Checkpoint for Thursday 27 February 2020

5:07 PM.The number of coronavirus cases in Italy has surged to 400 with the World Health Organisation confirming for the first time the virus is spreading faster outside China.

More than 80,000 people in 40… Read more Video, Audio

5:11 PM.Auckland University has put a freeze on hiring staff in a bid to claw back what it estimates will be $30 million in losses this semester due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The university has about 2000… Read more Video, Audio

5:20 PM.The Restaurants Association says the government needs to "step up" with tax cuts, as many of its members report losses from the Covid-19 travel ban.

It says $50 million a week is being lost across… Read more Video, Audio

5:26 PM.Petrol could be set to drop by between 10 and 30 cents a litre at the pump as the government takes aim at the big oil companies over their pricing.

The government says companies have been making… Read more Audio

5:33 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:39 PM.Rich-listers gave the New Zealand First Foundation $100,000 in just one week.

But the donations have stayed secret until now because the individual payments fell below the level where donors' names… Read more Video, Audio

5:46 PM.A comprehensive study of rape trials in New Zealand has sexual violence advocates calling for certain questions to be banned from the courtroom.

Law Professor Elisabeth McDonald from the University… Read more Audio

5:50 PM.As the anniversary of the March 15 shootings approaches, the Prime Minister has met with families of three of the victims from Fiji.

Jacinda Ardern went to the Lautoka Mosque on Thursday - one of her… Read more Audio

5:56 PM.It has taken years of lobbying and court action to have Ihumātao recognised for its historic and cultural value, but mana whenua can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The disputed Māngere site has… Read more Audio

6:14 PM.New Zealand's Ministry of Health is launching a public health campaign around coronavirus. Read more Video, Audio

6:17 PM.Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage says significant changes are needed to save wildlife in the Hauraki Gulf.

It comes after a report released today by Auckland Council outlined unsustainable threats… Read more Video, Audio

6:20 PM.A Samoan man, who the Crown says was trafficked to New Zealand and used as a slave, has described being ordered to beat his young cousin because he was so scared of his adoptive father, the… Read more Audio

6:24 PM.Aucklanders are tightening their water belts following calls from Watercare to start conserving.

On Wednesday last week the city used more than 560 million litres of water, breaking all previous… Read more Video, Audio