Checkpoint for Friday 21 May 2021

5:07 PM.Princess Diana's sons have slammed the BBC over a 1995 interview with their mother - saying it contributed to her paranoia.

An inquiry has found journalist Martin Bashir was 'deceitful' and used fake… Read more Audio

5:19 PM.Can $20 more a week restore hope and dignity? Budget 2021's more than $3 billion boost to benefits is billed as the biggest in a generation, and the government hopes it will do exactly that.

In July… Read more Audio

5:22 PM.Checkpoint reporter Louise Ternouth and camera operator Nick Monro went to find out what students will spend their extra money on.

  Read more Video, Audio

5:27 PM.The Ports of Auckland appears to be bracing itself for more health and safety charges following a workplace death last year.

There have been three deaths linked to the Ports in recent years - the… Read more Video, Audio

5:34 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6255337651001 Video, Audio

5:37 PM.The Labour government has signalled its future Budgets will have more support for workers - as the Opposition attacks it for ignoring middle New Zealand.

Yesterday's Budget contained a $3.3 billion… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.Tourism businesses in the Cook Islands may be crying out for more Kiwi holidaymakers, but the sentiment isn't shared by all.

Some Rarotongans are anxious about Covid-19 creeping into the Cooks, while… Read more Video, Audio

5:49 PM.Imagine a dog that could be women's best friend, by sniffing out the early signs of ovarian cancer.

A medical charity is trying to raise $250,000 to train a cocker spaniel pup to do exactly that.

… Read more Video, Audio

6:08 PM.The boost to benefits was the centrepiece of Budget 2021, but questions are already being asked about whether it's enough to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Beneficiaries will get up to $55… Read more Video, Audio

6:12 PM.They left it until the very last day possible, but Marborough, Rotorua and Stratford district councils have become the lastest to approve the formation of a Māori Ward in time for the 2022 elections.

6:16 PM.A man has been ordered to pay $5,700 after he was found guilty of flouting kauri dieback rules at an Auckland regional park.

Robert Armitstead was sentenced today at the Waitakere District Court by… Read more Audio

6:19 PM.Frontline staff working for fashion giant H-and-M walked off the job this afternoon.

The workers from two Auckland stores took to the streets accusing the employer of failing to meet its commitment… Read more Audio

6:22 PM.Looking a little worse for wear after three weeks of suspected bush bashing and possum wrestling, two missing Dunedin dogs have been found.

The border terriers Floss and Scruff had been playing down… Read more Video, Audio