the end, 10 Republicans voted to impeach.
It was a marked change from Trump’s first impeachment. That December 2019 vote in the House, which made Trump only the third president ever impeached, played out along partisan lines. The charges then were that he had used the powers of the office to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political foe, Joe Biden, now the president-elect.
At that time, the White House was criticized for failing to create the kind of robust “war room” that President Bill Clinton mobilized during his own impeachment fight. Nonetheless, Trump allies did mount their own pushback campaign. There were lawyers, White House messaging meetings, and a media blitz run by allies on conservative television, radio and websites.
Trump was acquitted in 2020 by the GOP-controlled Senate and his approval ratings were undamaged. But this time, as some members of his own party recoiled and accused him of committing impeachable offenses, Trump was isolated and quiet. A presidency centered on the bombastic declaration “I alone can fix it” seemed to be ending with a whimper.
The third-ranking Republican in the House, Rep. Liz...

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Rio Tinto and the Government will continue to negotiate terms which could trade transmission relief for a plan to remediate the site of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, even after the mining giant extracted enough from its electricity provider to promise to stay open until at least the end of 2024.
For more than a year Rio Tinto has been using a strategic review and threat of closure to demand concessions both on electricity and transmission prices for the smelter.
But the future of Southland's largest employer - and New Zealand's largest electricity user - was secured after it announced a new power contract with Meridian Energy, which powers the smelter from the nearby Manapouri Power Station.
The deal was assisted by Contact Energy offering to provide more power to Meridian than the existing deal.
Both Meridian and Contact were exposed to significant revenue losses if Tiwai was to close abruptly, which could leave generation from the Manapouri station as well as Contact's generation on the Clutha River stranded in the South Island.
While Rio Tinto has already been offered enough of a concession to stay open - analysts speculated the savings could exceed $70 million a year - the Government said it would continue to negotiate over possible transmission relief in return for a plan over site remediation.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the Government did not have as much information about the site or what state it would be left in as it hoped.
"The level of information ... we have about the state of the site, the impact of the operations on the environment, we just don't have all the information that we want on that," Robertson said.
"We don't just want to rely on legal minimum" required for the clean-up, he said. "We may want to be significantly ahead of that."
Robertson said he expected negotiations between the Government and the mining company would be completed "in a small number of months".
Stew Hamilton, chief executive of New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, warned in 2019 that the smelter needed "tens of millions" of annual relief from the cost of both electricity and transmission to extend the life of the smelter.
While he acknowledged that the savings in the latest electricity agreement provided enough for the smelter to commit to staying open, the agreement left Rio Tinto with the option to reduce its operation from three to two potlines. Negotiations over transmission could potentially see production from three potlines guaranteed until 2024, Hamilton said.
In mid-2020 Rio Tinto announced plans to close Tiwai Point in August. While Rio Tinto is now undertaking a three-year study on how to close the smelter, Hamilton said the new deal was only about operation, not signalling a closure date.
"Today is about providing certainty for the operation. It's not what happens with closure, or extending that closure," Hamilton said on Thursday.
"For now all we know for certain is we're operating until the end of 2024," and beyond that there were a number of scenarios "that could include closure, that could include continuing beyond that also".
Meridian did not comment beyond announcing a deal, but Contact Energy chief executive Mike Fuge said the deal provided certainty for Southland, would allow the potential replacement industries which could follow the smelter to mature, and gave investors certainty of demand.
"This is great news for Southland and New Zealand, global carbon emissions, and Contact's shareholders."
While Contact's shares fell as much as 4 per cent on the announcement, Fuge said the news boosted the odds of the company pushing ahead with Tauhara, a possible geothermal plant near Taupo.
"I have my own passion around developing renewable energy. Investors are always a bit more gunshy … The more stable the investing environment, the more investors are willing to invest and the more they're willing to do it at lower...

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After months of drama, controversy and preparation, racing for the America's Cup is finally set to kickoff with the start of the Prada Cup.
Organised by the Challenger of Record, the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series will be held in Auckland throughout January and February 2021 to determine which of the three challengers - Luna Rossa, Ineos Team UK and American Magic - will take on the defenders Team New Zealand in the 36th America's Cup Match starting on March 6.
The Prada Cup will consist of four round robins of three races each, a seven-race semifinal and a 13-race final between the two leading teams. Each win gets one point.
The highest ranked Challenger at the end of the round robins will be automatically qualified for the Prada Cup final.
The remaining two teams will then race in a seven-race semifinal and the first team who gets four points will qualify for the Prada Cup final.
The Prada Cup final will then determine the Challenger to face Team New Zealand in the America's Cup Match and the winner of the newly minted Prada Cup trophy.
American Magic will head into the Prada Cup as the bookies' favourites after a strong showing at the World Series in December, where they were the only team to beat Team New Zealand in an official race.
However, don't count out the Challenger of Record Luna Rossa who will bring plenty of nous and experience to the regatta.
Meanwhile, Ineos Team UK, who went without a win in the World Series, also seem to be heading in the right direction if this week's practice races were anything to go by.
SCHEDULES
There will be two races per day with the race window between 3pm and 5pm, with the exception of the final where the race window will be between 4pm and 6pm.
ODDS
TAB odds – Prada Cup winner:
American Magic – $1.75Luna Rossa - $2.75INEOS Team UK – $6
HOW TO WATCH AND STREAM
The Herald will have live updates on nzherald.co.nz/sport while you can listen to live commentary on Gold AM and iHeartRadio.
America's Cup coverage is free-to-air on TVNZ. You can also stream the action live or on-demand on TVNZ.co.nz or on the America's Cup YouTube channel.
If you're in Auckland, you can also head down to the America's Cup Race Village at the Viaduct Marina, where there will be a stage and big screens to watch the action. The village operates from 10am to 8pm on race days and can be accessed through the main entrance at the beginning of Hobson Wharf.
There are also many options to view the action live around Auckland's waterfront. Here are the best spots to watch the action.
Race officials will determine which course will be used on each racing day.
Heading into the Cup racing?

Be aware that traffic will be busy, and parking will be very limited.
Give yourself plenty of time and think about catching a ferry, train or bus instead.
Make sure your AT HOP card is in your pocket. It's the best way to ride to the Cup.
For more ways to enjoy race day, visit at.govt.nz/americascup.

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The Government will allow 1000 foreign students to enter the country from April as part of the recovery plan for international education, it has been announced.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the students must be part-way through a degree or postgraduate course and would have to pay for the cost of their time in managed isolation.
Education providers have been lobbying the Government to reopen the border to foreign students, who are worth more than $5 billion a year to the economy.
Hipkins said priority would be given to students who were closest to completing their qualification.
"The students will return to New Zealand in phases, beginning with a cohort of 300 that will be able to return from April, with the remaining students returning throughout the year as MIQ availability allows," he said.
"The return of these students will not affect the ability of Kiwis to return home and it is balanced against the requirement for skilled workers to enter the country. They will be subject to the same border rules and quarantine regime as all other arrivals - with any additional restrictions depending on where they come from."
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says the move is worth $49 million to the economy. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Hipkins said the Government's top priority was the health, safety and wellbeing of all people in New Zealand and it had a responsibility to carefully balance its decisions, to support New Zealand's economic recovery.
"This border exception delivers on a part of the recovery plan for international education. It underscores the Government's commitment to the international education sector, which is important in the country's long-term economic recovery from Covid-19," he said.
Hipkins said the students would need to book their space through the allocation system and would be billed the standard charges for managed isolation.
"They also need to be able to do more to support themselves in New Zealand, with the living expenses that are required for international students to be granted a visa now raised to $20,000 - up from $15,000," he said.
He said the annual economic value of 1000 degree-level international students was estimated to be roughly $49 million in wider economic contribution, including approximately $27 million in tuition fees.
Text by By RNZ

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The unbreakable wall of Republican support that encouraged and enabled Donald Trump's norm-shattering presidency cracked on Wednesday.
A group of 10 House Republicans joined Democrats to impeach Trump for inciting a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., hasn't ruled out convicting Trump during a trial later this month, giving fellow Republicans cover if they chose that option.
The vast majority of House Republicans stood by Trump during the impeachment vote. But in a sign of the president's weakening grip on the party, even some of those who opposed impeachment condemned Trump's behavior and blamed him for sparking the insurrection.
“The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters,” said House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who has been a staunch Trump ally.
It's a dramatic turn of events for a president who has enjoyed virtually unyielding loyalty from his party and was expected to play a key role in shaping the GOP's future. But the impeachment vote demonstrated how challenging the coming months may be for Republicans.
While some are clearly eager to move into a post-Trump era, there's still a large block that will stand with him even after he fueled a riot. Many House Republicans downplayed the significance of the insurrection and Trump's role, drawing false comparisons between the deadly storming of the Capitol by a largely white mob and isolated incidents of looting and violence related to civil rights protests last summer.
“The left in America has incited far more violence than the right,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who was among the 197 who opposed impeachment.
Still, the stunning nature of the mob violence shook many lawmakers. Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, gave rank-and-file conservatives the green light to abandon Trump in a scathing statement on the eve of the vote.
"There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” she said.
More ominously for Trump, McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
In a note to his fellow Republican senators on Wednesday, McConnell confirmed that he had not ruled out voting to convict him in the upcoming Senate trial, which will spill into Biden's presidency.
“While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate," McConnell said.
McConnell also called major Republican donors this weekend to gauge their thinking about Trump and was adamantly told that Trump had clearly crossed a line. McConnell told them he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations. The New York Times first reported McConnell’s views on impeachment on Tuesday.
A growing collection of corporations, many of them reliably Republican donors, have promised to stop sending political donations to any of the 147 Republicans who perpetuated Trump’s false claims of election fraud by voting to reject Biden’s victory last week.
The president's remaining allies warn that Republicans who cross him publicly risk a conservative backlash in their next elections.
“Public and private polling shows Republican grassroots voters strongly oppose impeachment,” said Jason Miller, a Trump senior adviser. “Any Republican senator or congressman voting for impeachment will be held accountable in their next primary election.”
It’s unclear whether the chaos in Washington represents an existential threat to the party, but it almost certainly threatens to undermine the GOP’s...

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Dogs have been recruited to help stop kauri dieback spreading to the islands around Auckland.
Two sniffer dogs have graduated from a Conservation Dog Programme and will help Auckland Council restrict the spread of the tree disease.
Biosecurity team manager Lisa Tolich says they'll be a key part of the regional pest management plan.
She says the dogs will be an active part of the first line of defence, preventing the pathogen moving to the Hauraki Gulf Islands.
Biosecurity dog team lead Brian Shields says it's been five years in the making.
He says they had to train the dogs to hone in on the smell of kauri dieback and make everything else neutral.
Shields says it's like us being able to smell a sugar cube in a teacup, but the dog being able to smell a sugar cube in an entire pool.

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There has been huge demand for Russell Howard's 'Respite' tour, kicking of in Auckland next Tuesday.
If you haven't seen his stand up, there's a great special on Netflix - but he's also known for his satirical take on politics, news, entertainment and all the rest on 'The Russell Howard Hour".
Those shows have racked up 400 million views on social media.
The acclaimed comic is in managed isolation in New Zealand - ahead of one of his first international tours since Covid 19.
Speaking with Tim Dower, Howard says that although he's looking forward to getting out, he's using the time for preparation, not just sitting and wallowing.
LISTEN ABOVE

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Italy has now passed 80,000 deaths from Covid-19.
It comes as the World Health Organisation is warning the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic may be tougher than the first, as more-infectious variants circulate.
Elsewhere in Europe, the United Kingdom's seen just under 85-thousand deaths, and France is approaching 69,000.
Rome correspondent Jo McKenna told Tim Dower Italy's had 500 deaths in the last 24 hours , along with nearly 16,000 infections.
She says the state of emergency has been extended until April, which is depressing for people because it reinforces just how bleak the outlook is.
LISTEN ABOVE

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Into the Clutha region now, and on the banks of the Clutha river is the Tuapeka Punt.
The punt is a water powered ferry that crosses the river, and the only one left in the southern hemisphere.
There were 25 or so of them in their heyday, used to connect a remote gold mining camp to the other side of the river.
Now, it's a quirky attraction.
Tom Jones operates the ferry - known as 'The Punt'- at Tuapeka Mouth, he joined Tim Dower to talk about the attraction.
LISTEN ABOVE

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