Midday Report

Hapū in Kaikohe have come together to lead a hikoi through the town centre calling for peace amid rising gang violence.

Tensions between the Killer Bees and Tribesmen have spilled to the Far North.

In response to the spate of shootings there and in Auckland, a collective of hapū have placed a rāhui prohibiting gun violence in the town.

Te Tiahotanga makes up a number of the hapū around kaikohekohe.

RNZ reporter Nick Truebridge spoke to Māni Dunlop.

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has secured a meeting with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington next week.

The meeting will be the pinnacle of her trip to the US, which is primarily a trade and tourism mission.

Former National MP and ambassador to the US Tim Groser said the trip had actually been unexpectedly timely.

News from the rural and farming sector.

The cull has continued in the White Ferns with two more players from the World Cup squad left off the New Zealand Cricket's national contract list. Barry Guy reports.

A brief update of movements in the financial sector.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

The Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown will take part in scheduled talks with China's foreign minister Wang Yi this week.

China's foreign minister is currently touring the Pacific as Beijing seeks a region-wide deal with nearly a dozen nations.

The Cook Islands are a self-governing entity within, and part of, the realm of New Zealand. 

New Zealand's prime minister says the Pacific Islands Forum will be "critical" to confronting the latest developments in the region.

RNZ Pacific's Moera Tuilaepa-Taylor spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Second booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will soon be available for those most at risk of getting very sick from an infection.

The Response Minister Chris Hipkins says several hundred thousand people will be eligible for the extra vaccination, including: older people, those living in aged and disabled care facilities, and the severely immunocompromised.

Mr Hipkins says the rollout will begin in mid June, after the Medicines Act is amended.

Vaccinologist associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris, who's a member of the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Vaccine Technical Advisory Group spoke to Māni Dunlop.

Christchurch City councillors will soon vote on how to compensate people in Bromley worst-affected by the overwhelming stench coming from the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Thousands of households have had to deal with a pungent smell since the plant was damaged by fire in November.

RNZ reporter Niva Chittock spoke to Max Towle about what councillors were hearing from the community and its staff.

The government wants to delay the introduction of new insulation standards for homes by another six months, due to concerns raised by the construction sector.

The improved standards were meant to be compulsory by November, but the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment says the construction sector has said it won't be ready by then.

The Green Building Council isn't happy about the delay.

Its chief executive Andrew Eagles spoke to Max Towle.