Checkpoint for Wednesday 26 October 2022

5:06 PM.The government's confirmed it made a plea to Iran to get a New Zealand couple out of the country, but insist no deal was done to secure their release.

Against official advice, social media… Read more Audio

5:10 PM.Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta made a direct plea to her Iranian counterpart to urgently let a New Zealand couple leave the country.

Social media personalities, Topher Richwhite and Bridget… Read more Video, Audio

5:17 PM.More than twenty rapes or near rapes and thousands of cases of sexual harassment have been revealed in a survey of students at two Christchurch high schools.

The survey at Avonside Girls High School… Read more Audio

5:23 PM.New Zealand Rugby is apologising for an error which may take some shine off the Black Ferns quarterfinal at the Rugby World Cup this weekend.

Rugby fans will be forced to choose on Saturday night -… Read more Video, Audio

5:28 PM.Students at a prestigious Auckland secondary school with unpaid fees will be entered onto a list of defaulters.

Auckland Grammar School is threatening to withhold end-of-year reports from parents who… Read more Audio

5:35 PM.There's tension in Te Urewera, where work is underway in the remote, rugged country to strip, dismantle and burn down backcountry DOC huts.

Fifteen are gone, and another 33 are set to be removed by… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.Surveys of students at two neighbouring Christchurch schools have revealed thousands of cases sexual harassment. Avonside Girls High School and Shirley Boys share a site and some common areas like the… Read more Video, Audio

5:50 PM.The parents of a teenager who suddenly died from meningitis have made a heartfelt plea for free access to the vaccine that would have saved their daughter.

Gerard and Claire Rushton appeared before a… Read more Audio

5:54 PM.Police are calling for sightings of a Hong Kong national who died in Queenstown over Labour Weekend.

51-year-old Wai Ming Lai died suddenly on Saturday in Sawpit Gully. He'd been in the country since… Read more Video, Audio