Midday Report

Midday Business News for 8 June 2023

Auckland councillors are meeting right now to make their final votes on the Mayor's divisive annual budget proposal. Mayor Wayne Brown is promising to roll back funding cuts for arts, culture, and local boards, but only if the $2.3 billion worth of Auckland airport shares are sold.

A formal Parliamentary inquiry has been launched into whether Minister Michael Wood complied with his obligations to declare certain interests under Parliament's Standing Orders. It follows a fresh allegation Mr Wood provided a false response to a media inquiry about conflicts of interest.

The vicious power struggle between Sudan's rival military leaders continues to rage on - now in it's 8th week. The latest conflict has only made an existing humanitarian crisis worse - displacing nearly 1 million people. Former journalist Phil Johnstone has been working with World Vision and has returned after three-and-a-half weeks in South Sudan. He spoke to Worldwatch's Perlina Lau about visiting transit camps for refugees and returnees.

At 240 kilometres long and up to 23 kilometres wide - this dam is of the main geographic features of southern Ukraine. The Nova Kak-hov-ka dam supplies water to the Crimean peninsula and it cools the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. After being blown up - water is surging down the Dnipro river - flooding dozens of towns. Russia controls the dam and has denied destorying it - instead blaming Ukrainian shelling. Around 40 thousand people need to be evacuated and 80 towns and villages are at risk of flooding.

An expert in international law says the destruction of the huge dam in the Russian-controlled area of southern Ukraine amounts to war crimes.

A state of emergency has been declared and between 35 and 70 towns are expected to flood after the wall of water 11 metres high was unleased down the river.

Thousands of people are being evacuated over fears the flooding will be catastrophic.

Ukraine's military and NATO have accused Russia of blowing up the dam, while Russia has blamed Ukraine. 

However University of Waikato Professor of Law Al Gillespie says it's quite simply a war crime.

Fiji's prime minister has been welcomed to parliament in Wellington this morning. Sitiveni Rabuka is on his first official trip to Aotearoa since being elected prime minister in December last year. Mr Rabuka met with prime minister Chris Hipkins and members of his cabinet; as well as Opposition representatives Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee. RNZ Pacific editor Koroi Hawkins has been at Parliament this morning and speaks with Charlotte Cook.

News from the rural farming sector

Midday sports News for 7 June 2023

News from the business sector