Checkpoint Podcast Options

5:12 PM.John Wuts and his wife travelled along Waimarama Road today, where a fire was raging. He explains to John Campbell how they could smell smoke, but couldn't see flames, at first... Video, Audio

5:07 PM.A State of Emergency has been declared in Hastings after a fire destroyed two properties and threatens many more. Rural Fire Incident Controller John Sutton joins Checkpoint. Video, Audio

6:09 PM.Department of Conservation's head of marine species and threats, Ian Angus, is co-ordinating a team taking samples of the whales to find out why so many of them have died. Video, Audio

6:07 PM.Rescuers have spent most of today trying to save as many whales as they can from a mass stranding of more than 400 whales at Farewell Spit. Video, Audio

5:56 PM.A controversial Auckland artwork, which resembles a state house and cost $1.5 million, will be unveiled to the public for the first time this weekend. Tom Furley reports. Video, Audio

5:52 PM.An Auckland mother has reached out on a social network to ask for friends for her 12-year-old daughter with special needs. Video, Audio

5:45 PM.Willie Jackson speaks to Mihingarangi Forbes about the response to his Labour candidacy, including from Labour MP Poto Williams, who publicly criticised the announcement. Audio

5:38 PM.All Black Patrick Tuipulotu has been cleared by a second drug test after he failed a test in November last year. Audio

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

5:28 PM.Cruise ship passengers wandered around Dunedin's Port Chalmers in shock today after a gas cylinder explosion killed a crew member on board the Emerald Princess. Video, Audio

5:25 PM.A Whangarei family has been living in a motel for more than six months, costing the government nearly $40,000, because they can't secure a private or state home. Zac Fleming reports. Read more Video, Audio

5:16 PM.The US Appeals Court has declined to block a lower court's ruling against US President Donald Trump's travel ban on seven countries. US Correspondent Simon Marks joins Checkpoint. Video, Audio

5:13 PM.Project Jonah is co-ordinating the response to the whale rescue operation at the top of the South Island. Its general manager Daren Grover talks to John Campbell. Audio

5:09 PM.Five hundred volunteers headed to Farewell Spit to attempt to rescue 100 stranded whales. Cindy Mosey travelled from Nelson with her two children to help. She describes the scene. Video, Audio

5:07 PM.Rescuers have spent the day trying to refloat about 100 whales stranded at Farewell Spit, while about 400 others have died in the country's worst whale stranding since 1918. Video, Audio

6:22 PM.Our sports reporter, Matt Chatterton, is at the 54th Halberg Awards at Auckland's Vector Arena tonight. He's picking Lydia Ko and Mahe Drysdale to win. Video, Audio

6:18 PM.North Canterbury residents say if given the go ahead, the noise, dust and vibrations of a proposed quarry will cause constant disruption and impact on their house values. Video, Audio

6:13 PM.A state housing tenant says he has been living in a cockroach infested Housing New Zealand home for months because they have repeatedly delayed fumigating it. Video, Audio

6:07 PM.The Government has apologised for the "tremendous hurt and stigma" suffered by gay men who were convicted for homosexual offences. Video, Audio

5:55 PM.A service has been held for Benjamin the cat, who called the Deveonport Library home for more than 15 years. Locals say he'd visit their houses for sleepovers and was always up for a pat. Video, Audio

5:51 PM.Devonport residents are in a bitter battle trying to stop a 600-bed reitrement village being built in their community, describing it as looking like a prison. Video, Audio