Midday Edition: 02 March 2026

The Midday Edition of News Fix for 02 March 2026, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good afternoon. I'm Malcolm Jordan and this is your midday
news fix for Monday, the second of March. Donald Trump
is promising to avenge the deaths of US soldiers killed
in Iran's retaliation to major strikes by Israel and America.
They killed Supreme Iran leader ayatall A Hamoni and multiple
senior officials. The US president says they've hit hundreds of

(00:24):
Iranian targets, with the most devastating blows yet to come.
He's accusing Iran of waging war against civilization. Three US
soldiers have died and five have been injured. Trump has
just released a video online immense love and eternal gratitude
to the families of the fallen, and sadly there will

(00:44):
likely be more before it ends. That's the way it is.
A New Zealander living in Israel has moved from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem because his apartment didn't have a bomb shelter.
Jordan Grimmer Tufik says the sirens are very disruptive as
usually they pick up intensity during the night, so not
expecting to sleep particularly well this evening. Mean. While the

(01:05):
IA says the conflict makes it extremely likely fuel prices
will rise. At least three ships have been attacked near
the critical Strait of hor Mooz, Principal policy and list
to Terry Collins says fuel supply will depend on how
much it's impacted by the war. Slightly larger than the
Cook Straight In, about twenty percent of the world's crew
in gears go through it, so it's easy to target

(01:26):
vessels within it. A warning. Dunedin's Forsyth Bar Stadium is
in a financially unsustainable position, The ODT reports Dunedan City
councilors are considering two options for managing stadium debt. They've
been warned doing nothing could see debt balloon from eighty
five million dollars to almost two hundred million by twenty sixty.

(01:48):
The first option is the council putting an extra one
point twenty five million into the stadium next year, and
more again the following year, taking annual support to five
point four million dollars and reducing debt to thirty seven
million by twenty sixty. The second would inject two point
twenty five million dollars up front, but leave less room
for unexpected costs. The Prime Minister concedes at times have

(02:12):
been tough for many as he reflects on a poll
showing National behind Labour on a number of key issues.
The first IPSOS Issues Monitor for twenty twenty six has
the major party's neck and neck on economy management, Labour
is the voter's top pick for dealing with housing and healthcare,
and National leads on tackling crime. Prime Minister Chris Luxon

(02:32):
says they came into government after years of high inflation.
The issue is even though we've got inflation in the band,
people still feel life is expensive right because those prices
have been baked in. Inflation from previous years is bakedon.
Police are hunting people who damaged Saint John ambulances in
South Auckland on Saturday. Offenders entered the Monaco station at
Plunket av and Worry Station Road and punctured the tires

(02:56):
of three vehicles. Saint John District Operations Manager Andy Everest
says the vehicles are vital to supporting and serving the
local community. Police are asking for any relevant CCTV or
dashcam footage to sport crusaders prop to Mighty Williams has
been cited for a reckless or dangerous act during their
super rugby win over the Chiefs. Footage shows Williams making

(03:19):
high contact with Tupo Vay at a ruck. Scott McLaughlin's
finished second in the opening race of the New IndyCar
season in Florida. Twenty twenty five series champion Alex Plow
has started his title defense with a first up victory
and the semi finals of Cricket's T twenty World Cup.
We'll see New Zealand play South Africa on Thursday in

(03:39):
Coldcuta and India host England on Friday in Mumbai. I'm
Malcolm Jordan. That's your latest news fix. We'll be back
with the next update at five pm from the news
Talk ZB newsroom.