Checkpoint for Tuesday 16 August 2011

6:51 PM.The Ngapuhi hapu opposing early settlement of their treaty claims are holding a second hui in Auckland this evening; The Chair of the Waikato-Tainui executive says over the next three years his… Read more Audio

6:49 PM.The record snow falls have made it as far up the country as Dargaville. Audio

6:46 PM.South Canterbury Finance's main assets - its consumer, business and rural loans, have been sold to Japan's global investment bank Nomura. Audio

6:42 PM.Crucial talks will be held tonight over the Eurozone's intensifying debt crisis. Audio

6:38 PM.A plan to charge visitors to Stewart Island a 5 dollar fee is a step closer tonight. Audio

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

6:26 PM.Samoa's Supreme Court Justice, Vui Clarence Nelson, is calling for the maximum penalty for incest to be reviewed. Audio

6:24 PM.A toddler struggling to breathe with croup as the blizzard closed in - what a family in the Akatarawa Valley near Upper Hutt was facing yesterday during the polar blast. Audio

6:21 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

6:17 PM.A petition calling for the removal of GST from food, and for a tax to be put on financial transactions instead, has been presented to Parliament. Audio

6:10 PM.Queenstown is digging itself out of the biggest snow fall to hit the resort in half a century. Audio

6:08 PM.Hundreds of homes are still cut off from power, because of the polar blast sweeping across New Zealand. Audio

5:57 PM.The FBI have named the 50-year-old man arrested in the United States over the Sydney collar bomb hoax. Audio

5:53 PM.More now on the snow hitting Wellington, cars in parts of the Hutt Valley are being abandoned, as people try to make their way home. Audio

5:50 PM.The Chair of the Waikato-Tainui executive says over the next three years his organisation could create up to 800 full-time jobs; Ngapuhi hapu opposed to early settlement of their treaty claims have… Read more Audio

5:44 PM.Thailand's official investigation into a New Zealand tourist's death is blaming pesticides. Audio

5:42 PM.Parliament has paid tribute to the former Governor General, Sir Paul Reeves, who died on Sunday aged 78. Audio

5:39 PM.The managers of the national grid had to scramble to safeguard electricity supplies during snow storms yesterday. Audio

5:37 PM.The polar blast that brought snow to downtown Auckland yesterday also delivered the city its coldest day ever, with the temperature rising to just 8.1degrees. Audio

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

5:28 PM.One of the world's greatest opera singers is coming to Christchurch, adding his voice to the restoration of the Court Theatre and the city's Symphony Orchestra. Placido Domingo, who helped bring opera… Read more Audio

5:25 PM.Snow is continuing to fall in Christchurch, causing widespread disruption and forcing businesses and schools to shut for the second day in a row. Audio

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

5:19 PM.The Prime Minister was called a chicken in Parliament after John Key walked out to avoid answering questions from Labour leader Phil Goff about youth unemployment. Audio

5:18 PM.Hundreds of homes are facing a second night without power because of the polar blast. Audio

5:13 PM.Commuters in Wellington are being told to get home now or face worsening disruption from the snow. Audio

5:08 PM.The final verdict on tourist Sarah Carter's death in Thailand blames pesticides - but fails to identify the exact cause. Audio

5:00 PM.A final verdict but questions remain about what killed a NZ tourist in Thailand. Snow falls again in Wellington and closes Christchurch down for another day and Placido Domingo flies in to sing for… Read more Audio