Checkpoint

A new chapter for Christchurch kicks off on Friday night. Super round is almost underway at what some are already calling our new national stadium. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

The New Zealand Defence force is leading this year's ANZAC dawn service at Gallipoli in Turkey. It's also leading Aotearoa's service at Chunuk Bair; the hill captured by Kiwi soldiers but later lost to an Ottoman counter attack, after the New Zealand soldiers had been relieved. More than 16,000 New Zealanders served in the campaign and almost 2,700 of them died; about a sixth of all those who had...

Job site Seek has seen a big jump in the number casual roles listed on its website, as an economist says uncertain economic times are making businesses reluctant to hire full time staff. In theory, casual contracts offer flexibility for employer and employee, and work is available as and when it suits both parties - but no hours are guaranteed. Some workers also say the benefits can be stacked in...

Several regional airlines are getting millions of dollars in government loans to keep them flying marginal routes, but some operators believe more help is needed. The 30 million dollar pot of money from the Regional Infrastructure Fund was ring fenced for aviation before the fuel crisis cause by war in the Middle East. Air Chathams is getting just over 17 million dollars to refinance debt. The Min...

Thousands of people are gathered in Blenheim for Kia Hukere te Hoe, the biggest kapa haka event ever held in Marlborough. It's returned to the district for the first time in 13 years, bringing together hundreds of kaihaka, their whanau and supporters from across the Te Tauihu rohe. The event's so popular, there isn't enough room for all the schools that wanted to perform. Samantha Gee reports from...

ACT leader David Seymour has floated the idea of giving every year eleven student five hundred dollars to invest. It would be supervised as part of a programme to raise financial literacy and encourage kiwis to diversify their investments. Matt Benassi teaches Commerce at Cashmere High School and spoke to Lisa Owen.

After 134 years, the classrooms and playing fields of a Manawatū school fell quiet. Linton Country School closed for good in early 2023 after the roll dwindled to zero. Now, the old schoolgrounds are up for sale. Tenders are open for the property and its classrooms, hall, out-of-tune piano and well-stocked library. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham called in for a look.

A New Zealand Olympic medalist is riding the wave of success all the way to Hollywood. Slalom canoeist, Luuka Jones Yaxley, has been working as a stunt double for Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron for the film Apex. Billed as an action thriller, the movie was shot primarily in Australia's Blue Mountains. It is the story of a grieving adrenaline junkie - played by Theron - who finds herself bei...

In sport, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua announced her assistant coach for the Commonwealth Games. Australian Briony Akle has been brought back into team's set-up, less than a year after being stood down during last season's coaching turmoil. Sports reporter Bridget Tunnicliffe spoke to Lisa Owen. 

It's the end of an era for DIY dressmakers, with the supplier of big brand paper patterns shutting down. An Australian distributer that supplies New Look, Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick and McCalls is closing. The patterns are made from tissue paper that are cut out and put together like jigsaw using instructions that come with it. New Zealand used to have its own paper making pattern companies but...

Americas correspondent Adam Hancock spoke to Lisa Owen about how a soldier who was part of the mission to capture Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro has been charged after allegedly winning hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on the operation. He also spoke about how Mexico's president is trying to simmer tensions with the US after two CIA officials died in the country and how Cuban'...

A "Muslim terrorist," that is how Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown referred to an RNZ staffer of Indian descent, when the man escorted him into the building for an interview on Monday. The staffer apologised to the Mayor for having to wait due to security; the Mayor responded with a comment along the lines of 'security can't be very tight if we're being escorted by a Muslim terrorist.' Reporter Rowan Qu...

A community conservation group has won a legal victory against a multinational gold mining company, but the company says it won't thwart its plans to tunnel under conservation land. Ours Not Mines has been fighting OceanaGold's license to install vents for a proposed underground mine that extends its operations in the Waihi area. This week, Ours Not Mines won in the Court of Appeal, voiding the li...

The Australian government is lauding the country's National Disability Insurance Scheme as an enormous human rights achievement, even as it reveals sweeping cuts to the program in a bid to rein in costs. Correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Super Round is just one more sleep away. All sides will converge on Christchurch this weekend to mark the opening of the new Te Kaha Stadium. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

There's been no waddling about at Oamaru's Blue Penguin colony .. they have been busy ...very busy with a boomer of a breeding season. Nearly a thousand penguin chicks fledged ..way up from last year's 600. The colony lives in what was originally a rock quarry in the south-east corner of the Oamaru harbour Henry Elsom is the environmental team lead at Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. He spoke to Lisa O...

After a years-long inquiry into the death of an Auckland construction worker, a coroner was clear. The braking system used by a piece of heavy machinery that failed, causing Graeme Rabbits' death, is inherently unsafe. The coroner made a series of recommendations to reduce the chances of further deaths, but what becomes of them? Jimmy Ellingham filed this report.

David Seymour's thinking about giving tens of millions of dollars away to teenagers. You heard right, but its not quite that simple. The ACT leader's floated the idea of giving every 15 year old school student $500 to invest. It would be supervised as part of a programme to raise financial literacy to encourage kiwis to diversify their investments. The money would come out the of the government's...

New Zealand police are facing serious integrity and conduct issues and a reset is mission critical according to a scathing review by the Public Service Commission. The report details a perceived culture that holds seniors to a lesser standard than juniors and calls for urgent action. Tribalism at senior levels is also indentified as an issue along with a complaints system that can fail at all leve...

Damaged walls and floors are being ripped out of homes across Wellington, as residents and business owners survey the destruction left by Wellington's flash flood on Monday. One Berhampore couple is stripping their home and relocating their business after floodwaters inundated their house in the early hours of the morning. The cost of the damage could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Wel...

Petrol station owners admit they are profiling people at the pump before letting them fill up amid a surge in fuel drive-offs. The war in Iran has sent prices soaring, with data from Stats NZ showing fuel prices rising nearly 19 percent for petrol and 43 percent for diesel in the last couple of months. Police say they've laid more than 370 charges over the thefts since last month, and are urging p...

Two of New Zealand's A-League football teams have their sights set on silverware and the other is still to confirm who will be in charge beyond this weekend. With such a big few days of action ahead, sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.

Christchurch based company Spicy Boys make a sauce called, "you did this." The key ingredient; the Carolina Reaper. It comes with a warning, don't eat it, yet everytime they make a limited run of the stuff it sells out. Spicy Boys owner, Jay Madgwick-Pamment spoke to Lisa Owen.

As the war in the Middle East enters its 55th day, a path to end the conflict remains unclear. That's despite President Donald Trump extending a temporary ceasefire with Iran. But no further peace talks between the US and Iran are confirmed. So what's the hold up? Washington DC correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen.