Checkpoint for Wednesday 26 October 2011

5:00 PM.The Maui gas leak brings thousands of businesses to a halt. Drug mules who hid millions of dollars worth on P in their shoes are jailed and the High Court in Auckland has heard senior managers at the… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.Farmers have begun dumping huge tanks of milk and hundreds of workers have spent the day idle at factories and production plants crippled by the big North Island gas leak. Audio

5:09 PM.Gas supplies have been restored to hospitals and all but one dairy factory in Northland. Audio

5:14 PM.A farmer near Whakatane told us about dumping 15,000 litres today, another in Waikato of pumping 10,000 litres out on to maize fields. Audio

5:17 PM.A court has heard that group of drug mules who attempted to smuggle millions of dollars worth of P into New Zealand had been under significant financial pressure from loan sharks. Audio

5:20 PM.The High Court in Auckland has heard senior managers at the failed finance company Bridgecorp told call staff to lie when investors rang asking where their payouts where. Audio

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

5:26 PM.More now on the Maui gas leak that's shut down factories and forced dairy farmers to dump thousands of litres of milk. Audio

5:29 PM.A yacht, which collided with a Department of Conservation boat in Queen Charlotte Sound, has been towed to Picton harbour. Audio

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

5:36 PM.The Maui gas leak has hit production of food including essentials such as milk and bread. Audio

5:41 PM.The Labour Party is breaking with years of tradition and is foregoing a campaign launch focussed on the leader. Audio

5:44 PM.Massey University's Associate Professor Claire Robinson is a political marketing specialist - she's with us. Audio

5:50 PM.The Maori Affairs Minister and Te Puni Kokiri's Chief Executive have signed agreements with two iwi at Parliament today, on the governance of the Waikato river; The Kohanga Reo National Trust Board… Read more Audio

5:56 PM.Maritime New Zealand says, in total, over 730 tonnes of oil has been pumped off the stricken ship, Rena, onto the bunker barge Awanuia. Audio

6:08 PM.It will be tomorrow at the earliest before the full extent of the repairs required to the leaking Maui gas pipeline are known. Audio

6:15 PM.The Auckland Council is cutting back its gas use at swimming pools, crematoria and council offices, and urging others to cut back on their usage. Audio

6:17 PM.The doctor of a woman at the centre of a euthanasia trial says she had asked him to speed up her death. Audio

6:24 PM.It's the end of an era for the country's largest listed company, Telecom - after investors voted to separate the phone company's retail and network arms into two stand alone firms. Audio

6:27 PM.Thousands of people turned out for the Wellington Rugby World Cup victory parade today, despite the weather. Audio

6:32 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:36 PM.The inner workings of Paraparaumu Airport have been branded as mickey mouse by a coroner investigating three deaths in a mid-air collision. Audio

6:39 PM.The National Party says it will make further changes to bail laws if it is re-elected. Audio

6:44 PM.The co-chair of the Kohanga Reo National Trust Board says it's pleased that the Waitangi Tribunal has granted it an urgent hearing; New research may shed light on the origins of the Moriori - the… Read more Audio

6:47 PM.A major Christchurch property owner says the Government should step in as insurer to get the rebuild rolling. Audio

6:53 PM.Motorbike registrations have plummeted by almost 18-thousand in less than two years. Audio

6:56 PM.In the United States, advisors are recommending boys be given the human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine, which is already used in girls to protect against cervical cancer. Audio