Checkpoint Podcast Options

5:15 PM.Our reporter Lorna Perry has been at Maritime New Zealand's latest news conference that ended a short time ago. Audio

5:11 PM.Here's the Transport Minister Stephen Joyce - I asked him for his reaction to the apology. Audio

5:07 PM.The Rena has been shifting about on the Astrolabe reef today, and is listing over further, though inspectors who got on board amid improved weather report it appears more stable. Audio

5:00 PM.The owner of the stricken container ship apologises for the oil spill. Salvage inspectors are winched on board the ship and hundreds more birds die on the Bay of Plenty beaches . Audio

6:56 PM.The number of New Zealanders going on holiday somewhere in the North Island spiked during August. Audio

6:52 PM.A team of 15 Australians are arriving in Tauranga tonight to join the ten already here helping with the oil clean-up. Audio

6:50 PM.More now the stranded ship Rena, if it doesn't break up soon, the best chance of re-floating it will be in just over two weeks time when there's a king tide. Audio

6:46 PM.The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has identified a bacterial disease never before seen in New Zealand, as the cause of hundreds of deformed and dead kanakana or lamprey, being found in the… Read more Audio

6:43 PM.The plan for the rebuild of Christchurch city is set for change, following feedback from hundreds of people in the community, many of whom labelled it too prescriptive, and not economically viable. Audio

6:36 PM.People are being told to stay away from the oil washing up on Bay of Plenty beaches. Audio

6:32 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:27 PM.Reclusive Myanmar has started releasing at least some political detainees as part of a general amnesty for thousands of prisoners. Audio

6:23 PM.News from the business sector. Audio

6:18 PM.Secondary school principals expect improvements to their schools' finances will be short-lived because of changes to government funding. Audio

6:14 PM.The Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission is calling for changes to building standards as a matter of urgency. Audio

6:11 PM.The Rena is on track to become New Zealand's biggest shipwreck. Audio

6:09 PM.A major cleanup is underway on Bay of Plenty beaches as more and more oil comes ashore from the stranded container ship, Rena. Audio

6:07 PM.Big cracks are showing in both sides of the stranded cargo ship Rena increasing the chances it will break up and spew more than 1300 tonnes of oil into the already polluted sea off Tauranga. Audio

5:55 PM.A maritime lawyer says the penalities for oil spills in this country are too low and should be increased. Audio

5:50 PM.A wild brawl between Maori school students and white Australian teenagers has left teachers injured and parents demanding action. Audio

5:47 PM.The chair of Ngai Te Rangi Runanga says tangata whenua in Tauranga are feeling helpless - because there's little they can do to stop oil washing ashore; The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says a… Read more Audio

5:44 PM.The Labour Party's election-year law and order policy promises to boost police numbers so that one-person police stations are staffed by two officers. Audio

5:41 PM.For the next two days, expectant mothers on the West Coast are being warned there are no hospital specialists to care for them during labour and birth. Audio

5:38 PM.Oil is thickly coating rocks at Motiti Island while containers swept loose from the stricken Rena seven kilometres away have been crashing into the shore and sinking. Audio

5:35 PM.Salvage experts are waiting helplessly on shore as heavy seas batter the cracking container ship perched on a reef off Tauranga. Audio