Nine To Noon for Tuesday 11 November 2025

09:05 Released Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi

On October 7th 2023, Eli Sharabi was kidnapped by Hamas and held for 491 days. He and his wife and two daughters were in their home on a kibbutz in Southern Israel when the attack happened. His next 14 months were spent mostly in Hamas tunnels under Gaza  - with often cruel, but occasionally kind captors, little food, no sunlight - and most importantly no knowledge that his British wife and teenage daughters had been killed the day he was taken. It was only after his release in February that he learned that terrible news, and that his brother had also died captive in Gaza. Despite this horrendous ordeal, Eli Sharabi regards himself as lucky and says he does not hate his captors. He is the first released Israeli hostage to write a book about his experience. He shares his story with Kathryn Ryan. Hostage is published by Allen & Unwin.

09:30 What's at stake at COP30 climate summit

The COP30 climate summit has opened in Brazil. The U.N. climate chief has urged countries to cooperate rather than battle over priorities, as efforts to limit global warming are threatened by a fracturing international consensus.  The United States, China and India are notable absences from the summit. Some countries, including Brazil, have suggested that countries focus on smaller efforts that do not need consensus, such as deforestation, after years of COP summits making lofty promises only to leave many unfulfilled. So what is on the agenda and what is at stake? The Guardian's Environment Editor Fiona Harvey is in Belem, Brazil.

09:45 US correspondent David Smith

After 40 days, the US government shutdown appears close to ending as several Senate Democrats backed a Republican deal, sparking internal party tensions. Meanwhile, Trump has reveled in the BBC’s leadership resignations and faced public boos at a football game, underscoring the nation’s deep political divides even as Democrats celebrate major election wins.

Washington bureau chief for The Guardian, David Smith. 

10:05 Lee-Anne Duncan: the huge impact of losing a parent too young

At age nine Lee-Anne Duncan's mother died. Now several decades later, and a mother herself, the Wellington journalist and editor has connected with 80 other people - some well-known, some less so - who lost a parent in childhood or in their teens. She has interviewed them and plans to compile their stories into a book - with a view to helping others. She has a website and is crowdfunding towards the costs of publishing the book.

10:30 Remembrance Day and the grave of a Gallipoli veteran

It's Remembrance Day across the Commonwealth, marking the day World War One ended - at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day  of the eleventh month. And on the Sunday  just passed - Remembrance Sunday - the restored grave of a Gallipoli veteran was unveiled in Trentham. With no family, the last resting place of Henry Walter -  had fallen into disrepair. Private Walter had been kicked out of the army as "incorrigible" after struggling with the impact of battle and subsequently took his own life after returning to Upper Hutt. The NZ Remembrance Army undertook the restoration,  with support from the Upper Hutt RSA and local Hutt Valley volunteer group Graveyard Shift. Kathryn speaks to the National Secretary of the Remembrance Army, Wing Commander Mark Brewer. who was at the unveiling.

10:35 Book review: Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men by Mara Gold

Quentin Johnson reviews Ancient Myths and Legends Without Men by Mara Gold, published by Penguin Random House.

10:45 Around the motu: Piers Fuller in Wairarapa 

Piers discusses three accidental or unexpected deaths in the region over the weekend, one of Wairarapa's most successful businesses, Tranzit, marks 100 years, a student battle's with his school over his moustache and keeping wheelrwighting alive. 

11:05 Business commentator Nicholas Pointon

The Financial Markets Authority misses its key metrics, ANZ Bank bosses lose their bonuses. Meanwhile Elon Musk has had his trillion dollar pay approved by the Tesla board. 
    
Nicholas Pointon is a senior journalist at the National Business Review.

11:30 Garrison World: historian Charlotte Macdonald 

Between 1840 and 1870 New Zealand transformed from a Rangatira state, with the population overwhelmingly Māori , to a settler colony. Among the influx, 12 thousand colonial British soldiers brought here to protect British interests who fought in the New Zealand Land Wars.  They fought against Ngapuhi in the1840s, against Taranaki iwi, and Waikato's Kingitanga and their allies,  in the 1860s.   Later around a fifth of the soldiers applied to take their discharge from the Army in New Zealand , becoming `soldier settlers.' The story of those soldiers, known as the Redcoats, has been told in a new book Garrison World - by Victoria University history professor Charlotte Macdonald.

11:45 Sports with Marc Hinton 

The All Blacks chase a fifth Grand Slam while the Black Caps test their T20 World Cup form against the West Indies, and the Silver Ferns look to move past the Noeline Taurua saga. Emma Twigg targets a sixth Olympics, Auckland FC extend their dominance over the Phoenix, and the Kiwis deliver when it counts in the Pacific Championship.

Stuff senior sports writer Marc Hinton