The New Zealand and Australian governments have announced plans to evacuate foreign nationals trapped in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus outbreak began.

The extensive media coverage here of the death of Los Angeles Lakers star, Kobe Bryant, got us thinking about how basketball has become a huge sport in New Zealand. Its growth at secondary school level has set it on a trajectory to become the dominant major sport played by Kiwis in the next decade. Basketball NZ's community manager, Brad Edwards chats to Karyn Hay about why basketball resonates so much with New Zealanders.

Well known New Zealand author, journalist and broadcaster Gordon McLauchlan has died at the age of 89. Author Graeme Lay pays tribute to his long-time friend.

One baby died and another suffered a brain injury in what the Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner calls a 'pattern of poor care' at the Hutt Valley District Health Board's maternity ward. Two reports released today say the DHB failed to adequately monitor the babies' heart rates during labour. Karyn speaks with Deputy Commissioner Rose Wall about the reports.

2020 has got off to a great start for birdwatchers looking for rare birds. It seems the bushfires are forcing more birds than usual to fly across the Tasman. Two Cuckoos have been spotted in the Nelson area within a week of each other and swifts have also been seen in parts of the country. Mike Bell is Managing Director of Wildlife Management International and one of the co-ordinators of Bird NZ's ambitious five-year mapping project, The Bird Atlas.

This afternoon the Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and the Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay explained the work that's happening to make sure New Zealand is prepared to deal with any novel coronavirus outbreak. Dr Bloomfield said that New Zealand is prepared and the likelihood of a sustained outbreak in New Zealand remains low. Karyn speaks with Dr Michael Baker, Professor of Public Health of Otago University about how the virus is tracking internationally and what we might expect in New Zealand.

And for the last Lately Book Club of the year, Catherine Woulfe, author and Editor of Books and 1972 Magazine at the Spinoff with a few of her favourites from 2019.

Banksy - the anonymous England-based street artist who has been active since the 1990s - has created a new art work "the Scar of Bethlehem" which features a nativity scene with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus, but instead of a star hanging over the crib there is a what appears to be a bullet hole piercing a grey wall. The Scar of Bethlehem has appeared at the Walled Off Hotel which Banksy helped set up, that overlooks the border wall between Israel and Palestine in the divided city of Bethlehem, and Karyn speaks with the hotel's manager, Wasim Salsaa.

The message is simple - give native trees this holiday season - so if you're stumped for that particularly difficult person to buy for this Christmas, give them a tree. Karyn speaks with Project Crimson's Adele Fitzpatrick about planting native trees throughout New Zealand.

Greg Egerton is the New Zealand butcher of the year. He's recently opened his own butchery, Prices Street Butcher and Kitchen and this week he's been so flat out, he's pretty much sold out! And he couldn't be happier! He chats with Karyn about cuts of meat you might not have thought of to grace the Christmas table and new ways to try cooking cuts of meat you've always cooked the same old way.