Checkpoint for Thursday 23 January 2020

5:55 PM.Tonnes of ancient volcanic rock are being transformed into works of fine art on New Plymouth's Coastal Walkway.

Twenty-seven artists - including three from overseas - have set up camp on the popular… Read more Video, Audio

5:10 PM.Vector Energy is investigating after two hours of patchy power cuts hit Auckland's central business district and busy inner city suburbs on Thursday afternoon.

Lifts stopped, traffic lights were out… Read more Video, Audio

5:13 PM.The number of people desperate for government help to pay for essentials like food and rent is skyrocketing - with advocates warning that won't change until baseline benefits increase.

Figures… Read more Video, Audio

5:18 PM.New Zealand doctor Lance O'Sullivan fears the spread of hysteria over the deadly coronovirus, saying the answer to outbreaks like this one is better vaccination programmes.

At least 17 people are… Read more Video, Audio

5:26 PM.Relentlessly positive, robust, and factual - Labour has unveiled its election strategy for 2020.

Labour MPs were in Martinborough for their annual caucus retreat on Thursday - and their eyes are… Read more Video, Audio

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

5:40 PM.A massive shortage of rental properties in Wellington is fueling record price increases, with the median weekly rent cracking the $600 mark for the first time ever last month.

A tenants' advocacy… Read more Video, Audio

5:45 PM.Bombarded by ads on your Facebook feed and ever wondered how they got there?

This election year the Labour Party is signing up to Facebook's advertising transparency rules, which means you''ll be… Read more Video, Audio

5:51 PM.Tonight Christchurch's Bread & Circus Buskers festival is swinging into action, and its promising to lure the biggest crowds to the central city since pre-earthquake times.

But organisers admit the… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.New Zealanders visiting relatives in China are now trapped in Wuhan with the city in lockdown over the deadly coronavirus.

At least 17 people are dead and more than 500 infected in China alone, as… Read more Audio

6:12 PM."Alert but not alarmed" - that's how the Health Minister is describing New Zealand's response to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

David Clark fronted to media on Thursday afternoon to outline how… Read more Audio

6:17 PM.Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni is refusing to commit to increasing benefit levels, despite skyrocketing demand for hardship grants to help people pay for food and housing.

She talked to… Read more Audio

6:22 PM.Women working in research say breaking the taboo of talking about salary may be a way forward on pay equity.

A Canterbury University study, released on Thursday, found women working in research in… Read more Audio

6:26 PM.New Zealand's Jewish community is being warned to be vigilant because of a rise in anti-semitic behaviour.

On Wednesday swastikas were discovered outside the Temple Sinai in Wellington. And a Maori… Read more Audio