Checkpoint

The government has announced it is changing building consent rules and regulations by spreading the liability for defective buildings, away from just councils. Under the new rules each party involved in the build will be responsible for their share of the work. The government hopes it will stop building owners coming after council's that issued consents or carried out inspection for compensation when something goes wrong and the builder or other contractors have gone bust. Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk spoke to Lisa Owen.

The Supreme Court has begun hearing from lawyers for convicted double murderer David Tamihere as he once again attempts to clear his name. The Five Supreme Court judges are hearing arguments in the High Court at Auckland on whether an earlier Court of Appeal ruling was right to not quash his convictions. Tamihere denies killing Swedish tourists Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen, having served 20 years of a life sentence. His lawyers have argued this trial went off the rails and was fundamentally defective. Finn Blackwell reports.

The All Blacks are on top of the world after the team came out on top in Argentina yesterday despite facing a resurgent Pumas side in the second half. The All Blacks are now number one in the World Rugby Rankings, but that's due to another result from Johannesburg over the weekend. Sport reporter Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen.

The humble mince pie, might not be that humble anymore with the price of a key ingredient sky rocketing in the past 12 months. Beef mince has gone up more than 19% in a year, according to Stats NZ figures. Other potential pie ingredients have also jumped in price. On average a 500 gram block of butter has gone up more than 42%, while 1kg of cheese has gone up almost 30% in price. John Willams from Auckland's world famous Muzza's Pies says for now they are trying to make savings else where, and spoke to Lisa Owen.

Middle East correspondent Jacob Brown spoke to Lisa Owen about large protests across Israel, demanding an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release the hostages, as well as another bombing on a crucial energy facility in Yemen.

The age for New Zealand's working holiday visas should be raised fifty to help hike international visitor numbers, according to a tourism operator. At the moment working holiday visa are available to people up to 35 years old. The number of working holiday visa's has been steadily declining with an 11% drop in the year ending in February. Managing director of the LyLo hostel in central Auckland, Tim Alpe believes extending the age for the visa would make Aotearoa more attractive, and spoke to Lisa Owen.

UK correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about special commemorations taking place today to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, as well as female police officers in the UK getting creative to combat harrasment.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

A crucial clash looms for the Warriors in Auckland tonight. The Warriors meet the Dragons at Mount Smart where they will look to snap a three game losing streak. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

The government has forked out over $144 milliion dollars in a final payment for breaking the contract with the Korean shipbuilders that were signed-up to make the Cook Strait ferry replacements. That brings the total costs for the scrapped iReX Cook Strait ferry project to $671 million according to Kiwi Rail. Minister for Rail, Winston Peters spoke to Lisa Owen.