Morning Report

A man is killed in a shootout with police in Tauranga. There's been a huge spike in coronavirus numbers in China - up another 15-thousand and rain and gales are set to hammer the lower South Island again.

A probe has launched from Cape Canaveral on a quest to a close, unprecedented look at our star.

The Solar Orbiter is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA to study the Sun from close quarters.

The probe is packed with cameras and sensors that will look reveal new insights on the workings of the sun.

Corin Dann speaks to to Dr Alex Young.

There are warnings about a viral social media challenge on the popular video sharing platform Tik Tok which can cause injuries.

One of TikTok's newest challenges involves three participants who stand in a line and jump.

But when the middle person's feet leave the ground, the people on each side kick the middle person's feet out from under them, causing them to fall backward and possibly smack their head on the ground.

The prank known as the jump or skull breaker challenge has left some children across South America and the US with skull fractures and other injuries.

Internet Safety group Netsafe's Director, Martin Cocker spoke to RNZ reporter Eleisha Foon about his concerns about Tik Tok and its latest dare.

Farmers in parts of Waikato are looking skyward hoping at least 100 millimetres of rain will fall within the next two weeks as an extreme dry takes hold in the region.

Northern, central and eastern Waikato haven't seen any decent rain since December and that comes after a fairly dry year.

While drought-like conditions in Northland have been declared an adverse event, a similar call is yet to be made in Waikato.

RNZ reporter, Andrew McRae has been out to visit farmers and find out how they are coping.

Schools that are not in the government's donation scheme are worried it is hurting their ability to collect tens of millions of dollars from families.

They say the scheme has raised parents' awareness that payments for field trips and camps are optional, and some are confused about what they can be charged for.

More than 1500 schools have signed up the programme, which pays $150 per child to schools in deciles one through seven that don't ask for donations.

Here's RNZ education correspondent, John Gerritsen.

Ahead of a major review of Māori media, Māori Television has reminded MPs the network hasn't had a funding increase in 11 years.

At a Māori Affairs Select Committee yesterday, Māori Television's executive team laid bare the funding disparities it continues to face.

Te Aniwa Hurihanganui was there.

Women dominate the line up of finalists in this year's Halberg Award, the highest honour in New Zealand sport.

Four out of five finalists in the team of the year category are female teams.

The Black Caps are the only male team to earn a nomination.

RNZ sports reporter, Barry Guy, has been looking at the finalists.

A brief update on the movements in the financial sector.

Bernie Sanders has won the New Hampshire primary, the second stage in the Democratic race to find a challenger to President Trump in November's presidential election.

Sanders declared the night "the beginning of the end" of Trump.

But close behind Sanders was the former mayor Pete Buttegieg and also Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar.

It was a disappointing night for Joe Biden, who came in 5th place. Brent Budowsky is a political columnist for The Hill.

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the socialist warhorse from Vermont, is celebrating victory in the New Hampshire primary, the second key state to vote in the race for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination.

He forced Pete Buttigieg, the former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, into second place, with Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota coming third.

The result is a disaster for former Vice President Joe Biden, and raises questions about the future viability of his campaign.

Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports.