Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on the first transatlantic flight powered by alternative fuels taking off from Heathrow airport

Are disruptions in the Red Sea hitting New Zealand as hard?

Freedom Furniture has reported a $9 million loss in profit, saying that it’s partially due to the chaos in the Middle East. 

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Mike Hosking that the disruptions are impacting businesses in quite different ways, depending on whether they’re using that route to ship to Europe. 

The challenge for us, he said, is shipping delays. 

A delay of 14-21 days will have spill over effects for businesses lasting a fair bit of time. 

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For the second time in as many weeks, Kiwibank and ASB have reduced their fixed mortgage rates.  

It follows falls in wholesale rates on the expectation that central banks are getting closer to cutting their benchmark rates. 

ASB’s Chief Economist, Nick Tuffley, told Mike Hosking what people are seeing is the settling of rates and the response to news over the last week. 

The market is still reasonably patchy, but according to Tuffley its likely to even out slightly as interest rates come down. 

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The Princess of Wales has admitted to editing an image of her and her three children.  

The first image since her abdominal surgery, it was posted to mark Mother's Day in the UK.  

It was then pulled by numerous media photo agencies over concerns it'd been manipulated.  

Catherine says like many amateur photographers, she occasionally experiments with editing.  

Daily Mirror Royal Editor Russell Myers told Mike Hosking that he's not sure why they'd publish the photo themselves or send the photo to the world's media organisations.  

He says there's still a litany of issues: how much it was edited, how many photos it was taken from, and when it was edited. 

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The Property Investors' Federation says easing rents relies on many factors.

The Government's re-introducing interest deductibility for landlords.

They'll be able to claim 80 percent of interest expenses from April, and 100 percent from April 2025.

The Government says it'll ease pressure on rents, also benefiting tenants.

Property Investors' Federation President Sue Harrison told Mike Hosking that the pressure on rents, has come from insufficient rental properties.

She says they've been put under high pressure from high interest rates, and the money has to come from somewhere.

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The Green's new co-leadership could look different under Chloe Swarbrick.

The Auckland Central MP has won the race to replace James Shaw, and will lead the party alongside Marama Davidson.

Former Greens MP Gareth Hughes says Swarbrick's assertive approach to politics is a contrast from Shaw.

But he told Mike Hosking that people are looking for passion and authenticity in politics - and some will be drawn to her values.

Hughes says people wrote her off in Auckland Central but she won overwhelmingly - so she's someone who's able to reach across and attract voters.

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A US military ship is on its way to Gaza, carrying equipment to build a temporary pier off the coast.

It comes after President Biden announced the US would build a floating harbour to help get aid into Gaza by sea.

They had carried out an airdrop on Sunday, parachuting in more than 11-thousand meals.

Europe correspondent Gavin Grey spoke to Mike Hosking about what it will contain.

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The Associate Finance Minister says the last Government removing landlords' interest deductibility was a tax grab.

The current Government's re-introducing it.

They'll be able to claim 80 percent of interest expenses from April, and 100 percent from next April.

David Seymour told Mike Hosking that they've restored the integrity of the tax system.

He says if you invest in any business or commercial property, you're allowed to deduct interest costs from taxable income.

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The Black Caps have one last shot against Australia. 

Today the final test match against the Australian side takes place at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, kicking off at 11am. 

Newstalk ZB’s Cricket Correspondent Andrew Alderson told Mike Hosking that last night was the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s first taste of victory over Australia back in 1974. 

So, if New Zealand needs any belief today, he said, the 50th anniversary might do it. 

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A former National Minister says this Government's changes are a big turn-around from the last.

The Government's first 100 days are virtually up, and it's ticked off almost all of its 49 items.  

Many of the things on the list were to unpick the last government's changes or to begin work on their plans.  

The last point to tick off is setting major targets for the health system, and that's expected to be crossed off today.  

Former Cabinet Minister Maurice Williamson told Mike Hosking that it's a change from the last Government saying it'd do things and not doing them.  

He says former MPs can be critical, thinking they were better, but he says this is the best he's ever seen. 

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There’s more belief in the housing market. 

ASB's latest Housing Confidence survey shows net 51% of people expect house prices to rise. 

It's the highest reading since October 2021, before the start of the most recent housing market downturn. 

Senior Economist Kim Mundy says last time expectations were at this level, annual house price growth was at almost 30%  - this time it's at 2.2%. 

So, she says, while it doesn't necessarily point to a degree of house price growth, it does suggest house prices can lift over the coming year. 

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