Checkpoint for Thursday 5 November 2020

5:08 PM.On Thursday evening (NZ time) it remains the undecided States of America. Presidential hopeful Joe Biden appears to have cemented two more bricks in the so called blue wall, with several US media… Read more Video, Audio

5:16 PM.Donald Trump may be about 12,000km away, but the US presidential race has dominated politics in New Zealand today, with the Prime Minister refusing to condemn his comments that the election is a… Read more Audio

5:21 PM.A dispute over the humble potato has reached boiling point over claims European frozen fries are being dumped in New Zealand.

Potatoes New Zealand is worried the local industry will turn to mash… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.A police officer says with the benefit of hindsight, he may have charged the driver of a shuttle which crashed, killing an 11-year-old girl.

Hannah Francis died in July 2018 when the bus she was in… Read more Audio

5:28 PM.An elderly Hawke's Bay man says he's lost his best friend - his dog Tabatha vanished from outside a Napier shopfront a week ago.

Eighty-year-old Doug Hodgetts believes his 7-year-old Jack Russell… Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.Just in the past few hours, Donald Trump's lead in Georgia has shrunk to a very fine margin.

If Georgia goes to Joe Biden - and it will be very close - that's an upset that should win him the… Read more Audio

5:41 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Video, Audio

5:44 PM.A man accused of killing his ex-wife with a hunting knife in broad daylight in West Auckland says he doesn't remember stabbing her to death.

Sixty-five-year-old Li Manchao is on trial in the High… Read more Audio

5:48 PM.A Covid-19 wastewater testing pilot's being rolled out around the country as a safety net for catching the virus in the community.

The eight-week ESR pilot will see sewage sampled at managed… Read more Video, Audio

5:54 PM.It is Guy Fawkes, and also the last day the public can buy fireworks for another year.

However, animal welfare groups and others continue to call for a ban on backyard pyrotechnics - even as free… Read more Audio

6:09 PM."No one is gonna take our democracy away from us, not now, not ever." Fighting words from US Presidential-hopeful Joe Biden as the election count crawls on in the US.

The Democrat remains on course… Read more Video, Audio

6:14 PM.A group fighting against any expansion of Wanaka Airport says the airport's owners aren't being truthful with the community about its plans.

Wanaka Airport, and its sister facility in Queenstown, are… Read more Audio

6:17 PM.Today marks 139 years since the invasion of Parihaka.

Our reporter Ella Stewart spoke with activist Lourdes Vano and historian Rachel Buchanan about the significance of this day in New Zealand… Read more Audio

6:20 PM.To Lebanon now and three months after the blast that rocked Beirut and killed more than 200 people, the cleaning up is still ongoing.

At least 6,500 people were injured, there was $15 billion of… Read more Video, Audio