Checkpoint for Friday 12 December 2014

6:57 PM.More now on this week's survey of more than 100 emergency departments across New Zealand and Australia. Audio

6:52 PM.Television New Zealand has chosen the production companies it wants to take over its Maori and Pacific Programmes; The lawyer for a Whangarei hapu says it's very disappointed at the Crown's decision… Read more Audio

6:36 PM.Parliament has risen for the year but not before rushing through legislation which gives the Security Intelligence Service greater powers to pry into people's lives. Audio

6:28 PM.If you've ever lamented that there aren't any new magazines in doctors' waiting rooms, you'll be interested in a new study on the topic. Audio

6:15 PM.The case of a schizophrenic man who killed his friend because he thought he was a demon has sparked calls to put families back at the centre of mental health care. Audio

6:12 PM.The police are crediting two members of the public with helping to apprehend a man accused of going on a bloody axe rampage in Upper Hutt that has left one woman dead and two others injured. Audio

6:08 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:53 PM.The head of the CIA has responded to the damning report accusing it of torturing prisoners in the wake of 9/11, admitting that some interrogators have used "harsh" and "abhorrent" tactics in the past… Read more Audio

5:50 PM.The lawyer for a Whangarei hapu says it's very disappointed at the Crown's decision to support Mighty River Power in a bid to overturn its injunction to stop the sale of land it once owned: Television… Read more Audio

5:48 PM.A chorus of voices is calling on the New Zealand Government to lean heavily on Indonesia over human rights abuses in its Papua region. Audio

5:46 PM.Opposition's mounting in New Plymouth over proposed cuts to council services and increases in charges. Audio

5:44 PM.A pro-democracy leader in Hong Kong says the Government has failed to crush their movement and they will be back to fight for free elections in 2017. Audio

5:37 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 sole South Canterbury Finance director found guilty of misleading investors has today escaped a prison sentence despite the Crown arguing for one. Audio

5:23 PM.A Nelson vagrant has been sent to prison for refusing to do community work imposed after he balked at paying more than fifty-thousand dollars in parking fines for his horse and cart. Audio

5:20 PM.An Invercargill pre-school is shocked that a four-year-old girl managed to get intoxicated by drinking hand sanitizer. Audio

5:16 PM.School principals in the first group to join the Government's 359-million-dollar booster scheme for education say it is not the money that has prompted their move to do so. Audio

5:14 PM.The High Court has ordered the Board of Inquiry into the Ruataniwha Dam to change a controversial rule that allowed farmers to breach pollution limits while at the same time saying they weren't. Audio

5:09 PM.There are three crime scenes tonight in Upper Hutt as police investigate the brutal killing of a woman who was attacked by a man with an axe. Audio

5:00 PM.Police investigate the brutal murder of a woman attacked with an axe, Board of Inquiry ordered into the Ruataniwha Dam, Govt names first schools in flagship scheme, Invercargill pre-school shocked… Read more Audio