Nine To Noon

Christchurch's Hotel Give is the country's first social enterprise hotel, where all profits go straight back into the community to fund programmes for young people and others who need support. The Hereford Street hotel is owned by the YMCA, and will help to fund a youth technology centre, programmes for adults with special needs and disabilities, adult rehabilitation and a specialist fitness and wellbeing team. Kathryn talks with YMCA Chief Executive Josie Ogden Schroeder.

The Covid-19 outbreak is putting New Zealand's intensive bed capacity under increased strain and there's growing concern about the consequences of a wider and more significant outbreak of Delta in the country. There are approximately five beds for every 100-thousand people, placing New Zealand near the bottom of the OECD rankings. Even when the health system is operating at normal levels without Covid-19, ICU can struggle to meet demand. Now, Auckland hospitals are asking other regions to send intensive care nurses, plus general nurses for MIQ facilities, to help with the outbreak. Dr Rob Bevan is the vice president of the College of Intensive Care Medicine and is an intensive care specialist at Middlemore Hospital.

How will Covid-19 vaccines fit with our jobs? Covid-19 vaccines are going to be a part of our future going forward - but where will they fit with our jobs? Some workers are already subject to mandatory vaccination orders - mainly people working in our MIQ facilities or at our border. But what those working with at-risk groups, like those in the aged care sector, or employees in essential services? Joining Kathryn in the legal slot today is employment lawyer Catherine Stewart.

The Lonely Islands: How NZ evolved in isolation Terry Thomsen has written a book that digs deep into how New Zealand's unique native life came to be. It's called The Lonely Islands: The evolutionary phenomenon that is New Zealand. It looks at New Zealand's Gondwanan origins and its separation, the impact of the mass extinction event 66 million years ago, ice ages and how its plants and animals evolved in isolation at the bottom of the world.

Phil Vine reviews Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson, published by Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand.

Media professor Sarah Coyne has a message for parents concerned that their children are into Disney princesses - relax. After studying the effects of 'princess culture', Coyne discovered that embracing princesses at the age of four or five has no negative impact on kids and may even be beneficial.

Australia correspondent Karen Middleton joins Kathryn to talk about the Covid situation, with states now into their third, fourth and tenth week of lockdown as premiers push back against talk by Prime Minister Scott Morrison about opening up when vaccination rates hit 70 or 80 percent. The PM has warned its unlikely a land corridor will be established to pull out Afghans who helped Australia and couldn't be evacuated by yesterday's deadline. And in some good news - Australia's Paralympian Dylan Allcott is on the verge of a "golden slam".

A new service for employers doing background checks on new staff, helps to protect new recruits' privacy. MyChecks allows a business to check all the usual types of information for assessing potential employees, including criminal backgrounds, driver's licenses, credit checks and on-line references. But rather than detailed reports it gives employers simple interpretations to help keep private information at arm's length.

US President has defended the chaotic withdrawal of troops following the official end of America's 20 year conflict in Afghanistan. Joe Biden addressed the nation this morning - and spoke of refusing to continue a war that was no longer in the vital interests of the American people. President Biden has faced criticism, particularly from Republicans over the way the withdrawal of American troops and civilians unfolded. More than 100,000 people were airlifted from Kabul airport but around 100 Americans were left behind. US correspondent Simon Marks is with us.

President Joe Biden has again addressed the American people about the withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying continuing a military presence would not enhance the safety and security of America. The US 20 year military involvement came to an end yesterday with the final flight out of Kabul airport, leaving chaos and an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The aid agencies Medicins Sans Frontiere and the Red Cross are warning Afghanistan's healthcare system is at risk of collapse, and foreign donors have stopped providing aid since the Taliban takeover. Kathryn speaks with Afghan born British doctor Waheed Arian, who fled to the UK when he was just 15, during the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.He studied medicine at Cambridge University, works as a NHS radiologist, as well as running Arian Teleheal, a global charity connecting specialists all over the world with doctors in warzones.