Checkpoint is a drive-time news and current affairs programme on Radio New Zealand National. It broadcasts nationwide every weekday evening for two hours and covers the day’s major national and international stories, as well as business, sport and Māori news. This recording covers the first hour. The following rundown is supplied from the broadcaster’s news system:
Checkpoint FOR MONDAY 17 MARCH 2014
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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Crimea's pro-Moscow leader says he will apply to join Russia today, but the United States says it will never accept the overwhelming 'yes' vote in the weekend's referendum. And the European Union is to decide shortly on imposing sanctions against Moscow. With at least half the votes counted, almost 96 percent have backed joining their former political master Russia, which is insisting the poll is completely above board. However, many Crimeans boycotted the referendum - including Crimean Tatars who make up about 12 percent of the population. The region's leader Sergei Aksyonov is celebrating but the leader of the National Assembly, Refat Chubarov says the referendum was forced on the people under the threat of guns.
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Barack Obama called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to warn him the US and its European allies are ready to impose sanctions. Our US correspondent Simon Marks says Mr Obama told Mr Putin the United States rejects the referendum in perpetuity.
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A ferry captain who sailed across Cook Strait twice with a large gash in his ship's hull says he feels vindicated a judge has thrown out charges against him. In 2011 the Santa Regina was blown sideways and hit another vessel, putting two holes in the hull. Its Captain John Henderson spotted one small hole but didn't see the big one - a three to four metre long gash. Maritime New Zealand accused Captain Henderson put passengers in unnecessary danger by sailing across the strait twice before the hole was spotted. But today Judge Thomas Broadmore dismissed the charges, saying there is no evidence to back up them up. Captain Henderson is relieved.
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John Henderson's lawyer says there are legal avenues to get compensation from Maritime New Zealand, but wouldn't discuss the details while they are still celebrating. Maritime New Zealand wouldn't be interviewed on Checkpoint, saying it needs to wait until the judge's full ruling is released. Families of those on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane are furious and say officials have been wasting their time searching in the wrong place for over a week. The search for the missing aircraft was initially centred on the East of Malaysia, in line with it's flight path to Beijing. Authorities have now said it crossed the country's northeast coast, flew across the Gulf of Thailand and turned sharply to the west. Electronic signals the plane continued to exchange periodically with satellites suggest it could have continued flying for nearly seven hours. The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports.
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New Zealander Sam Savill is a commercial pilot based in Taiwan. He flies the route the missing airline was on and says the company and traffic control should have been able to work out within an hour of losing contact with the plane that there had not been a catastrophic failure.
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS with Kate Gudsell
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A lawyer for losing investors in the Feltex carpet company has told a court its claims were misleading and untrue. Within a year of its float, Feltex issued a profit warning and it went into liquidation in December 2006, before collapsing completely in 2007. Our Court reporter, Ann Marie May was at the High Court in Wellington today for the start of the class action by investors.
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17. 30 HEADLINES
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The judge in the South Canterbury Finance fraud trial is staying put after rejecting an application by defence lawyers for him to be thrown out. The failed finance company's former chief executive and two former directors face 18 fraud charges at the High Court in Timaru. This afternoon, defence lawyers argued that Justice Heath should stand down because he might be biased in favour of the Serious Fraud Office, which has brought the charges.
They said the office's director, Julie Read, was heard at conference saying the office was fortunate to have Justice Heath presiding over the case. But the judge dismissed the application.
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Marcus Irvine joins us now from Timaru.
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As pro-Russian voters in the Crimean capital of Simferopol wake-up after a night of heavy celebrations - their Prime Minister will shortly be on his way to Moscow to officially apply to rejoin the Russian Federation. With at least half the referendum votes counted an overwhelming 96 percent of Crimeans have backed the move. Our Correspondent Tom Barton is outside Crimean parliament in Simferopol now:
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Syrian Government forces have won a major victory, seizing control of the city of Yabroud, near the border with Lebanon. The battle for the city has been raging for months as Bashar al-Assad's military sought to overcome rebel fighters. Now the military have declared victory, claiming the rebels had fled. It's a serious blow to the opposition forces and an indication that the Syrian government is slo wly winning the civil war. The ABC's Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper reports :
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A Christchurch resthome under stress after the earthquakes is being blamed for systemic failures that ended in a frail elderly woman dying. The woman, in her 80s, was mistakenly named in a press release from the resthome owner, Oceania, today. The Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner, Theo Baker, says she fell through the cracks in the systems at the Middlepark Resthome in early 2011.
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Our Health Correspondent, Karen Brown, joins us now.
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17. 45 MANU KORIHI with Eru Rerekura
Kia ora mai, good evening,
A hapu in the Bay of Islands has decided to support the contentious Ngapuhi Treaty settlement body, Tuhoronuku.
While some sub-tribes continue to protest against the Crown-approved authority, Ngati Rehia is giving its backing.
The kaikorero or speaker on settlement matters for the hapu, Te Huranga Hohaia, says his people have decided they want to be part of the negotiations.
NGAPUHI-CHANGE-TP
IN: WE HAVE BEEN. . .
OUT: . . . WORK WITH NOW.
DUR: 22"
A Ngati Rehia kaumatua, Te Huranga Hohaia.
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A Lake Waikaremoana tribal group says potential investors in Genesis Energy must be aware of its interest in the lake and its pending claim before the Waitangi Tribunal - before they commit to buying shares in the company.
The state-owned power generator, which operates three hydro stations as part of the Waikaremoana hydro scheme, is being partially sold off by the government.
Ngati Ruapani Waikaremoana has been successful in getting an urgent tribunal hearing.
A spokesperson, Vern Winitana, says they want a pre-treaty settlement to cover the use and right of their lands.
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OUT: . . . GOES IN THE FUTURE.
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Vern Winitana says they have no intention of interfering with the power generation on the Waikaremoana hydro scheme.
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The founding co-director of Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, the country's only Maori Centre of Research Excellence, says its funding rejection will virtually cut it off at the knees - just when progress is being made.
The centre will lose its funding from the Tertiary Education Commission from next year.
Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, who is now Pro-Vice Chancellor and Dean of the School of Maori and Pacific Development at Waikato University, says it's a huge waste of resources and effort.
She says investment is made in research and just when the results are starting to pay-off, funding is cut.
Professor Smith says there has been no consideration given to what happens next, which she describes as unethical.
She says Maori are beginning to feel shut out from most funding streams.
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Maori Television is still to appoint a chief executive.
The chair, Georgina te Heuheu, says no formal offer has been made to a candidate.
She says the board is in the final stages of recruiting a new CEO.
Mrs te Heuheu says as soon as the process is done, the successful candidate will be named.
The search for a new chief was put on hold last year after controversy over shortlisted candidates.
The Board faced considerable pressure over its selection process, with claims of conflicts of interest existing at the higher level of the board.
That's Te Manu Korihi news, I'll have a further bulletin in an hour.
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Falling unemployment and booming dairy and construction industries continue to push up consumer confidence which is now riding at a nine-year high. The latest Consumer Confidence Index survey for the last three months has risen to 121 point 7 points - its highest level since 2005 and ten points above average. Shoppers today in downtown Wellington seemed to agree with the over-all outlook:
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Yet the long-range forecast is not so rosy - with the confidence predicted to peter out within the next five years. ASB's Chief economist is Nick Tuffley.
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The Education Minister, Hekia Parata, has startled the unions representing teachers and principals by not ruling out linking school funding with how much students learn each year. But she says reports have "mischaracterised" what she said, which was only that if the funding system is reviewed, a wide range of factors will be discussed. Our education correspondent, John Gerritsen, joins me now.
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Presenter: Mary Wilson
Editor: Phil Pennington
Deputy editor: Meg Fowler
Producers: Mei Yeoh, William Ray