The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Russian President Vladimir Putin is rejecting an initial ceasefire deal with Ukraine, and instead proposing direct talks to start in Istanbul this week. 

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland visited Ukraine over the weekend, setting tomorrow as a deadline for Russian to accept a 30 day ceasefire or face additional sanctions.

The Trump Administration said it will impose additional sanctions on Russia if they don't...

The Prime Minister says the Government is making work on restrictions to social media for New Zealanders under the age of 16 part of its official programme.

It will sit with Education Minister Erica Stanford, whose portfolio will be expanded to allow her to commission advice and direct officials from a range of departments on reducing social media harm for those under 16.

As it’s a Member’s Bill, it needs to be drawn from Parliamen...

Developments are being made in the US and China trade talks. 

A top Trump economic adviser says about two dozen trade deals are in the works with the country. 

Talks took place in Switzerland over the weekend. 

Greg Smith of Devon Funds Management talks to Mike Hosking about the negotiations, British Airways buying billions of dollars worth of planes and why BP's in the crosshairs of a takeover suiter. 

LISTEN A...

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big-ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all. 

Anthony Albanese: 8/10 

Better than anyone, and I suspect even he, expected. 

Nigel Farage: 8/10 

Better than anyone, and I suspect even he, expected. 

Donald Trump: 6/10 

Between the redecorating tips, the movie move, the GDP going backwards, Mark Carney, whatev...

Two entrepreneurs are bringing Kiwi ingenuity to the world stage. 

Dan Wallace and Anthony Clyde, co-founders of Velduro, have won gold at the 33rd Annual China International Bicycle Fair. 

Their ‘super light carbon’ e-bike beat out 600 other bikes for the prize. 

Wallace told Mike Hosking they entered the bike in February in the hope they would get some recognition and to put New Zealand on a bit of a stage. 

H...

In the NZR press release yesterday, Chairman David Kirk and CEO Mark Robinson did their best to infer that life financially for the sport is sensational. 

Despite the fact it isn't. 

They lost money, almost $20 million. And they lost money the year before that as well. 

Kirk ran the line that it was not a cash loss and that they had $170-ish million in reserves. 

They also spruiked the fact that they were pullin...

On the Mike Hosking Breakfast Full Show Podcast for Friday 9th of May, we got the white smoke, and the cardinals have elected Robert Prevost to become the next Pope. He's the first American Pope and will take on the name Leo XIV. 

NZ Rugby have had their third full year financial loss in a row, despite record revenue. CEO Mark Robinson is on to explain whether the model, or something else, needs to change. 

Kate Hawkesby ...

New Zealand Rugby has posted a $19.5 million loss for 2024. 

Since NZR brought US fund manager Silver Lake on as an equity partner in June 2022, the national body has posted total accumulated losses of around $76 million over three years. 

NZR is trumpeting record income of $285 million dollars against the loss. 

CEO Mark Robinson told Mike Hosking that much of the deficit is as a result of investment, and putting al...

New Zealand banks are being asked to pay up in the next few months. 

Kiwibank, BNZ, Westpac, ANZ and ASB will need to repay around $9.2 billion in cheap Covid-era loans to the Reserve Bank. 

Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen told Mike Hosking that they have variety of options they can use to repay the money. 

He says the banks knew when taking out these loans they’d have to pay them back eventually. 

Ol...

The Government's scraped the bottom of the barrel to find more money for the upcoming Budget. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's promising an extra $400 million for maintaining and upgrading assets, on top of the already projected $3.6 billion. 

He says he wants to prioritise growing the economy. 

Infrastructure New Zealand Policy Director Michelle McCormick told Mike Hosking things are looking up after the investme...

The new Pope's experience around the globe has hoisted him above front-runners for the papacy.  

69-year-old Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV, is the first Pope to come from the United States.  

While he was born in Chicago, he's also a naturalised Peruvian having lived there for about 20 years, and speaks English, Spanish, and Italian. 

Newstalk ZB's Jo McKenna is at the Vatican and told Mike Hoskin...

The Government's planning to increase ventilation requirements in new homes to address overheating in townhouses. 

RNZ reports Auckland homeowners have complained of 30-degree temperatures overnight due to poorly ventilated buildings. 

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says changes are needed so people don't get cooked alive in their own house. 

Property developer and investor David Whitburn told Mike Hos...

Donald Trump's tariffs continue to loom over the film industry. 

The New Zealand Film Commission is embarking on an international trade mission of its own. 

The team is headed to India, the UK, and France to look for new investment partnerships and international productions. 

Chief Executive Annie Murray told Mike Hosking co-production is on the rise, despite the tariffs. 

He says there's a lot of business happe...