Checkpoint

Mental health advocates are welcoming a funding boost for crisis care but are concerned there's no national plan and decisions are being made based on decades old data. The government has detailed a… Read more Audio

Government ministers have confirmed they are considering measures to move homeless people out of Auckland's city centre, but the details remain unclear. Representatives from Auckland City Mission, and… Read more Audio

Vaccination efforts are ramping up as part of a nationwide Measles Immunisation Week campaign amid an outbreak that's got experts concerned. There are now 17 known cases of the highly-infectious… Read more Audio

Unemployment has hit a near nine year high, at 5.3% in the three months ended September. That's 160,000 people out of work, the highest since early 1994. The percentage of unemployed young people… Read more Audio

The opening of a new dialysis unit in Blenheim will save patients with kidney failure a four-hour return trip to Nelson for treatment. The four-chair unit, called Tātari Toto, will initially open for… Read more Audio

Watercare and negotiators for oyster farmers north of Auckland have spent a second day in compensation talks after their farms were contaminated after a sewage leak, but they have yet to reach an… Read more Audio

There's heartbreak among former staff of a Whangarei lion park at news that the seven surviving big cats are due to be put down this week. Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary operator Janette Vallance says the… Read more Audio

More than $60 million of funding has been announced for mental health services across the country, to bolster what's been called a fragmented and inconsistent system. Mental Health Minister Matt… Read more Audio

US tennis legend Venus Williams will continue her comeback in Auckland. Williams returned to compete in the US Open this year, at the age of 45, after a 16-month hiatus from the game. The seven-time… Read more Audio

New York City has elected its youngest mayor in over a century. Democratic-socialist Zohran Mamdani overcame former governor Andrew Cuomo in an election that saw the city's biggest turnout since 2001… Read more Audio

Asia correspondent Katie Silver spoke to Lisa Owen about a typhoon sweeping through the Philippines, causing devastating flooding and killing dozens, as well as a father and son's trip to Laos that… Read more Audio

The minister for concert regulations has stage dived right into the mosh pit floating major changes to rules around events at Auckland's Eden Park. A new report estimates restrictions on Eden Park… Read more Audio