Checkpoint for Tuesday 4 May 2010

5:00 PM.Wages increase at slowest pace in nearly a decade, High Court rules against Privacy Commissioner, Arrest in New York bomb plot and SAS could stay in Afghanistan longer than expected. Audio

5:08 PM.More evidence today of the struggle to make ends meet with latest figures showing pay packets are growing at their lowest level for nearly a decade - and below the rate of inflation. Audio

5:13 PM.The High Court has found the Privacy Commissioner, Marie Shroff, wrongly ruled against a doctor who told a nursing home one of its nurse aides was a drug addict. Audio

5:18 PM.The police have arrested a man in connection with the failed Times Square car bombing in New York. Audio

5:19 PM.SAS troops could stay in Afghanistan longer than expected, as the Government appears to be reconsidering its commitment to the war effort. Audio

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

5:24 PM.Poor communication and dysfunctional working relationships in the general surgery department at Whanganui Hospital are being blamed for the poor care given to an elderly man who later died. Audio

5:29 PM.The Auckland Regional Council is squaring off against the government over mining, saying plans to drill on Great Barrier Island would be ethically irresponsible. Audio

5:34 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:37 PM.Police searching for missing Whanganui woman Marice McGregor have seized a van and are questioning its owner. Audio

5:40 PM.As many as twelve workers at a Southland meat works have had fingers or parts of their fingers amputated while operating band saws, according to the local Meat Workers Union. Audio

5:47 PM.The Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has withdrawn his support for a plan to expand oil drilling in the Pacific Ocean off the State's coastline. Audio

5:51 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

5:53 PM.The electricity company TrustPower is defending its competitor Meridian Energy's actions in holding backwater in its hydro storage lakes, driving up the wholesale price of power. Audio

5:56 PM.In Australia the New South Wales Government has begun watching what farmers are doing by satellite. Audio

6:08 PM.Figures out today show pay packets are growing at their lowest level for nearly a decade and below the rate of inflation. Audio

6:11 PM.The Government has faced another grilling in Parliament over its proposals to mine more of the conservation estate. Audio

6:13 PM.BP says it won't be instructing its staff to give customers more help to change tyres or check water levels. Audio

6:17 PM.The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet have approved the country's contribution to the European Union and IMF rescue package for Greece. Audio

6:20 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:23 PM.The lead agency investigating the deaths of two seamen on a logging ship in Northland is considering the possibility that a chemical - such as methyl bromide - may have played a part. Audio

6:26 PM.The medical world is still trying to discover exactly how inhaling gas knocks people out despite it being used as an anaesthetic for more than a hundred and fifty years. Audio

6:29 PM.The Iranian president's scathing criticism of countries which possess nuclear weapons has prompted a walk-out by some delegates at a United Nations conference. Audio

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

6:37 PM.A man who inflicted a number of serious injuries on his three-month-old son, including broken bones and bleeding in the brain, is tonight starting a six-year jail term. Audio

6:39 PM.Less than three weeks after ash from a volcano in Iceland caused a major shutdown of European airspace, Ireland has reimposed flight restrictions because of ash being blown south. Audio

6:41 PM.To Bangkok now where there are signs that the deadly political crisis that has gripped the capital for more than a month may be close to a resolution. Audio

6:44 PM.Britain's political leaders are making their final push to win over wavering voters just three days before the general election. Audio

6:47 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

6:50 PM.Some Fiji commentators say the interim government could be poised to pass another decree, this time governing how its citizens will be known to the outside world, and within Fiji itself. Audio

6:53 PM.Early visitor numbers to the World Expo in Shanghai have been much lower than the organisers predicted. Audio

6:55 PM.A member of one of Britain's most well-known acting families, she came to fame in one of the best known films of the sixties Georgie Girl. Audio

6:57 PM.Last year at age 92 Dame Vera Lynn found herself at number one on the British charts and now she's releasing a new album. Audio