Checkpoint for Wednesday 18 December 2013

6:50 PM.A Maori organisation that had to fight for the return of ancestral land on the Kapiti Coast describes the experience as painful, arduous and frustrating; A hapu collective opposing a major roading… Read more Audio

6:44 PM.Doctors say it's about time drug firms stopped contentious payments to GPs and others who agree to promote their products. They say other drug-makers should follow the move by GlaxoSmithKline… Read more Audio

6:38 PM.In Australia, the Prime Minister has announced a one hundred million dollar assistance package to Holden workers after the company announced it would stop making cars there in 2017. Audio

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

6:28 PM.The ANZ Bank's Chief Economist says business confidence is at an almost 15-year high, despite an elevated dollar and expectations interest rates will rise. Audio

6:23 PM.Brazil says it has no plans to offer asylum to Edward Snowden despite the American intelligence leaker offering to help the country defeat US spying. Audio

6:18 PM.DOC is being forced to spend two million dollars fixing a six million dollar computer system that still isn't working properly more than a year after it went live. Audio

6:14 PM.The jury in the Helen Milner trial in the High Court in Christchurch has just retired for the evening. It's been out since just after 11 this morning. Helen Milner is accused of poisoning her husband… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.Auckland's mayor Len Brown continues to brush off calls for him to resign just ahead of tomorrow's crucial council meeting which is expected to censure him over breaches of a code of conduct. Mr Brown… Read more Audio

5:56 PM.For the first time in more than a decade, a sitting National MP has been rolled by a challenger, in a vote to decide who'll be the party candidate for an electorate seat. Stuart Smith has defeated the… Read more Audio

5:50 PM.A Maori organisation that had to fight for the return of ancestral land on the Kapiti Coast describes the experience as painful, arduous and frustrating; A hapu collective opposing a major roading… Read more Audio

5:47 PM.The police in south Auckland say 14 elderly victims have lost thousands of dollars after being tricked by burglars into giving out their bank card PINS. Audio

5:42 PM.India has ordered a series of reprisals against the United States over the arrest of one of its diplomats in New York. Security barricades have been removed from around the US embassy in Delhi and a… Read more Audio

5:38 PM.A former top diplomat has criticised the State Services Commission and the Minister of Foreign Affairs over their handling of the investigation into who leaked documents about the restructuring of the… Read more Audio

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

5:28 PM.The America's Cup, how to kiss, and twerking are among the most popular searches by New Zealanders on the internet this year. Google has released its annual zeitgeist - a barometer of what's… Read more Audio

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

5:22 PM.A Whanganui man who killed one of his triplet babies must serve at least 17 years behind bars before he's eligible for parole. Thomas McGregor was sentenced today in the High Court at Whanganui for… Read more Audio

5:17 PM.Poor governance and management have caused another IT botch-up and a cost blowout at a government department. DOC is having to spend two million dollars fixing a land management computer system that… Read more Audio

5:12 PM.Howick ward councillor Dick Quax is leading the charge to get a no confidence vote tomorrow against Len Brown. He's heading up a group of five including two new councillors and long-time Brown… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.Auckland's mayor Len Brown is brushing off calls for him to resign, on a day which included a newspaper editorial demand that he go, angry protestors pursuing him, and a group of councillors proposing… Read more Audio

5:00 PM.Auckland mayor rejects calls to resign; Councillor heading no-confidence move; Botched new IT system at DOC; Whanganui man jailed for 17 years for killing his daughter; Top Google searches for 2013 in… Read more Audio