Checkpoint for Wednesday 26 November 2025

5:45 PM.United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about the country's budget day, which was preceded by a pre-budget announcement that a tourist tax could be introduced across England. Audio

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

5:32 PM.After taking time out of the game to deal with a serious injury and to focus on her mental health, Grace Wisnewski has fallen back in love with football. The Kiwi has been recalled to the Football… Read more Audio

5:28 PM.Tiny parts of vehicle tyres are making up the biggest source of microplastics in our ocean, according to marine scientists. They have been looking at tyre particles on roadsides and in storm water in… Read more Audio

5:16 PM.A mother convicted of murdering her two young children will remain behind bars for at least 17 years, after her sentencing in Auckland today. Hakyung Lee was found guilty by a jury of murdering… Read more Audio

5:07 PM.The Reserve Bank has dropped the OCR to its lowest level in three years, down to 2.25%. Some home loan rates started to drop just minutes after the OCR cut of 25 basis points. The Reseve Bank says… Read more Audio

4:50 PM.A new AI navigation tool will provide a digital front door to mental health services, according to the Minister responsible. The government says a big barrier to accessing mental health services is… Read more Audio

4:43 PM.A native freshwater fish thought to be lost from Auckland's wetlands has resurfaced after more than a decade of searching. Populations of the elusive and endangered Waikaka, or Black Mudfish, have… Read more Audio

4:25 PM.Fifa will adopt a new tennis-style system for next week's draw for the 2026 World Cup. The draw ceremony for the first 48-team World Cup will be held next week in Washington DC. With the expanded… Read more Audio

4:18 PM.It started as a tiny seed of an idea, but it has grown into a flourishing vege garden, in an unlikely spot; a concrete company carpark in Kerikeri. Now that carpark is feeding a bunch of families in… Read more Audio

4:13 PM.Asia correspondent Katie Silver spoke to Lisa Owen about Southeast Asia being pummelled by severe weather and flooding, as well as a Thai woman who was found alive in a coffin right before she was… Read more Audio

4:07 PM.It has been a year of belt tightening for many people; rising unemployment, a sluggish economy and the lurking dragon that is inflation. So as we board the sled hurtling toward Xmas at breakneck speed… Read more Audio