Checkpoint for Monday 23 March 2015

6:58 PM.Thousands of New Yorkers have attended a funeral service for the seven siblings killed in a Brooklyn house fire. Audio

6:51 PM.Firefighters, helicopter and police were called to the rescue in Tauranga yesterday when Rosco the dog took his toy for a swim and triggered a major emergency. Audio

6:46 PM.The country's last surviving original 28th Maori Battalion member has died at the age of 96; The Electoral Commission's reminding new Maori voters of their choices, in the lead-up to the Northland… Read more Audio

6:43 PM.A jury has been told one of two men accused of killing an Auckland man by setting him on fire, was desperate for money, and his co-accused was recruited because violence was needed to get the cash. Audio

6:38 PM.Nine charity workers who were removed from Nauru amid claims that they encouraged asylum seekers at the detention centre to hurt themselves may sue the federal government after they were cleared by an… Read more Audio

6:35 PM.The lawyer for the engineer of the collapsed CTV building has told a disciplinary hearing it wasn't clear if Alan Reay was meant to declare any building failures he was involved with. Audio

6:25 PM.People in Singapore are mourning the loss of Lee Kuan Yew, the man who transformed the country from a small port city into a wealthy global hub. Audio

6:22 PM.The Labour Party leader, Andrew Little, says he will ask the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security to investigate new claims about the Government's spy agency. Audio

6:18 PM.A big community housing group is putting its hand up to buy 500 state houses, at the same time as other agencies are downplaying the prospects of a workable consortium. Audio

6:15 PM.A community support worker gave a man the wrong drug with life-threatening consequences after failing to do the necessary checks. Audio

6:11 PM.A High Court judge says a Christchurch college didn't fully and fairly consider what went on when it banned two boys from rowing in the top schools' regatta this week. Audio

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

5:57 PM.The country's last surviving original 28th Maori Battalion members has died at the age of 96. Audio

5:54 PM.A jury has today seen a video interview in which Mark Lundy told police that since his wife and daughter were killed he had been an absolute wreck and wasn't sleeping. Audio

5:50 PM.A Christchurch school says it's been blindsided by a proposal to shut it down. Redcliffs School has been running out of a deaf education centre in Sumner since the earthquakes. Audio

5:45 PM.New Zealand exporters will automatically save 65-million-dollars a year under a trade deal signed with Korea today, rising to 230-million over the next 15 or so years. Audio

5:41 PM.A former Blenheim surgeon with a history of patients dying on his operating table has been told to apologise over the care given to an elderly patient in 2012. Audio

5:38 PM.A prisoner is a serious condition in hospital after being attacked by other inmates in Hawke's Bay Prison. Audio

5:34 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:27 PM.Two Auckland councillors are calling for a new debate over the imminent expansion of the city's wharves. Audio

5:22 PM.Lee Kuan Yew, the authoritian leader who transformed Singapore from a colonial backwater into global trade and financial centre has died, aged 91. Audio

5:19 PM.The Blackcaps have been forced to make a change to their squad for their Cricket World Cup semi-final against South Africa at Eden Park tomorrow. Audio

5:17 PM.A ship's captain who was five times over the legal limit has been fined for operating a 38 thousand tonne vessel with excess breath alcohol. Audio

5:11 PM.Two boys rowed in top school races on Lake Karapiro today within an hour of a court slapping down their college's ban on them competing. Audio

5:08 PM.A police dive squad is poised to go into the ocean off cliffs in the Catlins for a second time this afternoon in their search for missing Invercargill boy Michael Zhao-Beckenridge. Audio

5:00 PM.Dive squad poised to go into the ocean in search for missing boy; Court overrules ban on St Bede's rowers; Ship master fined after being five times over the legal limit; Blackcaps forced to make a… Read more Audio