Checkpoint

A Northland principal says a number of schools in the region are accepting national standards only because they fear they'll lose funding if they don't; A Ratana Minister says the late Whetu… Read more Audio

Welfare reform, with a special focus on benefit fraud, is expected to be the key theme at the National Party's election year conference in Wellington this weekend. Audio

An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

For the first time a suicide prevention helpline is being set up as part of a new campaign to tackle the disproportionately high number of Maori and Pacific people who take their own lives. Audio

There's sure to be lots of roasts on tables in Christchurch this weekend after hundreds of meat-and-three-veg packs were handed out today. Audio

The stock market has clawed back some of the losses it suffered this week, following extreme volatility on global equity markets. Audio

More than a thousand athletes from 50 countries have arrived in Queenstown to compete in this year's Winter Games. Audio

China's train makers are recalling 54 flagship bullet trains for safety reasons as public anger intensifies over a deadly crash. Audio

Vodafone has been fined more than $400,000 for misleading customers. Audio

Organisers of the first attempt by a team to row the Tasman from Australia to New Zealand are hoping it will eventually become a race, similar to one in the Atlantic. Audio

The secret records kept by a New Zealand Prisoner of War during the Japanese occupation of Singapore have resurfaced in Britain. Audio

A senior Ratana Church minister says he'll always remember Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan, for the changes she made to parliament; A Northland principal says some schools in her region have agreed to… Read more Audio