Checkpoint for Thursday 6 November 2014

5:00 PM.Legal action back on the agenda as hopes of re-entering the Pike River mine are dashed. AC-DC drummer charged in Tauranga with trying to procure a murder and one dead in a boating accident off Mahia… Read more Audio

5:07 PM.The prospect of court action over the Pike River mine disaster is back on the agenda now that all hope of re-entering the ruined mine's tunnel has finally been dashed. Audio

5:10 PM.Carol Rose is the mother of 31 year old Stu Mudge who died in the mine. She insists there's a good case for taking Pike River managers Peter Whittall, Doug White and Steve Ellis to court. Audio

5:13 PM.The lawyer for the Pike River Families Committee Colin Smith is with us. Audio

5:17 PM.The AC-DC drummer Phil Rudd has been charged with trying to procure the murder of two people and threatening to kill one of them. Audio

5:19 PM.The Defence Minister and Prime Minister appear to be at odds over whether the SAS could be sent to Iraq. Audio

5:21 PM.A 13 year old girl swam to shore and ran for nearly half an hour to get help after a fishing trip went badly wrong. Audio

5:23 PM.President Obama is promising to redouble his efforts to work with his Republican opponents after they secured control of both Houses of Congress in America's mid-term elections. Audio

5:27 PM.A packet of vacuum-sealed snake steak crawling with insects has caused a biosecurity alarm at Auckland airport. Audio

5:35 PM.The New Zealand dollar fell more than one-and-a-half US cents today to its lowest level since June 2012. Audio

5:38 PM.Kiwirail still does not know whether the Arahura ferry will be safe to sail tomorrow, after engine problems forced the crew to stop and drop its anchors so it wouldn't drift into nearby rocks. Audio

5:42 PM.The trial of a St John ambulance officer has heard evidence showing he made two video files on his cellphone at the time a teenage girl claims she was abused. Audio

5:46 PM.Solid Energy says it knew it was going to disappoint Pike River families with the decision not to re-enter the mine tunnel. Audio

5:55 PM.Rare details marking the first interactions between Māori and Europeans in New Zealand have been released as part of a new archive of centuries-old journals, letters and documents online. Audio

5:57 PM.The lead designer of Christchurch's ill fated CTV building, has been barred from working on multi-storey buildings and ordered to pay ten thousand dollars towards the cost of his disciplinary hearing.

6:07 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:11 PM.The Government has initiated the first steps towards legal action over the Pike River disaster that could ultimately see the managers of the mismanaged coal mine being sued. Audio

6:14 PM.President Obama is promising to redouble his efforts to work with his Republican opponents after they secured control of both Houses of Congress in America's mid-term elections. Audio

6:19 PM.The company that spilled oil in the Tongariro National Park has been fined 3-hundred-thousand-dollars today in the Ohakune District Court. Audio

6:22 PM.The Government's looking at how it might lock up or rehabilitate jihadists who return from fighting in the Middle East, as part of its action plan against Islamic State. Audio

6:26 PM.Twenty-two pilot whales refloated in the Bay of Plenty yesterday have all died now after stranding themselves again. Audio

6:38 PM.Scientists have revealed details about a sixty-six million-year-old fossil, of an animal resembling a modern-day groundhog, which re-writes our understanding of early mammals. Audio

6:41 PM.A 100-million dollar convention centre near Wellington's waterfront has been given the green light. Audio

6:47 PM.New Zealand Maori Tourism says it's working to expand the range of cultural images used overseas; Rare details marking the first interactions between Maori and Europeans in New Zealand have been… Read more Audio