Checkpoint for Wednesday 15 April 2015

6:48 PM.A lawyer representing Maori in water rights cases says much of the blame for the controversy over freshwater rights rests on the shoulders of Local Government; The former Whanau Ora Minister, Dame… Read more Audio

6:47 PM.A former chess grandmaster says Smart phone cheats should face the same harsh penalties as doping Olympic athletes. Audio

6:45 PM.The world's first battery-powered, 3-D printed rocket has been unveiled by an Auckland company. Audio

6:37 PM.The children's charity Unicef says the government needs to provide parents with more advice and support to reduce the number of children being killed. Audio

6:27 PM.Cooling growth figures out of China are making grim reading for Australia. The continued slow-down is expected to soften demand for the resources needed for China's building boom. Audio

6:22 PM.The Reserve Bank is urging the Goverment to think again about a capital gains tax to rein in investors fuelling runaway house prices in Auckland. Audio

6:15 PM.The world's most sophisticated airplanes could be hacked in mid air by passengers who wanted to take over the flight controls. Audio

6:10 PM.The Labour MP and former Defence Minister Phil Goff says 20 New Zealand troops are part of the advance party leaving from Brisbane for Iraq today. Audio

6:04 PM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

5:52 PM.The Education Ministry says millions of dollars from its 500-million-dollar special education programme went unspent in each of the last two financial years. Audio

5:47 PM.A lawyer representing Maori in water rights cases says much of the blame for the controversy over freshwater rights rest squarely on the shoulders of Local Government. Audio

5:45 PM.China's economic growth has cooled to a six year low. Gross domestic product expanded by 7% in the first three months of 2015, compared to the same period last year, according to China's National… Read more Audio

5:37 PM.Labour's Leader, Andrew Little, says the Reserve Bank has given its most scathing criticism yet that the government isn't pulling its weight. Audio

5:27 PM.The Government says its sell-off of thousands of state houses will lead to more maintenance being carried out on the homes - not less. Audio

5:25 PM.They were nearly auctioned off in a desperate bid to help preserve a war memorial in London. Audio

5:18 PM.The company in charge of repairing quake-hit homes in Christchurch is not looking back at which ones might have asbestos contamination, despite what top health official says. Audio

5:15 PM.The Prime Minister is refusing to confirm specific details about the initial deployment to Iraq, except to say it will be 'soonish'. Audio

5:07 PM.The Reserve Bank is urging the Goverment to think again about a capital gains tax to help quell the overheated Auckland housing market. Audio

5:00 PM.Reserve bank calls for capital gains tax;PM refuses to confirm details of Iraq deployment;Policing asbestos contamination in Christchurch;Dambuster medals returned to New Zealand;Maintaining state… Read more Audio