The Wire with Manny

The Ukraine crisis has been making international headlines for some weeks now. Most recently, thousands of Russian troops have positioned themselves on the border with Ukraine, NATO has increased their number of troops in Eastern Europe with the support of the US and the UK, and there has been a lot of talk about Russian invasion. However, Russia has consistently denied that they will invade and Ukrainan officials have called for the West to stop predicting an invasion because it is scaring people.

Rouben Azizian is a professor at Massey University in Security Studies and News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston speaks to him about the state of the Ukranian crisis right now. They also discuss the 'surface-level' media coverage of the crisis, whether Azizian believes Russia will actually invade, and what help Western powers are in finding a solution to a very long-standing, complex, violent relationship between Ukraine and Russia. 

Today on the Tuesday Wire, Jemima Huston speaks to Lesley Gray from the University of Otago Wellington and Dr Dion O'Neale from Covid Modelling Aotearoa about Phase Two of the government’s Omicron outbreak response.

Jemima talks to Massey Univeristy Russian politics expert Rouben Azizan about the Ukraine crisis and whether Russia will invade Ukraine. 

Finally, Karla Akuhata from the Korehāhā Whakahau project speaks to Jemima about how they are working to erradicate possums in Ngāti Awa's rohe with an iwi led initative.

Due to the current COVID-19 red light restrictions the Auckland Arts Festival had to cancel their live indoor events. Artistic Director for the festical, Shona McCullagh, discussed with Charlie the response from artists, how the festival will be moving forward, and what great events you can still get involved in. 

Hospitality businesses have been significantly affected by COVID-19 restrictions such as capacity limits and social distancing requirements. Today during my regular chat with Auckland Councillor Pippa Coom, we discussed an outdoor dining grant scheme supporting hospitality businesses to increase their outdoor dining capacity. 

We also revisited the Councils annual budget that has just gone out for public consultation, and Pippa responded to Howick ward councillor Sharon Stewart suggesting that projects such as cycleways and painted roads should be cut from the budget.