Morning Report

A government ministry was warned by engineers the bell frame in the National War Memorial Carillion could fail, and the bells fall down and kill people in an earthquake.

It was told to check the frame but did not, for eight years.

Checks were only done this year - rating the frame at so far below quake standards the tower has had to close.

Phil Pennington is looking into this.

A review of Covid-19 clusters in aged care homes has found staff were treated like "lepers" and suffered online abuse and harassment from neighbours.

They've described the stress and tension during Alert Level 4 and an "atmosphere of fear" among staff and management.

The review found once an outbreak was identified, staff numbers would drop 40 percent because staff were either terrified of catching the virus or were close contacts of an infected person.

They described the period as "complete chaos".

Chief executive of the New Zealand Aged Care Association Simon Wallace speaks to Kim Hill.

America's top general has apologised for appearing alongside Donald Trump last week for a photo-opportunity in central Washington DC, after a number of protesters had been forcefully removed from the scene by authorities.

During the photo-op, the President held a Bible outside of St John's Church.

There was condemnation for the presence of General Mark Milley, from Democrats, as well as retired military leaders.

Retired US Colonel Mike Jason speaks to Morning Report.

New Zealand First is calling for an independent review into the arming of frontline police officers with military-grade assault rifles.

Semi-automatics are routinely stored in a lock box in patrol cars.

The party says scrapping the Police Armed Response Teams was the right move, and now is the time to rethink the firearms police use.

MP Ron Mark says given the ban on semi-automatic weapons, the police are now facing a reduced threat from a disarmed public.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

The Auckland light rail project looks dead in the water for now, with coalition partner New Zealand First refusing to back it before the election.

The promise to build light rail from downtown Auckland to the airport was made by Jacinda Ardern in her first policy announcement as Labour leader ahead of the 2017 general election.

But three years on, RNZ has been told New Zealand First plans to stop the multi-billion dollar project dead in its tracks.

RNZ political reporter Katie Scotcher speaks to Kim Hill.

The Chiefs coach Warren Gatland says the Highlanders will be desperate and dangerous in tomorrow night's Super Rugby Aotearoa opener in Dunedin, despite the southerners being written off by the bookies.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Otago University is seeing sometimes harrowing cases of hardship among its students because of the lockdown.

It says students have lost part-time jobs or financial support from their families as businesses cut back.

The university set up a special hardship fund because of the pandemic and so far it has made 345 grants totalling more than $650,000.

The president of the university's students' association, Jack Manning, told RNZ education correspondent, John Gerritsen, that it too is seeing a lot of student hardship.

The Wellington City Council is cutting the speed limit on the vast majority of the CBD's streets from 50km/h to 30km/h.

It's part of a first wave of measures in the multi-billion dollar overhaul of transport in the city called Let's Get Wellington Moving.

However, the main arterial routes will stay at 50km/h an hour, including Taranaki and Vivian Streets, Kent and Cambridge Terrace and Jervois Quay.

It's estimated 64 percent of Wellingtonians support the change, and these people in downtown Wellington agree.

The Auckland light rail project looks dead in the water with coalition partner New Zealand First refusing to back it before the election.

The National Party says the Government has broken a key promise by not delivering light rail in Auckland.

While the official line is that negotiations are ongoing, RNZ understands New Zealand First will not back the proposal and has sent a letter to the Transport Minister Phil Twyford saying just that.

RNZ has been told New Zealand First does not support the cost or scale of the plan to build light rail from the city to the airport, as well the potential involvement of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

The opposition transport spokesperson Chris Bishop is demanding Twyford release the letter from New Zealand First - and told RNZ political reporter Katie Scotcher he's confident it contains bad news.

Twyford declined to be interviewed when contacted by RNZ.