Nine To Noon

How are your new year's resolution going? If you've already given up on them, you're not alone; researchers have found that most people have abandoned their resolutions and slipped back into old habits by mid-March. So why is it so hard to form good habits, but so easy to make bad ones? Whether you resolved to eat better, exercise more, get organised, or spend less money, despite best intentions, we tend to sabotage ourselves; by being impulsive, forgetful or even just a bit lazy. These are all very human traits, so how can we turn our weaknesses around to work for us? Kathryn speaks to Professor Katy Milkman, who has devoted her career to the study of behaviour change. She's the author of How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be and is a professor at The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and co-directs the Behavior Change For Good Initiative.

Two years on from a brutal military coup in Myanmar, pro-democracy activists have held silent protests to mark the date, while others have gathered outside embassies. The Junta also announced this week that the nationwide state of emergency will be extended, delaying elections that were expected in August. And this week, Hong Kong has imposed stringent restrictions around Cannabidiol declaring it a dangerous drug on the same level as heroin. Possession and consumption of CBD is punishable by a hefty fine and seven years in prison. Importing, exporting or manufacturing CBD is punishable by life imprisonment. Elizabeth Beattie is a journalist based in Tokyo

As flood-weary Aucklanders continue their clean-up from this week's heavy rain, many are dealing with slips that are affecting their property. Hills and cliffs around any number of suburbs in the city have been subject to landslides, with homes around them given red or yellow stickers. But what makes a property vulnerable to slips? Are there any warning signs one is imminent, and if so is there anything you can do? One of those who has been out assessing slips around Auckland over the past few days is Paul Fletcher, an associate at geotechnical engineering firm ENGEO. Slip advice from Auckland Emergency Management To report slips on private land contact the landowner, or if you are the landowner, your insurance company. For landslides that might affect public land, contact Auckland Council on 09 301 0101. For landslides that might affect public roads, contact Auckland Transport on 09 355 3553.

A group of health experts say more and more people are unable to get hospital treatment for non-urgent but important health problems, but successive governments, and the Ministry of Health have blocked efforts to quantify the unmet need. The group of surgeons, public health researchers, and health academics, led by Christchurch surgeon and founder of the Charity Hospital, Professor Phil Bagshaw, have written an editorial in the Medical Journal, published this morning. They say hernia, cataract, gynaecological and dental surgeries are examples of operations needed by many patients who aren't getting them. But they say that repeated calls for proper measuring of the need have been knocked back at every turn, even though they are standard practice in North America, Europe and Scandinavia. Professor Phil Bagshaw says that until the true extent of the need is measured, the government's health reforms can never be said to be delivering.

Six days after losing power in Cook Strait and drifting close to rocks on Wellington's south coast - the Interislander ferry, Kaitaki has just returned to service, but carrying freight only for the next two weeks. The cause of last Saturday's power cut was a fault in the ship's engine cooling system caused by a leaky connection. 864 people were on board. Interislander Executive General Manager Walter Rushbrook says only after further performance and assurance checks will Kaitaki resume taking passengers.

Film and TV correspondent Laumata Lauano joins Kathryn to talk about Not Even, a six-part series centred on a group of Maori and Pasifika friends living in Wellington. She'll also look at K-drama The Glory, which some have pegged as the next Squid Game and Netflix favourite Wednesday.

Perfectionism can prevent children from taking risks but parents can help relieve the pressure, says Australian parenting expert Justin Coulson.

Tech commentator Peter Griffin joins Kathryn to talk about how the developer of OpenAI has released a tool to try to determine if text has been created using artificial intelligence, largely in response to concerns in the education sector about a wave of AI-written essays. He'll also look at what the Labour cabinet reshuffle looks like for the tech sector and the US has enlisted its allies Netherlands and Japan to ramp up computer chip sanctions against China, which will make it harder for China to get access to the highly advanced chips it needs.

What does leadership look like in a disaster? David compares Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's leadership this week with how Bob Parker and Lianne Dalziel coped with the Christchurch earthquakes and terror attacks. He looks at how current Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger's council is faring and whether reality meets the rhetoric and what's happened to the city's Metro Sports facility, one of the anchor projects in the rebuild.

Hannah August reviews three of her favourite books from last year: Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout, published by Penguin; Song of Less by Joan Fleming, published by Cordite and Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers by Emma Smith, published by Penguin