Checkpoint for Wednesday 15 July 2009

6:56 PM.In Iraq after six tumultuous years since the country was first invaded, dramatic improvements in the country's security appear to be taking shape. Audio

6:53 PM.The market town of Wootton Bassett in England has become the focus of national grieving for British soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Audio

6:49 PM.Researchers studying the history of flu viruses have discovered that the three major pandemics of the twentieth century emerged over a longer period of time than previously thought. Audio

6:46 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

6:44 PM.Try not to run over the world's smallest penguin! Audio

6:40 PM.Fresh details have emerged of a highly secret plan by America's Central Intelligence Agency to assassinate members of Al Qaeda in the years following the September 11th attacks. Audio

6:36 PM.We cross to China now and our correspondent in Beijing, Quentin Sommerville: Audio

6:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:28 PM.A court has heard that two New Zealanders charged with murder on the Gold Coast encouraged their co-accused, Australian Dustin Johnston, to take part in the robbery. Audio

6:24 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:21 PM.Two Australian entrepreneurs who laundered millions of dollars through New Zealand banks are to pay the Australian Tax Office over $NZ 40 million in penalties. Audio

6:15 PM.New Zealand needs more low skilled immigrants to look after the growing number of elderly in rest homes. Audio

6:13 PM.The Crown has accused Taito Phillip Field of concealing the real cost of the work Thai immigrants carried out on his rental homes and of also using the workers to increase the value of those houses. Audio

6:07 PM.The bodies of Te Papa's chief executive Seddon Bennington and his tramping companion Marcella Jackson have been airlifted out of the Tararua Ranges. Audio

5:57 PM.The High Court judge in a civil hearing over the burial place of a Christchurch man says it's a particularly difficult case. Audio

5:54 PM.The Prime Minister John Key has put New Zealand in the third division of world economies ranking it alongside basket cases such as Greece. Audio

5:49 PM.One of New Zealand's biggest unions says nationwide industrial action is likely to involve a high level of disruption by workers who repair and install telephone lines and other equipment in Auckland… Read more Audio

5:46 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

5:44 PM.An academic think-tank says the government needs to let more low skilled workers move permanently to New Zealand to look after ageing baby boomers. Audio

5:40 PM.A Te Papa spokesperson says staff are in shock after being told their chief executive was found dead in the Tararua Ranges. Audio

5:36 PM.A psychiatrist has told the court that murder-accused Clayton Weatherston was not suffering from a disease of the mind when he stabbed his ex-girlfriend 216 times. Audio

5:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:27 PM.New Zealand First is admitting to past mistakes. Audio

5:25 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:21 PM.The Prime Minister has outlined his Government's main economic policy drivers - singling out poor growth in productivity as the number one problem. Audio

5:18 PM.A marine farming company has been ordered to pay fines and reparation totaling 266-thousand dollars over a collision in the Marlborough Sounds, which killed two workers. Audio

5:14 PM.Wayne Stevens from the Wellington Tramping Club took part in the search and rescue effort. Audio

5:07 PM.The bodies of Te Papa chief executive Seddon Bennington and his tramping companion have been found in a treacherous part of the Tararua Ranges near Wellington - just a kilometre from the hut they were… Read more Audio