Checkpoint for Thursday 8 October 2015

6:53 PM.A prominent opponent of the is Trans Pacific Partnership is demanding the immediate release of the details of the agreement. Audio

6:50 PM.Waikato-Tainui says the closure of the Huntly East Mine will have a devastating impact on the community, but it's considering the first right of refusal rule when it comes to the land the mine sits… Read more Audio

6:45 PM.A court case challenging the right of Australian authorities to hold asylum seekers in offshore detention centres is being heard at the High Court in Canberra. Audio

6:41 PM.The Government says the proposed Waimea Community Dam near Nelson would deliver major economic benefits to the region. Audio

6:36 PM.Amnesty International is accusing the Myanmar Government of locking up and harassing scores of peaceful activists in the lead up to elections in November. Audio

6:33 PM.The American President Barack Obama has phoned the aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières to apologize for the accidental killing of 22 people in a US airstrike in Afghanistan. Audio

6:25 PM.In a bid to appease recreational fishermen and to safeguard dwindling fish numbers, new rules have been announced for blue cod in the Marlborough Sounds. Audio

6:23 PM.A farmer who spent all night figting the fires that engulfed Saddle Hill above Mosgiel has saved his home from destruction Audio

6:20 PM.Students' associations say demand for their foodbanks and financial support is higher than ever, and one has already used up its entire hardship fund for the year. Audio

6:17 PM.A trainee teacher says she was bullied and discriminated against at a Maori and Pacific school in south Auckland because she's European. Audio

6:12 PM.Searchers have found the body of the missing 10-year-old Levin boy Alex Fisher. Audio

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

5:56 PM.A specialist report has confirmed the presence of asbestos at a run-down hot-pool complex near Kaikohe. Audio

5:53 PM.The Auckland Council is adamant it's doing enough to prepare the city to cope with the predicted population boom and any environmental harm that may come with it. Audio

5:49 PM.A dairy lobby group appears to have pressured the Manawatu Wanganui Regional Council into removing potentially embarrassing information about dairy farm pollution. Audio

5:45 PM.East Auckland principals are hailing a new digitally-based education system as key to engaging children in low decile schools, in particular tangata whenua. The teaching style is called… Read more Audio

5:44 PM.The Education Minister, Hekia Parata, has vetoed a plan to compare the results of charter school students with those at state schools. Audio

5:39 PM.The American spokesman for the coalition efforts against Islamic State in Iraq has used New Zealand's presence there to further its argument that ISIS poses a global threat. Audio

5:36 PM.Solid Energy has conceded that workers at its Huntly underground coal mine will struggle to find work elsewhere. Audio

5:34 PM.The speciality milk producer, A2 Milk Company, is looking to raise 43-million dollars through an underwritten sale of new shares to existing and institutional shareholders. Audio

5:27 PM.The Fire Service says its resources have been extremely stretched over the past 24 hours with more than a-thousand call outs in the South Island. Audio

5:24 PM.Dr Rongo Wetere and his daughter Susan Cullen have abandoned a legal bid for millions of dollars against Te Wananga o Aotearoa. Audio

5:22 PM.Kim Dotcom says if he had a crystal ball, he would have put aside some of the millions he donated to his ill-fated Internet Party, to fund his extradition defence. Audio

5:18 PM.The teenage boy who stabbed an Auckland dairy owner to death during a botched robbery in Henderson is to keep permanent name suppression. Audio

5:14 PM.Police have found the body of the missing schoolboy, Alex Fisher, and have launched a homocide inquiry. Audio

5:09 PM.Workers at Solid Energy's Huntly East mine today had their fears confirmed with the state-owned coal miner announcing its plans to shut the mine. Audio

5:00 PM.Searchers find the body of 10-year-old, Alex Fisher.) Dozens of jobs to go as Solid Energy announces its closing the Huntly coal mine and Kim Dotcom takes the stand at his extradition hearing. Audio