Checkpoint

News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

A Maori activist who ran a passport scam targeting Pacific Island overstayers has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. Audio

Early tomorrow morning Republicans will be back at the table to assess their options after a vote on their debt-ceiling bill was delayed due to a lack of support. Audio

The size of the rebellion over national standards in reading, writing and maths is clearer tonight with new figures suggesting one in five schools is defying the government. Audio

The parents of the man murdered by fellow drug dealers with hammers, and dumped in a New Plymouth garage, say they hate his killers and hope the two Killer Clown Fiends would rot in hell. Audio

Life sentence for body in garage murderers, National standards opponents buoyed by new figures, Lack of support kills latest Republican debt ceiling bill, 18 months jail for South Auckland passport… Read more Audio

A high-tech IT centre is to be set up in Christchurch. The council is donating two and a half hectares of land rent-free for three years, for a business hub for technology companies which have lost… Read more Audio

A health researcher says treatment of rheumatic fever needs to be a priority on the East Coast; Two iwi have joined a tribe taking action to resolve how a huge forest in the central North Island… Read more Audio

A move by Fonterra to crack down on the use of the name Vintage on cheeses, other than its own, has shocked specialist cheesemakers. Audio

The UN World Food Programme has started airlifting supplies to the rapidly worsening famine in the eastern Horn of Africa. More than 11 million people are threatened by the drought, in Somalia, Kenya… Read more Audio

An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

Education leaders in Auckland are working to triple the number of Maori students in the region getting a degree by 2020. Audio