Midday Report

The top of the North Island is being urged to brace for Cyclone Gabrielle.

It's formed as a tropical cyclone in the Coral Sea - between Queensland, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

But it's tracking towards Aotearoa New Zealand and could make landfall early next week.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris spoke to Māni Dunlop about what the latest forecasts were showing.

Doctors will be taught about cultural safety as part of their medical training.

That means they'll need to think about how their own culture impacts their work, and be committed to address any biases, attitudes, assumptions, stereotypes, prejudices that may affect the quality of care provided to patients.

The chair of Te Ohu Rata O Aotearoa - Māori Medical Practitioners Association - Professor David Tipene-Leach spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Prime minister Chris Hipkins' new cabinet is in its first meeting today, purging policies, and scrapping schemes.

The ministers assembled for a photo just before lunch and are discussing the government's agenda.

RNZ's deputy political editor Craig McCulloch spoke to Māni Dunlop.

News from the rural farming sector.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson has learnt what the appointment process for the next All Blacks coach looks like and expected New Zealand Rugby to unveil it in the next few days.

News from the business sector.

Advocates for people hardest hit by the flooding in Auckland are backing the Green Party's call to increase civil defence payments.

That Party wants the Government to double the amount it's paying out to flood-affected Aucklanders.

At the moment, a single person needing help to pay for food, clothing, or bedding can get a maximum of $400, while parents with three or more children are eligible for up to $1100.

Auckland Action Against Poverty spokesperson Brooke Stanley Pao spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Rescuers are racing against harsh winter conditions to dig survivors out of the rubble of collapsed buildings in Türkiye and Syria.

The confirmed death toll is nearing eight thousand. 

Türkiye's ambassador to New Zealand Ömür Ünsay spoke to Māni Dunlop about the devastation, rescue efforts, and humanitarian situation.

Rescuers are racing against harsh winter conditions to dig survivors out of the rubble of collapsed buildings in Türkiye and Syria.

The confirmed death toll is nearing eight thousand, and UNICEF says thousands of children may have been killed.

Māni Dunlop reports.

Aotearoa is one of only a handful of island countries well-placed to survive a Nuclear winter.

A new study published in the international journal Risk Analysis found we're one of five, including Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, that would be able to continue to produce food - should we lose sunlight and the temperature plummet.

Nuclear winter type conditions could be cause by nuclear war, super volcano eruptions, or asteroid impacts.

Otago University health professor Nick Wilson spoke to Max Towle about the research.