The Maori Party says it would strongly prefer to work with Labour and that’s what its voters feel more comfortable with; and passengers on the quarantined Diamond Princess fear they could be looking at an extension of the 14 day period they are required to spend in isolation.
1.A Mataura farmer says there is potentially millions of dollars of damage done to farms in the area. The local river swells due to heavy rain and threatens to burst its flood defences, forcing the evacuation of low lying areas of Gore, Mataura and Wyndham.
2.Passengers on the quarantined Diamond Princess fear they could be looking at an extension of the 14 day period they are required to spend in isolation. 20 passengers and crew of the cruise ship including one New Zealander have been confirmed as infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.
3.Chinese media have changed a report that a doctor who blew the whistle on the coronavirus outbreak has died of the infection. The state-run Global Times said Li Wenliang had died in Wuhan but later reported he was instead critically ill. Li Wenliang was working as an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital when he sent out a warning to fellow medics on 30 December.
4.The Maori Party says it would strongly prefer to work with Labour and that’s what its voters feel more comfortable with. It’s President Che Wilson says 2020 is do or die for the party which lost its place in Parliament last election.
5.The Transport Agency is short of millions of dollars needed to update old IT systems crucial to providing road safety information. Documents released to RNZ say several poor regulating systems are insecure or past their useful life.
6.The Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi is expected to reveal some details today of a plan that will shape the future of public broadcasting in New Zealand. On the table is a proposal to create a new super-sized broadcaster to replace TVNZ and RNZ.
7.In the American state of Iowa the first where democrats name their pick for the party’s Presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg are virtually tied with precincts having reported.
