Checkpoint for Friday 26 March 2021

5:07 PM.Don't dust off your passport just yet. A much-mooted travel bubble with the Cook Islands will not be on the cards until at least May.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Cook Islands Prime Minister… Read more Video, Audio

5:16 PM.Doctors are warning the massive pressures facing hospitals across the country are likely to get worse before they get better.

At least two emergency departments this week reached capacity, but health… Read more Audio

5:21 PM.Some people are jumping the vaccine queue in Christchurch - with leftover jabs being given to people working near vaccination clinics.

Canterbury District Health Board says it's to avoid wastage.

… Read more Audio

5:26 PM.The boss of MIQ has pushed pause on exercise excursions beyond the gates of isolation hotels for 24 hours - while a series of botch-ups are investigated.

Returnees from the Grand Mercure hotel in… Read more Video, Audio

5:29 PM.A global luxury car brand has dropped New Zealand's UFC star Israel Adesanya as its brand ambassador over comments he would rape an opponent.

Adesanya has apologised but the fallout continues.

… Read more Audio

5:33 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6244107612001 Video, Audio

5:38 PM.Investors who bought a house today will have scraped in on avoiding the government's extension to the brightline test.

Any property purchases, that are not the family home, made from next week, will… Read more Audio

5:42 PM.A Rāhui will be placed on an area in Foveaux Strait following the discovery of a deadly parasite that could put the entire bluff oyster trade at risk.

Three wild oysters were found to be infected… Read more Audio

5:47 PM.In the UK a 'no jab, no pint' plan has fallen flat with some publicans.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson floated the possibility of banning people from pubs unless they can produce a Covid-19 vaccination… Read more Video, Audio

5:55 PM.Under the cover of darkness this morning a milestone was celebrated in the efforts to increase the number of kokako.

From a population of just 300 breeding pairs in the late 1990s, the North Island… Read more Video, Audio

6:12 PM.The Cooks travel bubble announcement has left some deflated, with few details other than May as the hoped for start time.

With Rarotonga estimated to be losing about $1 million a day in tourism… Read more Video, Audio