Nine To Noon

Ron says the presidential cycle is beginning in both Democrat and Republican stables, he looks at who is in the running so far. Also uncertainty abounds about the direction of the US economy, the war in Ukraine and US-China relations. And there's much talk about President Biden's age, and former President Trump's uncertain status with both the law and with Republican voters. Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News.

Coeliac disease is an auto-immune disorder triggered by gluten which can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss, fatigue and anaemia. It affects one per cent of the world's population. Otago University Associate Professor of public health and member of the Coeliac New Zealand Medical Advisory Panel, Kirsten Coppell, says the incidence of the disease is increasing in New Zealand, as it is globally. She says while there are more and more gluten free products available, some can still contain traces of gluten, and that many staff in cafes and restaurants have no knowledge of best practice.

Frustrated Wellington commuters are facing lengthy waits for full buses, as "mad March" hits amid a driver shortage. A hundred services have been suspended as Metlink grapples with a shortage of 120 drivers. The problem is exacerbated in March as students return to school. The Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council Daran Ponter says half hour bus journeys are taking an hour.

The country's largest insurer, IAG, has been inundated with flood and cyclone claims, more in the last two months than in all of last year. IAG's brands include AMI, State Insurance and NZI. Since January, it has received nearly 40,000 claims. IAG New Zealand Chief Executive Amanda Whiting says they estimate 20,000 homes across the country are at risk of severe flooding, and the company is actively working with the government's Cyclone Recovery Taskforce, lead by Sir Brian Roche, about where flood-damaged houses should be written off for good.

Outdoorsman Kennedy Warne looks at Seaweek, a country-wide programme held annually in New Zealand which involves beach clean-ups, community snorkelling days, film screenings, lecturers and - in Waiheke - something called a conscious swim. It comes as the UN agreed on language for a new treaty to facilitate international protection of the high seas. But, Kennedy says it is is not just the undersea world that brings that quieting of the mind. So too the underworld on land. He has just spent time walking and boating through the limestone caves at Waitomo courtesy of a tourism venture aptly named Spellbound.

When a swarm of bees kept relocating to the walls of Jay Bennett's bush house every summer, the Taupō man started thinking about how to put his regular visitors to use.

After picking up a "bee suit" and a copy of Practical Beekeeping in New Zealand, Jay eventually became the keeper of hundreds of hives in the Taupo region. Two years on, he's turning his delicious honey into alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages at the craft meadery Beehave.

Gareth and Brigitte join Kathryn to look at National leader Christopher Luxon's state of the nation speech yesterday with its focus on lowering childcare costs, the Prime Minister's apology for his downplaying of crime in Cyclone Gabrielle-ravaged parts of the country and the sacking of Rob Campbell from his two positions and what he may have revealed about Ministers' positions on co-governance. Gareth Hughes is a former Green MP and now works for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa. Brigitte Morten is a director with public and commercial law firm Franks & Ogilvie and a former senior ministerial advisor for the previous National-led government.

David looks at a legal case being brought against Environment Canterbury over the way it's handled water take limits on the Rakaia River, following the leaking of a draft report from within the regional council itself which suggested a water conservation order was being breached. He'll also look at staffing issues within the Christchurch City Council - including the continued absence of two senior managers.

Joanna Ludbrook from Chicken and Frog Books in Featherston reviews Below by David Hill, published by Penguin.

Millions of people around the world experience chronic pain but little is really known about it or how to best treat it. Paul Biegler is a former doctor, academic and science journalist who started investigating chronic pain after pain from a knee injury endured for months longer than he expected it to. He was given pain killers and told he'd need surgery. Then he began reading about the idea that your brain can think you have an injury when you no longer do. His book is called Why does it still hurt? How the power of knowledge can overcome chronic pain. He joins Kathryn from Monash University in Melbourne.