Checkpoint for Thursday 29 August 2019

5:00 PM.Watch today's full programme here. Video

5:09 PM.A programme to feed hungry kids with a free lunch at school each day is going to be trialled in 30 schools next year.

The Prime Minister announced the initiative at the launch of the Child and Youth… Read more Video, Audio

5:12 PM.The government is rolling out a daily free lunch trial starting with 30 primary and intermediate schools from the beginning of next year.

The new initiative will be piloted at 30 primary and… Read more Video, Audio

5:22 PM.Anyone travelling to Auckland is being told they must be immunised against measles, as the country deals with its worst epidemic of the highly contagious disease in 22 years.

There are at least 849… Read more Video, Audio

5:26 PM.There were haka, waiata and probing questions for the All Blacks Rugby World Cup squad on their visits to the provinces on Thursday.

Groups of players fanned out across the country, from Whangarei… Read more Video, Audio

5:31 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Video, Audio

5:40 PM.A discovery in Ethiopia is challenging ideas about how the first humans evolved from ape-like ancestors.

Archaeologists found a nearly-complete skull dating back 3.8 million years.

They have… Read more Video, Audio

5:43 PM.A doctors' union says they want more resources and fewer excuses, to stop 'ambulance ramping'.

Ramping is when patients are stuck in ambulances at hospital bays, because there isn't a bed free for… Read more Audio

5:47 PM.'An honest politician and the most civil of servants'. That was just one of the tributes paid to Ngāti Hine elder and Waitangi organiser, Pita Paraone, who died earlier this week.

The three-term New… Read more Video, Audio

6:09 PM.Today Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a programme to feed hungry children would be trialled next year in 30 schools, centred around the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne, next year.

The price tag… Read more Video, Audio

6:15 PM.Public health experts say they're concerned Auckland's measles outbreak will soon become a nationwide problem.

The Ministry of Health is trying to contain an escalating number of cases in the city… Read more Audio

6:21 PM.The government and Auckland Council say they're landing jobs for beneficiaries as part of a scheme to deal with the looming skills gap.

As they pour billions of dollars into infrastructure projects… Read more Audio

6:25 PM.The tills began ringing at what will be the country's largest mall, also known as a 'living centre'.

Forty stores opened their doors in the Westfield Newmarket in Auckland, with that number expected… Read more Video, Audio