Morning Edition: 16 January 2026

The Morning Edition of News Fix for 16 January 2026, straight from the Newstalk ZB newsroom - bringing you everything you need to know in news, politics, business, entertainment and sport.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good morning. I'm Wendy Petree and this is your morning
news fix for Friday, the sixteenth of January. In this update,
severe thunderstorms have been battering much of the Upper and
central North Island overnight. MATT Service has been issuing a
string of severe thunderstorm warnings throughout the night, forecasting very
heavy rain and in some cases frequent lightning. It's been

(00:23):
warning a potential surface and flash flooding, hazardous driving conditions
and power surges. Severe thunderstorm watches have been issued for
Witicuto till seven am, and Gisbon and Hawkes Bay until
eleven A heavy rain warning remains in place for Bay
of Plenty and Routuroa also until eleven am. How deeply
Scott Robertson's departure wounds the All Blacks inevitably hinges on

(00:46):
next year's World Cup performance. New Zealand Rugby has confirmed
Rays's resignation as coach two years into a four year contract.
Player frustration has been brewing during his tenure, but seemingly
came to a head with a scathing internal review late
last year. PEDPR partner Jack Wheeler says the All Blacks
brand is built on winning and the reputational damage could

(01:07):
boil down to future results. This decision to remove Scott
Robertson will either be looked upon as a stroke of
genius or one of the biggest mistakes in recent memory.
The victims of a late night to train attack by
thirty Auckland teenagers so they've had minimal contact from officials
and are still suffering months on. Three women and a
man in their early twenties were jumped at Morningside station

(01:29):
on Halloween last year. Emilyancel reports.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
The man says he was king hit and the women
pulled off the train by their hair, one suffering a
deep cut on her hand from a wine bottle. Three
were concussed, with one woman still going to the concussion clinic,
suffering severe headaches and even collapsing. Auckland Transports say they
shared investigation findings with the victims in November, finding staff
took every step to intervene.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Wellington's Central Library is officially reopening, but with eighty thousand
fewer books on the shelves. It's undergone a two hundred
and seventeen million dollar renovation job, with its collection having
to be reduced to three hundred and seventy thousand books
since closing almost seven years ago. Cowsel spokesperson says the
books have been given away, sold or destroyed. He says
key priorities were attention for materials from Walentonian's New Zealand

(02:18):
and the South Pacific with the special awareness of Maori
and Maori authors. The World Trade Organization may soon be
dead in the water. Aided by Donald Trump's frenzied start
to the year, the US President has abruptly pulled out
of sixty six global institutions, signaling the collapse of the
international rules based order. Auckland University law professor Jane Calsey

(02:40):
says the US is playing by its own rules. She
says New Zealand's been an exemplary player in the global
trade system, sometimes to our detriment. We need to be
able to open up the debate and not simply hunkered
down to try to rescue something that's failing. To Sport
and New Zealand, a rugby chair day David Kirk expects

(03:01):
Sardy Savia to play for the All Blacks this year.
The sides vice captain had reportedly been dissatisfied with the
environment formerly led by departing coach Scott Robertson. Severe thunderstorms
have been kept a quarter final play to a minimum.
The ASB Tennis Classic. Markoski Rohne is the only player
through to the last four and golfer Daniel Hillier is

(03:22):
tied for ninth after carding a two under pass sixty
nine and the first round of the Dubai Invitational on
the European Tour. He's three strokes behind leader Rory McElroy.
H'm Wendy Petrie. That's your latest news fix. We'll be
back with the next update at midday from the News
Talk said B Newsroom.