Checkpoint

After 134 years, the classrooms and playing fields of a Manawatū school fell quiet. Linton Country School closed for good in early 2023 after the roll dwindled to zero. Now, the old schoolgrounds are up for sale. Tenders are open for the property and its classrooms, hall, out-of-tune piano and well-stocked library. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham called in for a look.

A New Zealand Olympic medalist is riding the wave of success all the way to Hollywood. Slalom canoeist, Luuka Jones Yaxley, has been working as a stunt double for Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron for the film Apex. Billed as an action thriller, the movie was shot primarily in Australia's Blue Mountains. It is the story of a grieving adrenaline junkie - played by Theron - who finds herself being hunted by a serial killer in a game of cat and mouse in the wilderness. Luuka Jones Yaxley spoke to Lisa Owen.

In sport, Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua announced her assistant coach for the Commonwealth Games. Australian Briony Akle has been brought back into team's set-up, less than a year after being stood down during last season's coaching turmoil. Sports reporter Bridget Tunnicliffe spoke to Lisa Owen.

It's the end of an era for DIY dressmakers, with the supplier of big brand paper patterns shutting down. An Australian distributer that supplies New Look, Simplicity, Vogue, Butterick and McCalls is closing. The patterns are made from tissue paper that are cut out and put together like jigsaw using instructions that come with it. New Zealand used to have its own paper making pattern companies but they closed down in the 1960s. Bronwyn Summers, the owner of Pattern Postie spoke to Lisa Owen.

Americas correspondent Adam Hancock spoke to Lisa Owen about how a soldier who was part of the mission to capture Venezuela's former President Nicolas Maduro has been charged after allegedly winning hundreds of thousands of dollars betting on the operation. He also spoke about how Mexico's president is trying to simmer tensions with the US after two CIA officials died in the country and how Cuban's have faced fewer blackouts after a recent oil shipment.

A "Muslim terrorist," that is how Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown referred to an RNZ staffer of Indian descent, when the man escorted him into the building for an interview on Monday. The staffer apologised to the Mayor for having to wait due to security; the Mayor responded with a comment along the lines of 'security can't be very tight if we're being escorted by a Muslim terrorist.' Reporter Rowan Quinn spoke to Lisa Owen.

A community conservation group has won a legal victory against a multinational gold mining company, but the company says it won't thwart its plans to tunnel under conservation land. Ours Not Mines has been fighting OceanaGold's license to install vents for a proposed underground mine that extends its operations in the Waihi area. This week, Ours Not Mines won in the Court of Appeal, voiding the license granted by a local council, but the mining company says consents received under the government's Fast Track Approvals regime means it can forge ahead. Jessica Hopkins reports.

The Australian government is lauding the country's National Disability Insurance Scheme as an enormous human rights achievement, even as it reveals sweeping cuts to the program in a bid to rein in costs. Correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Super Round is just one more sleep away. All sides will converge on Christchurch this weekend to mark the opening of the new Te Kaha Stadium. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.