Nine To Noon

Sonny Bill Williams, a star across three rugby codes, an NZPBA heavyweight boxing champion, and an Olympian. During his 17-year rugby career, he was part of the Rugby World Cup winning sides in 2011 and 2015, as well as a Super Rugby title with the Chiefs. And in league, where he started out, he won NRL titles with the Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters.

Pfizer has applied for approval for the Covid vaccine to be used in US children aged 5-11. And a federal court has temporarily reinstated a controversial abortion ban in Texas just days after a lower court suspended it. The fight is expected to continue on in the courts.

Pacific Islands without high-speed internet - or any internet at all - are eager to be connected to the rest of the world, but geopolitical tensions threaten to derail planned infrastructural work. Much of the Pacific is linked by undersea internet cables, connecting either to Sydney, Guam or Hawaii, and while connections have increased in recent years, many countries still rely on a single cable or have none at all.

How will our hospitals cope with an increase in patients with Covid-19? And how quickly could they become overwhelmed? One hundred extra ICU or high dependency units have been added in the past year, and all health care workers will have to be fully vaccinated by the first of December.

Kennedy explore the impact Covid restrictions having on the natural world. Does nature respond to the reprieve? Also, is there anything to learn from the spate of young seals washing up on beaches in the Hauraki Gulf?

Comfort food for unsettling times. An Auckland designer donut making couple say business is booming. Daniel and Annie Black are the owners of Grown Up Donuts, and been inundated with orders through lockdown keeping delivery staff busy. Their three stores were closed during level four, but since starting up the business three and a half years ago, growth has been steady.

Neale, Liam and Kathryn discuss the Government's gamble on Covid strategy, was it a politics driven decision?. Also the dilemmas over vaccine passports and slowness on supplementary testing. Does this give National room to gain ground?

Harry Broad reviews The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbo, published by Penguin Random House NZ.

Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, and a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner. Her latest book, co-written with Philip Rucker details the extraordinary actions of senior military leaders who feared a possible coup in the final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency.

Thomas reflects on Angela Merkel's legacy, and updates on the ongoing coalition negotiations following last month's landmark election which marked the end of Angela Merkel's 16 years as Chancellor.