Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Newstalk ZB

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 21 June 2024, how did a power pylon just topple over and plunge a massive power outage? Electricity Authority boss Sarah Gillies speaks to Heather with two investigations now trying to figure that out. 

Cabinet is reportedly about to sign off on a funding boost for Pharmac to fulfil its promise to fund more cancer drugs. Pharmac Minister David Seymour tells Heather it's important Pharmac's independency is preserved. 

Chiefs Assistant Coach David Hill is confident ahead of the blockbuster Super Rugby Final, and the Sports Huddle weighs in on who will be named as All Blacks captain on Monday. 

Plus, Rocket Lab has powered through another record and become the fastest commercial space operator to successfully launch 50 missions. 

Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a pair of Pungsan dogs, a local breed, state media KCNA reported on Thursday. 

Asia Business Correspondent Peter Lewis told Heather du Plessis-Allan “Three’s very few places left that Putin can go to.” 

Lewis said “He’s become an international pariah because of the Ukraine war.” 

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London hospitals declared a critical incident after a cyber-attack led to operations being cancelled and emergency patients being diverted elsewhere. 

It applies to hospitals partnered with Synnovis - a provider of pathology services. 

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Heather du Plessis-Allan “This was potentially one of the worst cyber-attacks in the UK.” 

Grey said “Overnight, the ransomware company dumped 400 gigabytes on their darknet site – including patient names and dates of birth.” 

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This week, the Prime Minister's Air Force plane broke down in Papua New Guinea. 

Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper breaks this down, as he wraps the political week. 

Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan “They’re very good planes – but it’s like anything – if you don’t use them, they’ll break down.” 

Soper said “They’re only used as VIP aircraft about 15% of the time.” 

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The Commerce Commission is pushing out its timeline for approving the Foodstuffs merger, due to "unresolved issues". 

It now expects to reach a decision in October. 

The North and South Island co-operatives - which run the Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square supermarkets - sought clearance to merge last year. 

Foodstuff's North Island Chief Executive Chris Quin told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We knew this could happen, but we remain committed that this is the right thing to do.” 

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On The Huddle tonight: All Sports Breakfast Wellington Host Adam Cooper, and sports journalist Jim Kayes. 

 

The Blue will face-off against the Chiefs tomorrow night – only one will reign victorious.  

 

Adam Cooper told Heather du Plessis-Allan “The Crusaders have been incredible – because we’re celebrating the fact they're not there.” 

 

Jim Kayes said “The Chiefs have really surged in the playoffs - if that momentum continues, they’re going to be really for The Blues tomorrow.” 

 

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