Checkpoint for Monday 27 June 2011

5:00 PM.Taxpayers called on to cover billions of dollars worth of un-insurable assets in Christchurch and Waimakariri. Disturbing images of hungry people smuggled out of North Korea and another round of… Read more Audio

5:07 PM.The two mostly badly quake-hit Canterbury councils are pleading for Government help as an insurance deadline looms. Audio

5:13 PM.A paediatric specialist has described the severe damage done to the brains of two baby twins who died from head injuries in 2006. Audio

5:17 PM.The Prime Minister John Key and his wife Bronagh have just completed a visit to the Taj Mahal in India. Audio

5:20 PM.Authorities at the Pike River Mine have given the green light for re-entry work to begin tomorrow - but admit the operation is not risk free. Audio

5:23 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:26 PM.Disturbing images have emerged from North Korea revealing that both children and soldiers are going hungry because of chronic food shortages. Audio

5:29 PM.Happy Feet, the Emperor penguin, has successfully undergone another round of surgery at Wellington Zoo today. Audio

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

5:37 PM.The Maori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, says it's too early to write off doing a deal with the Mana Party, and it's a suggestion that will be considered. Audio

5:40 PM.A cloud of volcanic ash from Chile is on the move, after disrupting the plans of thousands of air travellers. Audio

5:42 PM.The trial of the four most senior surviving leaders of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime has begun at a court in Phnom Penh today. Audio

5:47 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio

5:50 PM.The Dunedin city council has approved a rates hike of seven-point-seven percent as it struggles to deal with mounting debt. Audio

5:53 PM.Christchurch home owners, who last week were told that they will have to abandon their properties, are this week trying to determine the nitty gritty of what the decision will mean for them. Audio

6:08 PM.Councils around the country are unable to get insurance for up to 30 percent of sewerage and water pipes and what they can get covered is costing two to four times as much. Audio

6:14 PM.Quake-devastated Canterbury estimates it will need to find an extra 13 hundred rest home beds in the next nine years. Audio

6:18 PM.An expert in the human digestive system has been drafted in to help an ailing emperor penguin with a stomach full of sand and sticks. Audio

6:21 PM.The country has recorded a smaller-than-expected trade surplus. Statistics New Zealand figures show the country's trade surplus narrowed to 605 million dollars in May, compared with April's record 1… Read more Audio

6:24 PM.Where travellers are anxiously watching which way the Chilean ashcloud blows, and football fans in Argentina have rioted followed their team's relegation. Audio

6:28 PM.An economist at the University of the South Pacific is describing the appreciation of the Solomon Islands currency as an unusual move for a developing economy. Audio

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

6:37 PM.The latest now on the scramble by many local councils to get insurance having just been told their existing insurer won't cover them beyond Thursday. Audio

6:44 PM.The Southern Right Whale, once slaughtered to extinction in New Zealand, is making an appearance again in the shallow sandy bays it likes for giving birth. Audio

6:49 PM.News from the Waatea team. Audio