Nine To Noon for Tuesday 22 April 2025

09:05 The Passing of a Pontiff: World mourns death of Pope Francis

Seven days of mourning has been announced by the government of Argentina to mark the passing of a countryman - Pope Francis. The 88 year old  suffered a stroke, just a day after delivering his traditional Easter Sunday blessing.  He'd suffered from ill health for much of the year, spending over a month in hospital following a battle with double pneumonia.  Tributes have been flowing from world leaders for Pope Francis, who was seen as a reformer within the Catholic Church. He was hailed for work with the poor in the slums of Buenos Aires - but despite undertaking 47 international papal visits - he never returned home to Argentina while Pope. Kathryn speaks with correspondents Sabina Castelfranco in Rome, and Daniel Schweimler in Buenos Aires.

09:20 The choices being made for Wellington's heart - Civic Square

The heart of Wellington,Te Ngākau/Civic Sq, has been a gathering place for anything from protests through to graduation ceremonies, but currently it's a demolition site, blocked off from public access. The Square is wrapped around by public buildings, the Michael Fowler Centre, the central library, the old town hall -  the latter both being earthquake strengthened - and two administrative buildings that have been all but removed. The plan is for a private developer, Precinct, to redevelop the two-building site with an office block that will include retail and hospitality. Final negotiations with Precinct are due to be completed in the middle of the year. But other proposals planned to work with what was there, strengthening  and renovating the existing buildings and developing hotel space instead, which it's argued,  could be more viable. Wellington's  Mayor, Tory Whanau, and Ian Cassells, the head of the Wellington Company, one of those companies which put in a proposal for Civic Square, join Kathryn to discuss the plans for this important public space.

09:30 Long battle over some anti-seizure medication risk to the unborn

There are concerns patients prescribed anti-seizure medications still aren't being made aware of the risks to unborn children of taking them. One drug, sodium valproate, is of particular concern. It's used to treat epilepsy,  bi-polar disorder and migraines, but has been found to cause harm to babies - including birth defects and neurological issues. In the UK, it's over a year since a government inquiry recommended financial redress for the estimated 20,000 children affected by sodium valproate exposure. So far, nothing has happened. Children in New Zealand have also been exposed to the drug - although the Ministry of Health says the numbers are decreasing, from 124 pregnancies in 2007 to 9 in 2023. Denise Astill has long sought details on the number of pregnancy exposures to anti-seizure meds. Sodium valproate - marketed as Epilim - has been used here since 1975. In 2018 she petitioned Parliament about it, calling for an inquiry into the numbers harmed. It was not accepted. Her twin daughters have Foetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder - it's what motivated her to set up the organisation Foetal Anti-Convulsant Syndrome New Zealand, her service to which earned her the New Zealand Order of Merit this year. She joins Kathryn to detail why she fears patients are still not getting the information they need about these medications.

(A warning - you should consult your doctor before stopping or changing any anti seizure medication)

09:45 US correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben

The ongoing case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, after a Democratic senator visits the US man mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The Supreme Court has told the US President to no longer deport people under the Alien Enemies Act. The President has also taken aim at the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates.  

Danielle Kurtzleben is a political correspondent assigned to NPR's Washington Desk.

10:05 Back to Timor: doco on veterans' return

Twenty-five years after their peacekeeping tour of duty in East Timor, Kiwi military veterans returned to visit the place and people among whom they worked. The return to Timor Leste is covered in a documentary, to be released on Anzac Day. About 5,000 New Zealand military personnel served in what is now Timor-Leste between 1999 and 2002, in a peacekeeping mission sanctioned by the United Nations. It was the country's largest military deployment since the Korean War. In 1975 Indonesia invaded and annexed East Timor in a brutal occupation, with international investigators finding up to 183,000 people were killed. A referendum was launched in 1999 - supervised by the New Zealand Police - and 78 per cent of the East Timor population voted for independence. Violence soon followed and New Zealand played a key role in the subsequent UN peacekeeping efforts. It was on patrols in the Timor jungle where Private Leonard Manning was killed in an ambush. Four other New Zealanders would die on tour in Timor Leste - but not in combat. Reired police officer Ray Sutton was on the island for the independence referendum, and witnessed the violent fallout from it. Kathyn also speaks with veteran Rachael Collins who was a medic and one of the only women in the first Timor deployments. Jeff Hampton was the documentary's producer.

10:30 Who will replace the Pope?

With the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88, the world's attention now turns to who will replace him.
Predicting who will be chosen as the next leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics is notoriously fraught with difficulties. Miles Pattenden is a Catholic historian based at Oxford University

10:35 Book review: A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry 

Sonja de Friez reviews A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry published by Penguin

10:45 Around the motu: Simon Wilson in Auckland

Simon discusses the latest events in Auckland including a stormy Easter, some big transport announcements to come, Auckland has a new ED, and the Writer's Festival is coming up.

Simon Wilson is a Senior Writer at the NZ Herald.

11:05 Business commentator Maria Slade

Maria Slade is BusinessDesk's Property Editor. 

11:30 Our fair trading laws can deal with greenwashing claims - so why aren't they being used?

CEO of Consumer NZ, Jon Duffy joins Kathryn to detail some wins the organisation has had with the Commerce Commission over some issues it's raised. He details what the latest research has revealed about Kiwis' changing shopping habits as a result of rising prices. And in Australia Clorex - the parent company of Glad - has had to pay over $8 million in penalties for 'ocean plastic' claims it made. Is New Zealand making full use of its fair trading laws to combat greenwashing claims?

11:45 Sports correspondent Glen Larmer