Checkpoint

United States correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen about the US increasing military presence near Iran ahead of a high stakes meeting between the two nations, as well as the search continuing for Nancy Guthrie as authorities ruled out family members as suspects.

A local state emergency is in place for Banks Peninsula. The town of Akaroa is completely cut off. Most of the Christchurch Akaroa Road is closed due to flooding and slips. A Boil Water Notice is now in place for Wainui and Little River on Banks Peninsula due to flood damage. Residents across the area are being asked to conserve water. Little River just outside of Christchurch has been hit hard, reporter Anna Sargent was there and spoke to Lisa Owen.

United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about health officials in the UK dealing with a growing measles outbreak in north-east London, as well as new analysis into the gender pay gap in the UK.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

The Winter Olympics has been hit with more controversy, as cheating allegations were thrown around across Curling teams. Sports reporter Bridget Tunnicliffe spoke to Lisa Owen.

The mother of a man who still has nerve damage more than a year after being hospitalised for huffing nitrous oxide and is unable to work in construction anymore is calling for tougher regulation around so called nangs. A mother, who doesn't want to be named, said her son was buying large quantities of Nitrous Oxide and thought he could manage his doses, but things got serious when he started losing his balance. She spoke to Lisa Owen.

Fire and Emergency dealt with almost 800 callouts between midnight and this afternoon with more than 100 of those calls being for life threatening events or due to serious damage. Fire and Emergency Assistant National Commander Ken Cooper spoke to Lisa Owen.

Some homes in Wellington may be without power until the end of the week, with the capital battered by heavy gales and flooding today. The dramatic storm cut power to more than 30,000 properties across the entire lower North Island, shutting dozens of schools, prompting ongoing evacuations, causing slips and flooding streets. Ellen O'Dwyer reports.

Thousands of properties are without power throughout Manawatu and Whanganui, as people were evacuated and schools closed for the day. Some have been restored but authorities are warning more wild weather could cause new issues. The power outages are also likely to affect cell towers across the regions, as well as water treatment plants so people in some areas are also being asked to conserve water. Manawatu-Whanganui group controller and Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney spoke to Lisa Owen.

The boil water notice affecting thousands of households in Christchurch's east has been lifted for all but about 20 properties. About 14,000 households feared they'd face at least another day without being able to drink from the tap after the water supply in the city's east was found to be contaminated. A public health alert was issued on Saturday afternoon for people in New Brighton, Burwood, Wainoni, Aranui and Southshore after routine testing discovered total coliforms in the Rawhiti water zone. As Tess Brunton reports, the contaminated water has prompted calls for councils to change the way notify vulnerable and immunocompromised communities.