Checkpoint

The Black Caps start the Super 8 stage of the Cricket T20 World Cup against Pakistan on Sunday. After playing the first part of the tournament in India the team has now moved to Sri Lanka to play three more matches. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke with Lisa Owen.

Five months on from a botched weight-loss operation in Turkey, a Manawatu woman is just days away from a full stomach reconstruction. Since returning home and falling unwell Helen Watson endured almost two months in hospital and half a dozen smaller operations. And while she hopes Monday's surgery signals the start of her recovery, her battle for compensation has stalled. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

There are growing calls to overall dog control laws that are almost three decades old, with pressure on government ramping up after a fatal dog attack earlier this week. 62-year-old Mihiata Te Rore was killed by three dogs while a property in the Northland town of Kaihu. She is the third person in the region to be killed by dogs in the last four years. Felicity Jefferies from the New Zealand Veterinary Association spoke to Lisa Owen.

Fire crews have been battling a large blaze that's left an Auckland school's historic sports pavilion in ashes. The fire at Northcote College sent smoke billowing into the sky above the city's North Shore, while onlookers watched the devastation. Reporter Finn Blackwell was there and spoke with Lisa Owen

Businesses in a small Waikato town are facing uncertainity after a vital bridge was taken-out in severe weather, resulting in a detour that is taking much needed customers away from them. It's been a week since heavy rain totalled the Mangati Bridge at Puketotara on State Higway 39 between Pirongia and Otorohanga. Tourists and traffic from the highway that would normally travel through Pirongia are now being diverted through Te Awamutu. Mountain Folk Cafe Retreat's owner Michelle Richardson spoke to Lisa Owen.

A Nelson organisation is marking 25 years of helping thousands of victims of crime by giving them the opportunity to express their feelings, while encouraging criminals to acknowledge the harm they have caused. People who have benefited from the process will speak at a Restorative Justice Nelson event tomorrow night, where they will share their experience losing loved ones and offering forgiveness. Samantha Gee reports.

Residents in the Wellington suburb of Miramar are disturbed after sewage exploded out of their toilets. Work being done by Wellington Water contractors apparently caused the sewage to back up. It comes after a major failure at the nearby Moa Point water treatment plant earlier this month which has discharged millions of litres of raw sewage into the Cook Strait every day. Kaya Selby reports.

When is a rivalry no longer a rivalry? Tomorrow night the Wellington Phoenix host Auckland FC in the sixth edition of the New Zealand derby in the A-League. Auckland have dominanted these one-sided match-ups over two seasons but all involved are still trying to sell this as a grudge match. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.

Research shows penguins are more likely to eat discarded tops made from white or clear plastic, than any other colour. The study involving almost 70 King and Gentoo penguins from Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium in Auckland show they gravitate to white bottle tops even when faced with a rainbow of colour choices. University of Auckland's Dr Ariel Heswall spoke to Lisa Owen.

Donald Trump has warned that "bad things" could happen if Iran doesn't reach a nuclear deal with his administration and that the US could decide whether it will strike the country in the next ten days. Americas correspondent Adam Hancock spoke to Lisa Owen.