Checkpoint for Thursday 28 April 2011

6:57 PM.After one of the worst storms in living memory a state of emergency has been declared in Central Hawkes Bay. There's millions of dollars of damage to roads, farms and coastal communities and up to a… Read more Audio

6:53 PM.Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has just finished a 7-day tour of North Asia. Her visit fell during a tense time in China with the recent crackdown on political dissidents, including some… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

6:47 PM.A record breeding season means there's a good chance an endangered kaka population in Fiordland can be brought back from the brink - and the Department of Conservation says it's thanks to the 1080… Read more Audio

6:39 PM.A new study shows the number of children being admitted to hospital with serious skin infections has almost doubled since 1990. The Otago University researchers say the infections are very distressing… Read more Audio

6:37 PM.Peoples' increasing desperation is being blamed for a surge in gambling machine takings this year, particularly in Christchurch. Those in the quake-hit city fed six hundred thousand dollars more into… Read more Audio

6:34 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:25 PM.Consumers can expect fewer rip-offs and clearer deals when they want a loan but have to bypass the big banks. Audio

6:22 PM.Contact Energy is hoping to raise $350 million to generate more power. Audio

6:11 PM.Former ACT Party leader Richard Prebble says Don Brash always behaved like a ACT MP. Audio

6:07 PM.It was labelled a brazen coup and a hostile takeover, but Don Brash has succeeded in taking the ACT leadership off Rodney Hide. Mr Hide has resigned as party leader, saying the former National Party… Read more Audio

5:56 PM.Young New Zealanders are more relaxed, confident and optimistic about the future than their overseas counterparts according to a survey carried out in 20 countries. Audio

5:52 PM.Economists say the Reserve Bank is underestimating future inflation and may end up having to raise interest rates earlier and by more than it is expecting. Audio

5:50 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

5:47 PM.Environmentalists are angry at a plan by a salmon farming company to get approval to expand its Marlborough Sounds business from the Environmental Protection Authority, instead of the local council. Audio

5:42 PM.Act has only made it in to the last two Parliaments because Rodney Hide won the central Auckland seat of Epsom - the last time with nearly triple the votes of the second place-getter. But Dr Brash… Read more Audio

5:40 PM.Labour is warning Don Brash's leadership of the Act Party will result in a new extreme rightwing deal with National. Labour leader Phil Goff says the former National Party leader and Reserve Bank… Read more Audio

5:36 PM.The worst storm in living memory in Central Hawke's Bay has caused millions of dollars of damage to roads, farms and coastal communities. Audio

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

5:28 PM.The chance that a body might have been identified inside the sealed-off Pike River Coal Mine has renewed calls for teams to go into the mine to retrieve the remains of 29 men who died there last… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:09 PM.Don Brash has ousted Rodney Hide and now his task is to save Act from a train wreck at November's election. Dr Brash, who led National to a narrow defeat in the 2005 election, argued Act faced… Read more Audio

5:00 PM.Act under new leadership with Hide's ouster, Renewed calls to enter mine at Pike River, Worst storm in living memory in Hawkes Bay, New extreme rightwing deal under Brash says Phil Goff, and John… Read more Audio