Whether the United States will intervene in the Iran-Israel conflict remains up in the air.

President Donald Trump says he 'may' or 'may not' order American military involvement.

US correspondent Katie Fisher told Ryan Bridge the uncertainty is causing some rifts within the Republican camp.

She says that some of his “right-wing cheerleaders” like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Green are saying that by entering the Iranian war, Trump would be turning his back on his America First policy.

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From November, transiting Chinese passport holders won't need a visa to pass through New Zealand airports.

They'll can instead get a New Zealand electronic Travel Authority that's processed in four hours, and lasts for two years.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Ryan Bridge our Chinese visitor numbers are lagging at about 65% pre-Covid levels, so they're doing anything to help.

She says it will also significantly increase the amount of freight from China and South America and bring down freight prices.

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An Auckland manufacturer is feeling good about the current economic position.

GDP figures are due to be revealed this morning.

Economists and the Reserve Bank are expecting 0.7% growth for the first quarter of the year – slightly higher than the 0.4% predicted earlier this year.

Dodson Group CEO Dave Sweas told Ryan Bridge things turned a corner around February and March.

The precision manufacturers boss says there's been some trepidation about what's coming out of the US, but overall order books are holding up strong.

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The traditional census as we know it is coming to an end.

Stats NZ is moving to a system using Government collected admin-data, saying the current five yearly Census is financially unsustainable.

Census-style questions will still be asked in much smaller annual surveys looking at a small fraction of the population.

Auckland University of Technology Professor Rhema Vaithianathan told Ryan Bridge the price of census is eye-watering.

She says admin data also allows information to be released yearly, which is more useful than waiting five to find out what's happening.

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On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Thursday 19th of June 2025, Dave Sweas CEO of Manufacturer Dodson group, joins Ryan Bridge to talk about the GDP figures out today.

The government scrapped the 5-year census, AUT director of the centre for social data analytics, Rhema Vaithianathan shares her thoughts.

We've got more Visa changes for Chinese nationals, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford tells Ryan Bridge what it means.

Plus, US Correspondent Katie Fisher has the latest on Trump's stance on Israel.

Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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I’m as guilty as the next kiwi of complaining about the tyranny of distance but the fact is we’re bloody lucky to live far across the ocean and out of harm’s way.

We’re at least 10,000 kilometres away from the nearest nuclear weapon launch site, whether it’s China’s Jingxian province the United States' Pacific coast.

That doesn’t mean we’re immune to threats and fallout from conflict, nor should we ignore them.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters this week remarked he’d never seen such an uncertain geo strategic circumstance as the one we’re currently living in.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published its yearbook Monday with a warning that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is increasing.

Most of the nine nuclear armed states are either upgrading or replacing their stockpiles.

Over the next few years, it estimates the rate at which new nuclear warheads replace old ones will accelerate to the point where, for the first time since the Cold War era, we’ll have an overall increase nuclear weapons.

No matter how far from the frontlines we may be, and how safe we may feel as a consequence, it doesn’t mean we don’t or shouldn’t care about the rest of the world.

We kiwis love travelling the globe and experiencing all the complexities and differences it has to offer. In doing so, we learn to appreciate our own backyard that wee bit more.

This Matariki weekend I'll be taking a moment to be grateful that when I look to the night sky, I'll see stars rather than incoming missiles and drones.

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New Zealand businesses believe things are looking up, with optimism at a high.

The 2degrees 2025 Shaping Business Study reveals 45% of surveyed business leaders are more optimistic about the year ahead – up on last year's 34%.

46% of businesses also report they're more productive than last year.

Business Central CEO Simon Arcus told Ryan Bridge things will probably still fluctuate in coming years.

He says there are often moments where things seem to improve, then sink back again.

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Food inflation is up, rising 4.4% annually.

Meat, poultry, and fish had the biggest annual increases, while butter, milk and cheese drove grocery prices.

Butter surged by more than 51% over the year.

Independent economist, Cameron Bagrie told Ryan Bridge the numbers are creeping up, but the composition of the inflation matters more than the inflation itself.

He says they feel a bit of comfort that domestic inflation still heading south.

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