Checkpoint Podcast Options

5:48 PM.Asia correspondent Erin Hale spoke to Lisa Owen about Japan's Prime Minister set to meet President Donald Trump for the first time, India's Narendra Modi visiting Mr Trump next week, bad news for big… Read more Audio

5:38 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:32 PM.After facing pressure from New Zealand, the Pacific nation has dropped a proposal to create its own passports. The Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown was pushing for local passports as part of the… Read more Audio

5:26 PM.Online abuse of athletes is again under the spotlight. Kiwi tennis player Monique Barry is the latest to reveal vile messages and threats sent to her social media inbox. Sports reporter Jonty Dine… Read more Audio

5:23 PM.The owner of a scary Wellington tourist attraction said a slump in tourists, and belt tightening, are behind its closure. Fear Factory opened in the capital the year before COVID-19 struck and the… Read more Audio

5:23 PM.Health NZ has launched a global search for a new chief executive to lead the embattled agency with the sudden resignation today of founding CEO Fepulea'i Margie Apa. However, frontline health workers… Read more Audio

5:13 PM.KC Jordon's daughter was catching the school bus from the small Hawkes bay community of Te Pohue to Sacred heart College in Napier more than forty kilometres away - but the route got canned at the end… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.The government said it's working at pace on a new law that would mean tough punishments for people who attack police officers. A Waikato officer was injured last night after a driver allegedly drove… Read more Audio

4:47 PM.The Crimes Legislation Stalking and Harassment Amendment Bill was introduced and passed its first reading in December last year to make stalking an illegal offence with a jail time of up to five… Read more Audio

4:34 PM.There's a call for accountability after assaults against a man ordered by the court to stay in a mental health unit run by IDEA services. Anne Hunt said her grandson, Daniel - who was sent the… Read more Audio

4:24 PM.RNZ's Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen about the Super Bowl coming up and the Warriors set to begin their season. Audio

4:16 PM.Music to the ears of home owners today with a major bank dropping its three year mortgage rate below five percent for the first time since 2022. Westpac is advertising a rate of 4.99 percent, the… Read more Audio

4:11 PM.The Auckland Council proposal would see some off lead parks become on leash only, as well as further restrictions on dogs running free at some beaches. It wants to improve safety and protect wildlife… Read more Audio

5:34 PM.An international panel of medical experts have concluded British serial killer Lucy Letby did not kill any babies. The now 35 year old was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder… Read more Audio

5:26 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:24 PM.Police are investigating an attack on a woman who was found critically injured in a Christchurch park. They're appealing for public help to work out what happened to her at Richmond Village Green on… Read more Audio

5:22 PM.The government has done a U-turn on Christchurch's Brougham Street upgrade, today confirming it will give the busy Road of Regional Significance a facelift after all. The brakes were put on the 90… Read more Audio

5:18 PM.In May New Zealand's top women's and men's basketballers will re-ignite a long standing rivalry with their Australian counterparts in the inaugural Trans-Tasman Throwdown. Sports reporter Felicity… Read more Audio

5:17 PM.A "circus" and a "cheap stunt." That's how NZ First's Shane Jones is labelling an interuption during the powhiri for politicians at Waitangi today. He even went so far as to say funding for the… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.The unemployment queue just got a whole lot longer. Another 33,000 people, pretty much a capacity crowd at Wellington's Sky stadium, have joined the ranks of the unemployed in the past year. The… Read more Audio

4:51 PM.ACT Party leader David Seymour faced the wrath of Ngapuhi and Toitu Te Tiriti at Waitangi today, briefly losing his microphone and getting drowned out by song when he spoke. He was among government… Read more Audio

4:48 PM.The closure of the Desert Road is increasing freight costs a hundred thousand dollars a day, for consumers and businesses, according to an industry group. State Highway One between Turangi and Waiouru… Read more Audio

4:35 PM.From surgical risk assessments at Health NZ, to fishing vessel camera monitoring for MPI - RNZ can reveal artificial intelligence is taking on diverse roles across New Zealand's public service.The… Read more Audio

4:31 PM.RNZ's Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen about former All Black Karl Tu'inukuafe announcing his retirement from rugby. Audio

4:22 PM.Dozens of schools are giving their students and some teachers a four day weekend, choosing not come back to class on Friday after the Waitangi Day holiday. That is despite Associate Education Minister… Read more Audio