Checkpoint for Friday 19 September 2014

6:57 PM.With election night in sight, the Tai Tokerau seat is likely to be the main focus for many people. A Ngati Porou kuia, Keri Kaa, is paying tribute to her former colleague and tribal whanaunga Amster… Read more Audio

6:55 PM.Now to that other vote - in Scotland. Audio

6:37 PM.From tonight party leaders can only wait until the vote is counted tomorrow night. In the last week there have been revelations about spying and speculation about what a post-election goverment might… Read more Audio

6:35 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:27 PM.Some dogs are distinctly more pessimistic than others according to new research. Audio

6:25 PM.The Central Districts jockey David Walker has been banned from racing for seven years and castigated for betraying the sport. Audio

6:22 PM.Prestigious American universities including Caltech and New York University are recruiting students in Auckland this weekend. Audio

6:20 PM.The contest for the Wairarapa seat is shaping up to be a two-horse race between a current mayor and a professional director and winemaker. Audio

6:17 PM.On the last day of campaigning here, the New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, has been hit up by a Greens' supporter, Chris Owen, in Auckland about which party Mr Peters would support in… Read more Audio

6:12 PM.Scotland has chosen to stay in the United Kingdom, spurning independence in a historic referendum that's attracted a record turnout. Audio

5:57 PM.The UN Security Council has declared the Ebola outbreak a threat to world peace and called on countries to provide urgent aid to West Africa. Audio

5:54 PM.Elderly women on Auckland's North Shore are being terrorised by a group of thieves who steal their pin numbers at supermarket checkouts. Audio

5:50 PM.With election night in sight, the Tai Tokerau seat, is likely to be the main focus for many people. A Ngati Porou teacher and mentor is being remembered as a man skilled at inspiring tangata whenua… Read more Audio

5:48 PM.The Labour Party leader, David Cunliffe, says the election is on a knife-edge and he will be campaigning until late tonight. Audio

5:46 PM.A Maori academic predicts thousands of Tuhoe people will turn out to defy any court order to exhume James Takamore's body. Audio

5:38 PM.The High Court has told the Government it expects its help and support to enforce a ruling that the body of James Takemore be returned to his partner and children. Audio

5:37 PM.The inquest of Rutger Hale has left more questions than answers about the deadly object that smashed through a car windscreen and killed him. Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

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

5:28 PM.The Government's rejected accusations that it ordered an ex-employee to bury potentially-embarrassing information when in the job. Audio

5:25 PM.To Australia now where the police are promising they'll make further arrests after seizing a huge amount of material in yesterday's mass terrorism raids. Audio

5:23 PM.A witness to a pile-up in Cheviot has described a school bus careering along the road in a scene reminiscent of the movies, and performing a 360 degree turn before it crashed. Audio

5:17 PM.Political leaders are converging on Auckland ahead of tomorrow's vote using that last hours of campaiging to shore-up all the support they can. Audio

5:13 PM.The Fiji Electoral Commission is outraged that opposition parties have tried to stop the vote counting, with claims of election fraud. Audio

5:06 PM.With more than 60 percent of the referendum votes declared, the Nationalists have conceded defeat. Audio