Checkpoint FOR THURSDAY 10 FEB
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1700 to 1707 NEWS
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The Auckland Council has to vote again on the money to run the Independent Māori Statutory Board because this week's decision to provide millions of dollars has been declared invalid.
Our Auckland Correspondent Todd Niall joins us now...LIVE
A Waikato farm manager hopes a local businessman who ripped off workers brought over from Fiji gets what he deserves. Immigration New Zealand says Michael Neil Molan created false documents when applying for work permits for the men in 2009.Molan has pleaded guilty to one charge of forgery, and one of misleading an immigration officer, and will be sentenced at the Hamilton District Court next month.Neither Immigration nor his lawyer will speak before then.
Piopio farm manager Stacey Watson says she employed workers through Molan's company.
She says they were told that the men were being given food and other supplies, and would be paid once their work visas were approved. PREREC
Police have seized the records of a Palmerston North finance company as part of raids across the North Island aimed at smashing drug networks run by gangs including the Australian Rebels.
Thirty people have been arrested - police have taken cash, guns, drugs and Harley Davidson and BMW motorbikes.Detective Inspector Chris Bensemann joins us now. LIVE
More on our lead story now, Auckland's mayor Len brown is on the line LIVE
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1720 TRAILS AND BUSINESS WITH
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The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is warning the threat of terrorism against the country is at its most heightened state since the September 11th attacks in 2001.Janet Napolitano says America now faces new dangers from groups inspired by Al Qaeda and from home-grown terrorists who could already be inside the US.The ABC's Jane Cowen reports from Washington :
PKG
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17.30 HEADLINES
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The Corrections Department is investigating whether a dangerous and manipulative prisoner is running a mail order business from prison.Phillip John Smith has been in jail for 15 years after murdering the father of a boy he was sexually obsessed with.He's once again been denied parole with the Parole Board saying one of the reasons is his behaviour in prison including his admission that he is running a business.The head of Corrections is Ray Smith. PREREC
Some secondary schools are banning cellphones in changing rooms because of a new problem - sext messaging, - that is, sending texts or images of a sexual nature. Principals are worried some students will use their phones to take pictures or videos of themselves or others getting undressed, and then sending those images to other people.Leilani Momoisea reports. PKG
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17.45 WAATEA
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Eqypt's recently appointed Vice-President Omar Suleiman has hinted that martial law may have to be declared if the unrest continues for much longer. Tens of thousands of people are still thronging Tahrir Square but now some have moved into a nearby street to block access to the country's parliament and other major government buildings. Jim Muir reports from Cairo : PKG
An American human rights activist has spoken about his terrifying 36 hour ordeal at the hands of Egyptian soldiers in Cairo.Daniel Williams is a researcher for Human Rights Watch - He was rounded up in a raid on a law centre in the capital during during last week's protests. PREREC
An investigation of the International Monetary Fund concludes that in the run up to the financial crisis it downplayed the risks, as well as the need for stronger regulation. The enquiry was carried out by the IMF's own Independent Evaluation Office. The BBC's Andrew Walker reports : PKG