Checkpoint for Tuesday 25 March 2014

6:56 PM.A battle for the young vote is gathering pace in Fiji on social media. Audio

6:51 PM.China is demanding an explanation from Washington over reports that the U.S. National Security Agency hacked into servers at the headquarters of telecoms giant Huawei. Audio

6:49 PM.More now the hundreds of hectares of a Coromandel forest which have been closed to stop the spread of kauri die back disease. Audio

6:45 PM.A scientist is warning the Kauri may eventually become extinct if climate change intensifies; The Conservation Department has closed a forest in Coromandel as a precautionary measure to stop the… Read more Audio

6:40 PM.Up to 65 jobs could be lost as Lincoln University attempts to slash five million dollars from its budget. Audio

6:36 PM.Firefighters are predicting the spread of pine trees in New Zealand will increase the risk of wildfires, if aggressive controls are not put in place. Audio

6:33 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:27 PM.Move over the America's Cup, Hamilton is making history instead with the first ever race in this country of people paddling giant pumpkins. Audio

6:25 PM.The sharemarket rose today, with the benchmark Top 50 Index gaining 12 points to 5131. Audio

6:22 PM.The backers of a multi million dollar highway linking the West Coast and Milford Sound say paper roads up and down the country could be at risk, after they found out their road doesn't exist on… Read more Audio

6:17 PM.The west coast north of Auckland is now officially a drought and farmers can get extra tax relief. Audio

6:12 PM.The United States and its major allies have warned Russia they'll impose damaging economic sanctions if Moscow seizes other parts of Ukraine. Audio

6:10 PM.Angry relatives of the Chinese passengers aboard Flight MH370 have marched to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to demand more answers about the crashed plane's fate. Audio

5:56 PM.The Crown says the fatal beating of Featherston supermarket worker, Glen Jones, was a case of vigilante justice because the murder accused believed he had raped a woman they knew. Audio

5:53 PM.About fifty firefighters have spent the day cleaning up a toxic chemical spill in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert - which stopped people leaving homes and closed streets early this morning. Audio

5:50 PM.An iwi leader says allegations of mis-spending by the Kohanga Reo National Trust is causing whanau to think twice about enrolling their tamariki in kohanga reo; The Kauri may die out if climate change… Read more Audio

5:46 PM.In Melbourne, the former federal Labour MP Craig Thomson has been given a three month jail sentence for spending union money on prostitutes, hotels and cigarettes. Audio

5:40 PM.A disease which has killed thousands of kauri trees over ten years has spread to the Coromandel, where part of the Whangapoua forest has been closed to try to contain it. Audio

5:36 PM.China is demanding proof that the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, killing all on board. Audio

5:32 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:28 PM.Power companies are under growing pressure to cut back on the number of households they disconnect or face regulation. Audio

5:25 PM.A small plane is missing after taking off from an Auckland airfield. Audio

5:22 PM.News from the business sector including a market report. Audio

5:19 PM.The police have found more human bones in a drain at an Auckland reserve and say the remains are those of a woman. Audio

5:15 PM.The west coast north of Auckland is now officially a drought and farmers can get extra tax relief. Audio

5:08 PM.China is demanding Malaysia show it the evidence for flight MH370 crashing into the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people on board, as bad weather hampers efforts to find any wreckage. Audio

5:00 PM.China demands to see Malaysia's evidence that flight MH370 crashed into the Southern Indian Ocean. A small plane is missing after taking off from an Auckland airfield and the west coast north of… Read more Audio