Checkpoint for Thursday 22 October 2015

6:57 PM.A Dutch team has won the biennial World Solar Challenge for the second time in a row, 42 solar cars set off from Darwin on Sunday for the 3-thousand kilometre race south, and so far 5 teams have… Read more Audio

6:50 PM.Retiring Green MP Russel Norman delivers his valedictory speech to the House; Environment Minister Nick Smith faces questions about the state of New Zealand's rivers in light of this week's the… Read more Audio

6:47 PM.The Silver Ferns need to win tonight's Constellation Cup match against Australia in Auckland in order to keep their series hopes alive. Netball reporter, Bridget Tunnicliffe, says victory is possible… Read more Audio

6:44 PM.The US Vice President, Joe Biden, has dashed the hopes of many Democrats and announced that he will not run in the country's 2016 election. Washington Correspondent Simon Marks reports. Audio

6:40 PM.A Government-commissioned report has found hundreds of sailors on two frigates protesting at Mururoa in the 1970s were not exposed to harmful levels of radiation. Audio

6:36 PM.Amnesty International has recounted horrific stories of Rohingya people who were abused and kept in hellish conditions while trafficked out of Myanmar in shoddy boats. Graham Thom, who is Amnesty's… Read more Audio

6:28 PM.Rowing New Zealand says a snubbing at the world awards is bizarre - but the sport's global body says people are tired of this country's rowers winning so often. Rowing NZ chief executive Simon… Read more Audio

6:27 PM.The Government says it is not condoning bribery and corruption in other jurisductions by allowing some payments to foreign officials. Audio

6:24 PM.The Green Party MP, and former co-leader, Russel Norman has used his final speech in Parliament to highlight what he says is a loss of democracy in New Zealand. Audio

6:18 PM.The words of murdered woman, Mei fan detailing her fear of her estranged husband were read out in the High Court today. Reporter Nick Butcher has been at the trial. Audio

6:16 PM.Asbestos dust has been found in corridors and clinical rooms in Dunedin Hospital, David Clark is Labour's acting health spokesperson and the MP for Dunedin North. Audio

6:07 PM.Asbestos dust has been found in corridors and clinical rooms in Dunedin Hospital, and staff and patients, including pregnant women, may have been exposed. Ruth Hill reports. Audio

6:06 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:53 PM.The precious Motunui Epa which was illegally smuggled out of the country in the 1970s has gone on public display in New Plymouth today. Audio

5:48 PM.Fourteen corrupt Vanuatu government MPs including the deputy Prime Minister have been sent to jail. A Port Vila academic Tess Newton Cain spoke to Radio New Zealand International's Sally Round. Audio

5:44 PM.A jury in the trial of a social worker accused of having sex with her underage client, has begun deliberating. Audio

5:40 PM.A predicted strong El Nino summer has lifeguards making preparations for bigger waves, more rips and a long and hot summer bringing more people flocking to the water. Kim Baker Wilson has been at… Read more Audio

5:37 PM.Radiologists and laboratory workers at Dunedin hospital are worried they may have been exposed to asbestos at Dunedin hospital. Dr Deborah Powell is the Apex Union national secretary and spokesperson… Read more Audio

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

5:27 PM.The Dunedin City Council is scaling back its botched South Dunedin cycle network, saying it will have to do less of it, better. Audio

5:25 PM.Former MPs and their partners have spent almost three quarters of a million dollars of taxpayer money on travel in the year to June. Amelia Langford reports. Audio

5:22 PM.A Waitangi Tribunal report has found the Crown was deceitful when it bought land from Whanganui Maori and is responsible for the deprived state many of them live in now. Audio

5:17 PM.Education leaders say they are disappointed, hurt and appalled that the Government has again paid charter schools for more students than they actually have. John Gerritsen reports. Audio

5:14 PM.The police are being criticised for failing to properly protect a vulnerable two-year-old who arrived at hospital with suspicious injuries. The Independent Police Complaints Authority says the boy was… Read more Audio

5:05 PM.Asbestos dust has been found in corridors and clinical rooms in Dunedin Hospital, and staff and patients, including pregnant women, may have been exposed. Audio

5:00 PM.Asbestos dust in corridors, clinical rooms in Dunedin Hospital, Police failed to properly protect a vulnerable child, Tribunal report - Crown deceived Whanganui Maori over land grab, Former MPs spend… Read more Audio