Checkpoint for Monday 17 November 2014

6:52 PM.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is claiming that Muslim sailors found the Americas more than three hundred years before Christopher Columbus. Audio

6:48 PM.About 150 tamariki and kaiako from an East Coast kura fled for the hills today, when an earthquake triggered the school's tsunami evacuation plan; Almost all of the former domestic abuse perpetrators… Read more Audio

6:45 PM.Australia and China have signed a landmark free trade deal that's been more than a decade in the making. Audio

6:42 PM.The hearings into a plan change to rapidly expand downtown Queenstown with highrise buildings, and pave the way for a convention centre got underway today, with an opening shot from a resident who… Read more Audio

6:38 PM.A Northland SPCA Inspector has begun a three-day hunger strike over a spate of dog starvings in Whangarei. Audio

6:34 PM.About 100 cleaners at SkyCity can keep their jobs after the casino operator's plans to go to contractors were thwarted by the Employment Relations Authority. Audio

6:26 PM.The Glenn Inquiry says some people's distorted of view of what constitutes a normal family life is the biggest barrier to stopping family violence. Audio

6:23 PM.President Obama has called the beheading of an American aid worker by Islamic State as an "act of pure evil." Audio

6:19 PM.A coroner has recommended Westpac rescue helicopters carry crotch straps after a drunken sailor fell from a harness 3 to 5 metres back into the sea. Audio

6:13 PM.The Public Service Association wants earthquake chief Roger Sutton to leave his job now. Audio

6:07 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:53 PM.Kim Dotcom is scrambling to replace his New Zealand lawyers, who've quit the long-running case today. Audio

5:50 PM.What is contemporary Māori Art? That's been a question debated at the Toi Māori Art Market in Wellington. Te Manu Kōrihi reporter, Laura Bootham, sought the answer by talking to Maori curators and… Read more Audio

5:48 PM.The convicted arsonist Ewen Macdonald has been denied parole for a third time. Audio

5:44 PM.The head of an immigration scam who exploited six Chinese chefs has escaped a jail sentence. Audio

5:38 PM.The lawyer representing the son of the Maori king says his client could miss out on being considered for his father's throne if he is convicted. Audio

5:36 PM.The Government's just announced it will send up to two dozen health workers to Sierra Leone as its major contribution to the international fight against ebola. Audio

5:33 PM.Strong retail sales and profit taking in the sharemarket have helped drive the New Zealand dollar up half a cent from its open and over one US cent from its value in late local trading on Friday. Audio

5:27 PM.The internet businessman Kim Dotcom has been banned from using his helicopter ahead of a Crown application to revoke his bail and put him back in prison. Audio

5:21 PM.Crash investigators are looking into how a bus slid into a ditch today injuring many of the teenagers on board. Audio

5:19 PM.Scores of children were evacuated from five East Cape schools after a large earthquake rocked the east coast of the North Island this morning. Audio

5:15 PM.A ministerial inquiry is to be held into how convicted murderer and paedophile Phillip Smith was able to flee the country. Audio

5:11 PM.The State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie says the sexual harrassment inquiry started at the end of September shortly after the woman complained about Mr Sutton's behaviour which had gone on for a… Read more Audio

5:07 PM.Christchurch's earthquake recovery boss, Roger Sutton, says he never meant to hurt anyone, but admits he probably has, quitting his job after a sexual harassment investigation. Audio

5:00 PM.Earthquake chief quits over his hugs and jokes. A ministerial inquiry is ordered into how Phillip Smith escaped and 200 take to higher ground after a big shake off the North Island's east coast. Audio