The Wire with Sara

When a White House reporter asked the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whether he was ready to move to the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia and Vladimir Putin earlier this week, Trump responded with a blunt “yeah I am” and chose not to elaborate any further.

Following this, the European Union’s most senior sanctions envoy was confirmed to be holding talks with US counterparts, which were reported to have taken place yesterday. The main topic was to look for tougher measures to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine, after Russia launched its largest-ever airstrike against Ukraine this past weekend.

To discuss what the “second phase” of sanctions against Russia could be, and how it could impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Producer Max talked to Stephen Hoadley, a retired professor of international relations at the University of Auckland.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert, Allan Blackman, chatted with us about the Voyager One getting really hot in space, breakfast impacting life expectancy, and nuclear fusion in Palladium metal. 

For our weekly catchup with the National Party, News director Joel spoke to MP Carl Bates the recent Budget documents have shown an almost $8.5 billion hole in future funding, the government’s expansion of support for those rough sleeping, and changes to Auckland Transport.

Producer Faith spoke to researcher and epidemiologist from Massey University, Professor Jackie Benschop, about the changing risk factors of leptospirosis in Aotearoa.

She also spoke to tax expert Nick Miller from Tax Justice Aotearoa about big tech companies’ tax avoidance, and what steps the government needs to take to address it.

Last week, a study was published in the Sports Medicine Journal revealing that over an extended period, male high-level rugby players were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases than the general population.

This comes as increasing research and attention is being paid to head trauma, and the way it affects the individual long term.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to Dr Stephanie D’Souza, co-author of the study and Senior lecturer at the University of Auckland, about the Study’s results, what they tell us about head and brain injuries, and what that means for New Zealand’s national sport.

Following on from my chat with MP Simon Court, I spoke to Dr Maria Armoudian, an Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at the University of Auckland, the director of the University’s Sustainability Hub, and the co-director of the Ngā Ara Whatū Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society at the University, on the ACT Party’s stance on the Paris Agreement.

ACT’s stance on the Paris Agreement has received substantial criticism. Despite NZ First also being in support for moving away from the Paris Agreement, National have been staunch on continuing with this framework, alongside the Opposition Parties.

Greenpeace campaigner, Amanda Larsson, has referred to ACT Party Leader David Seymour’s comments regarding the framework as “rage-baiting the extremist edge of the farming community to grab headlines” and that Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, “mustn’t bite”.

This comes as Luxon indicated last week changes to our methane targets. Methane makes up almost a third of global warming, and is over 80x more powerful than CO₂ in the short term.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host Joel spoke to Armoudian about this, starting with how important the Paris Agreement is, and what exactly the framework is.