Checkpoint for Friday 31 January 2025

5:39 PM.Japan correspondent Chris Gilbert spoke to Lisa Owen about a days-long effort to rescue a trucker stuck in a massive sinkhole in the Saitama region continuing. Audio

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

5:26 PM.The Government has announced a new climate target for 2035, surprising even some of its strongest critics with how small the promised emissions reductions are. All countries including New Zealand… Read more Audio

5:24 PM.After years of secrecy, former ACT Party president Tim Jago can now be named as the political figure who abused teenage boys in the 1990s. Jago was found guilty of eight charges of indecent assault… Read more Audio

5:21 PM.Auckland FC are the best home team in football's A-League having won more times in front of their supporters than any other side so far this season. Their fortress in the suburb of Penrose will be… Read more Audio

5:12 PM.The government announced in September that the Dunedin Hospital project would need to be scaled back or done in stages, because the cost was predicted to balloon to 3 billion dollars which it said at… Read more Audio

5:08 PM.There's been mixed reaction to the government's decision to stick with the 1.8-billion dollar Dunedin Hospital build, which will have fewer beds than originally proposed and take two years longer to… Read more Audio

4:50 PM.Geoff's Emporium on Dominion Road was opened in 1980, by it's namesake, Geoff Lamb. It's become an institution in Auckland, especially for those on the hunt for some bargain fabric or bits for an arts… Read more Audio

4:45 PM.The Prime Minister has encouraged all MPs to watch what they say after Shane Jones refused to resile from his comments about Mexican New Zealanders. That's despite New Zealand First leader Winston… Read more Audio

4:31 PM.Three billion dollars - that's the amount the government said New Zealand could reap from mining sector exports by 2035 if its strategy pays off. The plan, annouced today by Resources Minister Shane… Read more Audio

4:27 PM.RNZ's Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen about the latest rugby stories and a slightly unusual game of cricket happening over in Australia. Audio

4:22 PM.Aotearoa's revolving door of departures and arrivals, could soon be more exit hatch. Medical care, teaching and other public services are at risk if New Zealand keeps losing people overseas - while… Read more Audio

4:12 PM.Investigators in Washington DC are trying to find out what caused the United States most deadly air crash in more than 20-years. There were no survivors after last night's mid-air collision between an… Read more Audio

4:05 PM."We have listened," this said by newly minted Health Minister, Simeon Brown as he unveiled the government's revised plans for Dunedin's new hospital. The rebuild was paused last year after a report… Read more Audio