As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice.

This week, The fuel crisis continues, putting pressure on the Reserve Bank over what to do with the OCR, retail spend is up but the numbers are deceiving … plus a boost to tourism as the number of Kiwis leaving our shores decreases.

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The Iranian military has threatened shipping in the Gulf, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Oman if the US naval blockade continues.

The threats made by general Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi were apparently aired on Iranian state television.

Meanwhile, talks could resume as early as this week with NBC news reporting Trump has said the war was “very close to over” while Tehran has said messages were still being exchanged via Pakistan.

Trump has also claimed that China is “very happy” about the situation – that was after Beijing labelled the US blockade “dangerous.”

He also said that President Xi Jinping had agreed not to send weapons to Iran.

Today on The Front Page, University of Otago international relations professor Robert Patman is with us.

Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee

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Tonight on The Huddle, Jordan Williams from the Taxpayers' Union and artist and local Government politician Oscar Kightley joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!

As the fuel crisis continues, more people are opting to take the bus instead of drive or fly. Do we see this becoming a permanent shift, or will things go back to normal when the oil crisis ends?

What do we make of the Government's handling of the fuel crisis? Are we going to end up like Australia?

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Westpac Senior Analyst Satish Ranchhod discusses why the forestry sector is particularly vulnerable.

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Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones says they remain confident about New Zealand's fuel supply, but remain ready to act further if necessary.

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Federated farmers president Wayne Langford reveals what farmers will actually be spending on their record breaking pay out.

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A lift in beneficiaries could suggest recent policy decisions are taking us in the wrong direction.

At the end of March, just over 409-thousand people were on a main benefit, almost three percent more than the year prior.

Jobseeker numbers are up 2.6 percent.

Auckland University Associate Economics Professor Susan St John told Ryan Bridge many of the ways we've tried to bring down spending have impacted the labour market.

She says until we can recognise, we're in a deep recession it's going to get worse, and we need the Government to step up, otherwise we're stuffed.

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Kiwi company Allbirds has announced a new direction and it's drawn questions from experts.

After years of losses, the former sustainable shoe company is transitioning to AI after selling all its assets this month.

It's revised its moniker to NewBirds AI - seeing share values surging up to 700 percent.

NZ Herald senior business writer Chris Keall says the tech and business-based press has raised concerns about what this could do for the company.

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