Checkpoint for Thursday 30 June 2022

5:07 PM.'Bereft of any humanity ... nothing less than torture'. A judge's words as he sentenced a woman to life imprisonment for the murder of a five-year-old boy.

Malachi Subecz was beaten, starved, burnt… Read more Audio

5:10 PM.The brakes have gone on a social housing development on Auckland's North Shore following complaints it could change the character of the neighbourhood.

That's despite thousands of desperate families… Read more Video, Audio

5:16 PM.Auckland Council has been dealing with the hot potato of protecting 'character' homes instead of supplying more housing.

The council met with local boards to discuss the rezoning of so-called special… Read more Audio

5:22 PM.A surprise starter and surprise position switch, headline the All Blacks team for the first test against Ireland.

Uncapped powerhouse Leicester Faingaanuku will start on the wing in Saturday's sold… Read more Audio

5:26 PM.The government is supplying thousands of masks to school kids and staff in a bid to curb the spread of Covid.

It has also revised its advice on testing for re-infections of the virus, as thousands of… Read more Video, Audio

5:36 PM.Classical musical piped into the shearing shed, white walls to better spot blood splatters and mattresses at the end of the sheep chute, on a certified carbon zero high country farm, has some people… Read more Video, Audio

5:43 PM.The ongoing spread of Omicron, influenza and other winter illnesses is being described by one urgent care doctor as a "tsunami".

Health Minster Andrew Little said the health system as a whole is… Read more Video, Audio

5:50 PM.Plastic. It's not so fantastic, according to 100,000 New Zealanders who've signed a petition urging the government to ban single-use plastic bottles.

But with about a billion of them sold in this… Read more Audio

5:53 PM.A large police operation to clear out an established occupation at Māhanga Bay in Wellington has dragged on most of the day.

Six people have been arrested and more have been shifted out of the area.

5:56 PM.New Zealand will learn overnight if negotiators have managed to secure a trade deal with the European Union.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived in Brussels early this morning, where talks have… Read more Video, Audio