Nine To Noon

The Justice Department is conducting a review into the Uvalde school shooting which left 19 pupils and two teachers dead. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have visited Texas to pay their respects at a makeshift memorial to the Robb Elementary School victims. There's been blistering criticism of the police response as the massacre unfolded and gun control legislation is again being hotly debated. Ron says former President, Donald Trump and other Republicans are on the defensive but also quite defiant at same time.

If you've headed overseas lately, you'll know the process isn't as straightforward as it used to be - with pre-departure RAT tests and the New Zealand Traveller Declaration top of a list of bugbears. Most travellers to New Zealand - including citizens - need a pre-departure RAT test uploaded to their online New Zealand Traveller Declaration. Some travellers say the site doesn't work well on mobile, is prone to crashing and doesn't have an option for one form for family members travelling together. Kathryn talks to Greg Hamilton, CEO of TAANZ - about the Declaration process and why he believes pre-departure RATs should be dropped now - and not at the end of July. She'll also speak with Richard Burdon of Glen Dene Hunting near Lake Hawea about why his US clients are tossing New Zealand in the "too hard" basket.

What will it take to foster competition in the supermarket sector and bring down prices at the checkout? The government announced a suite of changes yesterday, including a new industry watchdog which will conduct annual reviews, compulsory unit pricing and a mandatory code of conduct. This is in addition to new laws which will prohibit land-banking by supermarket chains, and ban exclusivity clauses in leases - meaning competitors can more easily find sites. The Food and Grocery Council is warning it could be years before consumers see the benefits of increased supermarket competition. Kathryn speaks with Tex Edwards, founder of the telecommunications company 2 Degrees, who's part of the consortium Northelia, looking at setting up a new supermarket chain. He's also part of the lobby group Monopoly Watch.

Kennedy mixes history and geography, with visits to three remote track destinations in Northland, Marlborough and North Canterbury.

A New Zealand cracker made with spent grain from breweries has been named one of the world's top 50 healthy snacks. Lower Hutt food company Rutherford & Meyer is the first Kiwi producer to use upcycling in a range of products sold nationwide in supermarkets.

Kathryn, Ben and Shane discuss the significance of the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's visit to the US, which includes a meeting with Joe Biden. Also, China's surprise move in the Pacific, has it caught NZ and and Australian foreign policy asleep at the wheel?. And the Government's 6 million dollar response package to crime, and a reflection on Joe Hawke's legacy.

David Hill reviews Eight Hundred Heroes: China's Lost Battalion and the Fall of Shanghai by Stephen Robinson, published by Exisle Publishing

Nick Ashill is a Marketing Professor at Victoria University who is just about to resume an epic run across America - five years after he was seriously injured in a hit and run accident. Nick began his mission across the United States in 2017, but 4000km into the journey got hit at 50mph by a pickup truck. After 16 surgeries, relearning how to walk and then run, he left for the US on Friday and today begins the final 922km of his journey, over a period of 18 days. Along the way, he is raising funds for the New Zealand Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ and the UK-based Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) Trust. He tells Kathryn his remarkable story.

In France, it's been a rocky start for President Macron's newly-appointed prime minister, Elisabeth Borne. The start of the new government has been overshadowed by a storm over rape allegations against a new minister. And the French President and the German Chancellor have held a new phone call with Russia's Vladimir Putin, reportedly urging him to hold direct talks with the Ukrainian leader Zelensky. Meanwhile, Serbia's president, who is seen as Putin's closest ally in Europe, has struck a new three-year gas deal with Russia after a phone call with Putin.

Work is underway to build a network of hydrogen refuelling stations to power a new fleet of low-emission trucks, a move that could significantly decarbonise the country's heavy transport industry. The Taranaki-based energy company Hiringa Energy is building the network, and will be incorporated into existing Waitomo fuelling sites. Work has begun on four initial stations on key transport routes in the North Island; in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton and Palmerston North, and it's hoped to expand to 24 refuelling stations across the country over next four to five years. Hiringa Energy's chief executive Andrew Clennett says heavy transport accounts for more than a quarter of New Zealand's total vehicle emissions, despite making up only four percent of vehicles. He says in terms of emissions, taking one diesel truck off road is the equivalent to removing 150 cars. Kathryn speaks with Andrew Clennett, chief executive of Hiringa Energy and Andy Sinclair, chief executive of Hyundai NZ. Both are board members at the New Zealand Hydrogen Council.