Checkpoint for Wednesday 7 April 2010

5:07 PM.The co-operative's plan allows farmers to buy and sell shares among themselves rather than having to go through the company. Audio

5:13 PM.The bodies of two men who were shot dead in Hokitika may be removed from the crime scene tonight as forensic work continues. Audio

5:17 PM.Doctors say the health of thousands of poor children living in Porirua City north of Wellington is under threat because of a lack of free after-hours care. Audio

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

5:25 PM.In Rio de Janeiro more than a hundred people have been killed and many more are homeless after the heaviest rains in decades triggered deadly mudslides and turned roads into rivers. Audio

5:27 PM.The police and the Capital and Coast District Health Board are investigating allegations that hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money has been misused by a Maori trust in Kapiti. Audio

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

5:36 PM.The Justice minister says some lawyers won't make the grade under a tougher system to decide who can provide legal aid services. Audio

5:40 PM.Journalists in Fiji could be jailed for up to five years and media organisations fined more than 350 thousand for publishing anything the country's military government decides is not in the public… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.The United States has warned North Korea and Iran that no options are being taken off the table in dealing the threat of a build-up in nuclear capabilities. Audio

5:46 PM.For the first time proper nouns can be used in the game of Scrabble. Audio

5:49 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

5:52 PM.An investigation has found the pressure of the National Gliding Championships may have been a driving factor in the death of a pilot two years ago. Audio

5:56 PM.Legal bills for two National Party MPs have cost taxpayers 336-thousand dollars in the past few years. Audio

5:58 PM.Police in Britain have arrested two women after they tried to take a dead relative on a flight to Germany. Audio

6:07 PM.The public will be able to invest in a Fonterra linked fund under the dairy giant's final restructuring proposal which it says will also enable it to head off competition from foreigners buying up… Read more Audio

6:10 PM.Debt ridden and drought hit dairy farmers throughout the country are delighted by the overnight hike in dairy prices. Audio

6:14 PM.Australia's Maritime Safety Authority is supervising the salvage operation of a Chinese coal ship stranded on the Great Barrier Reef. Audio

6:19 PM.Hundreds of Anti-Government protesters in Thailand have retreated to outside the Parliament in Bangkok after briefly breaching a security cordon. Audio

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

6:25 PM.The Auckland Regional Council has been ordered to pay almost a hundred-thousand dollars to a developer after the Environment Court found the council acted unfairly in blocking one of its projects. Audio

6:28 PM.The Health Minister says instead of investigating the state of New Zealand's aged care, Labour should be apologising for its neglect of the sector when it was in power. Audio

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

6:35 PM.A day before Sri Lanka's general election protesters are rallying to demand the release of the main opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka. Audio

6:38 PM.The first meeting of the New Zealand-led global alliance on agricultural greenhouse gases has kicked off, with Russia joining up and bringing the total number of countries involved to 29. Audio

6:42 PM.The Solicitor-General says the crown will consider seeking one-point-one million dollars in damages from three activists aquitted of intentionally damaging the cover of the Waihopai satellite dish. Audio

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

6:49 PM.The international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch has called on the Peruvian government to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of six civilians by police. Audio

6:53 PM.Egyptian activists demanding political reforms have clashed with police in central Cairo. Audio

6:54 PM.UK voters will be heading to the polls on May the 6th and the Conservatives are billing it as the most important election of a generation. Audio

6:55 PM.In Australia a national survey of attitudes towards domestic violence has found that one in five people thinks it's excusable if the attacker lost control or later regrets it. Audio

6:58 PM.Nigeria's acting president Goodluck Jonathan has sworn-in the members of his new cabinet. Audio

7:00 PM.The public may soon be able to invest in Fonterra, Forensic work continues at house in Hokitika, Call for cheaper after hours care for Porirua children. Audio