Morning Report

The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in Invercargill has recorded a $300 million loss - blaming the result on high power prices and a volatile market.

Rio Tinto owns the smelter and said last year it would be reviewing the plant's future, given drastic fluctuations in global aluminium prices.

Graham Budd is the chief executive of Great South, the Southland regional development agency.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

The number of over-55s ending up on the jobseeker benefit is steadily on the rise, prompting calls for employers to change their attitudes to older workers.

Advocates say keeping older people in the workforce has plenty of benefits, but some employers still opt for fresh blood over someone with a wealth of experience.

RNZ social issues reporter Sarah Robson has the story

The four men facing Serious Fraud Office charges over electoral donations, including sitting MP Jami-Lee Ross, have their first appearance at court today.

The charges relate to two $100,000 donations paid to the National Party - one in 2017 and the second in 2018.

RNZ political editor, Jane Patterson, looks at the chain of events leading up to today's appearance at the Auckland District Court.

More than 30 people have been injured after a car drove into a crowd attending a carnival parade in Germany.

Small children are among the injured in the western German town of Volkmarsen.

The driver of the car, a 29-year-old German citizen, has been arrested.

Correspondent Thomas Sparrow is in Germany.

Warning: Some people may find parts of this story distressing.

A mother grieving for her son who died in state care says she is devastated that Oranga Tamariki did not alert her as soon as he was rushed to hospital.

Fourteen-year-old Sonny Marks died on New Years Day in 2019 from suspected suicide but his mother Ana Ransfield says she was not told until nearly two hours after he died, robbing her of a final chance to see him alive.

Māori news correspondent Leigh-Marama McLachlan reports.

The World Health Organization has said the world should do more to prepare for a possible coronavirus pandemic.

The WHO says it is too early to call the outbreak a pandemic but countries should be "in a phase of preparedness" as more cases of the virus continue to emerge.

Yesterday the Government extended the China travel ban until at least 3 March, to reduce the possibility of an outbreak here.

The Health Minister David Clark speaks to Susie Ferguson.

World markets have plunged as the number of coronavirus cases outside China surge.

The Dow was down by a thousand points at midday in New York following steep losses in Asia and Europe.

Here the NZX had its worst day in four months and in Australia A$50 billion was wiped off the ASX.

Bloomberg senior editor John Authers is on the line from New York.

Disgraced Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, has been convicted of sexual assault by a New York jury.

However, he was acquitted on two counts of predatory sexual assault - the most serious charges he faced - that could have sent him to prison for the rest of his life.

Weinstein - who is 67 years old - was one of Hollywood's most powerful men - and the prosecutor's case was that he used that power to keep his victims silent.

Justice James Burke ordered Weinstein to be held in custody and he was put in handcuffs by officers in court. He faces up to 25 years in prison on the sexual assault conviction.

New York correspondent William Denselow speaks to Susie Ferguson.

The Black caps captain Kane Williamson says there wasn't any talk within his side about rebounding from their humiliation in Australia earlier this summer.

News from the business sector, including a market report.