Checkpoint for Tuesday 1 December 2009

6:56 PM.The country's first commercial Chinese green tea plantation has been officially opened near Hamilton. Audio

6:54 PM.The World Health Organisation is recommending HIV positive people receive anti-retroviral drugs earlier something AIDS organisations have long campaigned for. Audio

6:52 PM.The International Court of Justice will begin hearings tonight to determine the legality of Kosovo's independence. Audio

6:49 PM.In the US police are still hunting a gunman who's accused of shooting dead four police officers at a coffee shop in Washington State. Audio

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

6:43 PM.When President Obama's announces extra US forces to Afghanistan overnight - he's expected to stress the need for more involvement from the Afghan government and its forces. Audio

6:36 PM.We cross to the UK and our correspondent in London, Barney Burnham. Audio

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

6:29 PM.The Royal Society is one of the world's oldest scientific institutions, founded in London in 1660. Audio

6:26 PM.A shortage of housing continues to drive up prices in our biggest cities while slow sales in the provinces means the picture is very different. Audio

6:24 PM.News from the business sector. Audio

6:20 PM.A controversial $28,000,000 performing arts centre proposed for Nelson is dividing the region. Audio

6:17 PM.The Warehouse is rejecting a claim by the National Distribution Union that work conditions at its stores have deteriotated following recent restructuring. Audio

6:14 PM.Climate scientists are predicting a typical El Nino summer : cool, dry and windy. Audio

6:11 PM.The most senior British foreign policy adviser to former prime minister Tony Blair has been giving evidence at the public inquiry on Britain's role in the decision to invade Iraq. Audio

6:07 PM.After months of debate the US President Barack Obama is set to spell out an expanded US commitment to the war in Afghanistan. Audio

5:57 PM.The head of the Law Society is heading to the Manukau District Court to find out what's behind claims that up to 80 percent of lawyers practising there are gaming the legal aid system. Audio

5:53 PM.The skipper is still Pete Bethune - his job is to help disrupt the whalers by intercepting their harpoon vessals and also using a new weapon - Tiki Taane at very high volume. Audio

5:49 PM.Constable Clinton Hill is on trial in the High Court in Auckland for the manslaughter of George Harris in 2004 who was killed by a street sweeper as he ran away from police. Audio

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

5:43 PM.US federal authorities say they'll be filing papers in the Australian courts to try and get the New Zealand born spam merchant Lance Atkinson to pay a $21,000,000 fine. Audio

5:37 PM.A radical new taxation scheme that would give every adult in New Zealand ten thousand dollars a year and introduce a flat tax rate has been put to the tax working group. Audio

5:36 PM.An update from the RNZ sports team. Audio

5:27 PM.Tony Abbott is the new leader of the Australian opposition after ousting Malcolm Turnbull by just one vote. Audio

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

5:22 PM.A Disciplinary Tribunal has heard evidence today of how a Canterbury dentist sedated three women patients and then got them to touch his genitals. Audio

5:16 PM.The chairman of the ACC, John Judge, has been listening to that, and joins us on the line. Audio

5:12 PM.Motorcyclists are angry and upset by a review of accident compensation levies which they say has ignored their arguments against a steep rate hike. Audio

5:07 PM.The Government will consider further tax cuts when the tax working group makes its final report by Christmas. Audio