Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has revealed he gets 30 death threats a week - as ministers are accused of 'playing politics' with his safety.

He will present the figures when he holds talks with the head of the MPs security team in a bid to improve protection for Reform MPs following the murder of Ann Widdecombe.

UK correspondent Gavin Grey says these stats will likely lead to an overall review into security - as violence is on the rise.

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Home owners are being warned their insurance claims could be declined if their local councils deem their properties to be at risk of natural hazards.

According to Land Information New Zealand, 25,614 properties have natural hazard risks flagged on their titles.

That means 25,614 properties may be at least partially uninsurable.

NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further.

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Recent reports indicate the listed retirement sector in New Zealand has continued to struggle in 2026.

Share market expectations were high in the new year, but the predicted growth has since turned flat and negative.

Milford Asset Management expert Jeremy Hutton explained further.

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Tonight on The Huddle, Tim Wilson from the Maxim Institute and former Labour Chief of Staff Mike Munro joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty is calling for tougher regulations on misbehaving councillors, including docking pay, banning people from meetings - or even recall elections. Do we think these changes are needed, or is this anti-democratic?

We got our first case of bird flu in New Zealand today - should we be worried? What could this mean for our poultry sector?

Paul Henry recently gave an interview about why Prime Minister Chris Luxon isn't clicking with voters after he announced his bid to run for ACT. Does he have a point here?

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On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Wednesday, 15 July, 2026, we talk to Poultry Industry Association executive director Fiona MacMillan about how well we're prepared for the first case of bird flu.

Wellington deputy mayor Ben McNulty explains what punishment he wants for councillors who behave badly.

We hear why a treatment centre's now been set up to deal with cellphone and screen addiction.

And on The Huddle, we ask Tim Wilson and Mike Munro if ACT's new candidate, Paul Henry, will be a problem for Christopher Luxon.

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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All right - given the level of hostility we have at the moment towards local body councillors and councils, I suspect there'll be plenty of support for the idea I'm about to tell you about. But I would caution against getting too excited because it's a terrible idea.

If you've been following councils around the country lately, you'll be aware of Benedict Ong from the Dunedin City Council and Ray Chung from the Wellington City Council. Both are making nuisances of themselves, which is why they're in the news.

Benedict, for repeatedly receiving council emails and then immediately forwarding them to multiple journalists and leaking the information; and Ray Chung, for getting himself to the scene of a missing person during a flooding event in Wellington when he shouldn't have been there, and then telling porkies, or what looked a lot like porkies afterwards, about why he was there.

Now, Ben McNulty, the Wellington Deputy Mayor, is so frustrated by this nonsense that he's proposing tougher sanctions for councillors like this to deal with what he calls "almost existential threats to democracy" caused by councillors leaking sensitive information.

Ben hasn't said specifically what powers he wants but whatever it is he's proposing, I don't like it.

Because while I have no love for the antics of Benedict Ong, Ray Chung or anybody like that, I respect the fact that both of them were democratically elected. They are just as entitled to council information and council access as the most well-behaved councillors.

And if we start dreaming up ways to punish wayward councillors we don't like, we may find those very same rules being used against good councillors we do like if the wayward ones gain a majority.

Whatever punishment we concoct is a punishment that can be weaponised against enemies.

There is already a perfectly good punishment for councillors who misbehave and push things too far. It is the loss of office at the next election.

Democracy already has a built-in punishment. We do not need another one.

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Netflix is in talks to buy the New Zealand-founded Letterboxd for $423 million, according to new reports.

Letterboxd was created by Auckland designers Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow, and it allows people to create profiles and log and rate their favourite movies.

Entertainment journalist Karl Puschmann says Letterboxd has a reputation as a niche social network, and there's concerns about what a corporate takeover could do for it.

"That sense of community around it, you feel like you're with film enthusiasts, you feel part of that club - they've got a delicate balance here to keep that feeling and also get that return on investment."

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The 2026 New Zealand Spirits Awards have gotten underway for another year, with judging beginning today and continuing tomorrow.

The awards are set to commemorate the very best in local and internationally available spirits within their categories.

Spirits NZ CEO Robert Brewer says a 'remarkable' number of entries have been admitted and the judges are working their way through the options.

"You've sort of got to keep innovating and keeping up with the times, so we've got a design and packaging award, emerging products - we even go and judge best cocktail bars, bar vendors."

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