Midday Report Essentials for 18 August 2026

Winston Peters says his own government's wasting money on another study into a second Auckland Harbour crossing. We got the Prime Minister's reaction during the caucus run. Following the collapse of the ceasefire in the US-Iran war ... and Trumps threat to bomb the Oman ... we spoke to a former US official who was an Iran expert on America's National Security Council And with the US caught in a Middle East quagmire, where does that leave China and North Korea's ambitions in the Asia Pacific: we speak to Asia expert Charlotte Glennie about this and her new book Every Second Counts Tune in wherever you get your podcasts - or live at Midday, every weekday on RNZ National.