Checkpoint for Friday 18 December 2009

5:07 PM.The law is to be changed so that adults who do nothing to stop a child in their household from being seriously assaulted will be held legally liable. Audio

5:11 PM.Two teenage girls will spend at least the next 17 years behind bars for bashing and killing an elderly man in his Opotiki home last year. Audio

5:15 PM.A desperate search for compromise by world leaders at the climate change summit in Denmark is keeping alive hopes a deal can yet be clinched on the last day of talks. Audio

5:17 PM.Cities and towns from the Far North to the deep south to will host teams competing in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Audio

5:22 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:24 PM.It's Wanganui with an H and without an H. Audio

5:28 PM.Dozens of fires have been burning around New South Wales and so far have destroyed nine homes and blackened thousands of hectares of bush and grassland. Audio

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

5:36 PM.A New Zealand man is suspected of being involved in the biggest seizure of exotic animals in the United States' history. Audio

5:39 PM.The police say four people who were forced to spend the night on top of their capsized boat seven kilometres out to sea, are very lucky to be alive. Audio

5:42 PM.The Law Commission is recommending that the next Governor-General be required to pay income tax. Audio

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

5:48 PM.In Copenhagen officials have been working through the night trying to hammer out a draft climate change accord they can present to world leaders today. Audio

5:52 PM.Fiji's military regime looks to be moving towards tougher censorship of the media with proposed new laws that are expected to make the current restrictions permanent. Audio

5:57 PM.A week before the Christmas getaway rush - and three months ahead of schedule - Tauranga's second harbour bridge has been officially declared open. Audio

6:07 PM.It may be a tiny, but the Pacific nation of Tuvalu has had a large voice at the United Nations climate conference. Audio

6:09 PM.A Catholic bishop in Ireland who was criticised for his handling of a child sex abuse scandal has resigned. Audio

6:12 PM.In Britain, a man's been convicted of murdering his fifteen year old daughter a decade after she went missing. Audio

6:15 PM.A woman who was raised on an island in the middle of Wellington harbour, with prisoners of war as her companions, returned today to celebrate her 80th birthday. Audio

6:22 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:23 PM.A cartoon character has been discovered on a slab of concrete at Auckland prison near the area where Kevin Polwart escaped two days ago - with the words"Catch Me if you Can"written beside it. Audio

6:24 PM.Trade unions in Greece are holding a 24 hour strike to protest against spending cuts aimed at restoring international confidence in the country's economy. Audio

6:27 PM.They're supposed to be one of the US military's most deadly and secretive weapons, but insurgents in Iraq have managed to hack into the video feeds being transmitted from uncrewed planes. Audio

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

6:38 PM.English on better forecasts and next year's Budget. Audio

6:52 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

6:56 PM.British Airways has won a court injunction to prevent cabin staff going ahead with a strike over Christmas. Audio

6:58 PM.Archaeologists working in Mozambique have found evidence that humans may have been eating porridge and making bread as many as one-hundred thousand years ago. Audio