Checkpoint for Thursday 21 February 2013

6:54 PM.Japanese whaling vessels and anti-whaling activists are in the midst of an uneasy stand-off in the Southern Ocean. Audio

6:48 PM.The Government is refusing to give a portion of the valuable broadcasting spectrum to Maori claimants; The Maori Party says the decision no to supply Maori groups with a portion of the broadcasting… Read more Audio

6:43 PM.Today, the national bienniel kapa haka championships, Te Matatini, began in Rotorua. Audio

6:40 PM.A statistical snapshot of New Zealand in 2012, paints a grim picture for construction and manufacturing, with more than 40-thousand jobs being shed in those sectors in the past five years. Audio

6:37 PM.Researchers are urging women in early pregnancy to join a study aimed at reducing excema and allergies including asthma in children. Audio

6:34 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:25 PM.News from the business sector. Audio

6:20 PM.The US goverment is promising to aggressively fight an increase in theft of trade secrets by foreign governments and firms. Audio

6:17 PM.A criminal defence lawyer says he's already going through his back files to see what he can discover following the police blunder in Southland that named names in a big cannabis case. Audio

6:08 PM.The country's biggest coal miner is in urgent talks with its bankers and is restructuring again in its struggle to survive, though it's already cut hundreds of jobs. Audio

5:55 PM.The Labour Party says the Government is putting lives at risk by moving too slowly to set up a new health and safety agency. Audio

5:48 PM.The Government is refusing to give a portion of the valuable broadcasting spectrum to Maori claimants; The Communications Minister, Amy Adams, says the Government is still committed to protecting… Read more Audio

5:45 PM.Labour says if Solid Energy collapses it will be the first State owned enterprise in history to fall over. Audio

5:42 PM.A large scrub fire in south Wellington this morning is being treated as suspicious. Audio

5:38 PM.Mighty River Power, which is the first cab off the rank in the Government's partial assets sales programme, has quadrupled its half year profit and it will pay the government a dividend of 67 million… Read more Audio

5:35 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:27 PM.The police are going to court in the hope of getting back files that have revealed the names of informants and undercover officers to the accused in a big South Island cannabis case. Audio

5:24 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:18 PM.The Prime Minister has been forced to back down over his a claim that SkyCity Entertainment had reached a deal to buy land off TVNZ in Auckland. Audio

5:15 PM.The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union's Assistant National Secretary responsible for Mining and Energy, Ged O'Connell, is with us. Audio

5:07 PM.The country's biggest coal miner is in upheaval, entering urgent talks with its bankers over its debt crisis and looking at restructuring again though it cut hundreds of jobs just recently. Audio

5:00 PM.Solid Energy is in urgent talks with its bankers. The Prime Minister is forced to back down over a Sky City convention centre claim and a large scrub fire in Wellington is being treated as suspicious.