Checkpoint

Rangitahi whose parent, or parents, have been locked away in prison say more needs to be done to ensure they're not punished for the crimes of their mothers or fathers. They've formed a youth advisory panel which today met with Children's Minister Karen Chhour on the steps of Parliament. They handed her an open letter calling for the establishment of a whanau navigator role in criminal district courts to help those left behind when someone's sent to jail. Louise Ternouth reports.

Retirement commissioner Jane Wrightson believes the government should be considering means testing what is currently a universal benefit, an idea she concedes is unpopular. Data from the 2023 census shows more than 9000 people aged over 65 earn more than $200,000 a year. Another 33,000 earn between $100,000 and $200,000. Treasury estimates superannuation costs the government about 18 cents of every dollar it collects in tax, or more than 24 billion dollars this year. Honorary Associate Professor of Economics at Auckland University, Susan St John, spoke to Lisa Owen.

Some Aucklanders have received Watercare bills that claim they have not used a single drop of water in the past month, or in some cases for months, no showers had, no toilets flushed, no house plant watered, no kettles filled; nothing. Online forums confused customers are asking about receiving zero use bills, others say they've had enormous catch-up accounts months after getting zero bills, all due to Watercare's smart metres. Checkpoint spoke to a few customers.

A detective giving evidence in the murder trial of Julia DeLuney says he locked down the scene when he saw the amount of blood around the house. And for the first time, the court has heard from the murder accused herself in the form of her initial statement to police, as the trial wraps up its third day. Kate Green reports.

The Whanau Ora commissioning agency is being issued a 'please explain' after it launched an ad campaign encouraging Maori to sign up to the Maori electoral roll. It's prompted concern from senior ministers who say government departments should not be pushing political objectives. The agency has two contracts with Te Puni Kokiri for Whanau Ora services, one of which expires on Monday. Deputy political editor Craig McCulloch reports.

As a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel continues to hold for now, the government is working to get more than 200 New Zealanders out of the region, though some are trying to make their own way home in difficult and dangerous circumstances. New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters is urging them to hunker down and stay safe, as a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules makes its way to the Middle East to help bring them home. The almost two weeks of conflict and a temporary airport closure in Qatar has caused chaos at the borders and some frightening encounters for kiwi travellers. Some of the lucky ones landed safely back on New Zealand soil today. Mary Argue reports.

New Zealand sprint queen Zoe Hobbs has broken the New Zealand and Oceania 100-metre record once again at the latest World Athletics continental tour event in the Czech Republic. Hobbs produced an electric return to form with a time of 10.94 seconds, her first sub-11 second performance in nearly two years. Sports correspondent Dana Johannsen spoke to Lisa Owen.

Middle East correspondent Perry Wilton spoke to Lisa Owen about US efforts to seal a ceasefire betwen Iran and Israel, which have seen a rocky start. However, the ceasefire appears to be holding, with both Iran and Israel claiming victory after 12 days of strikes.

A Hawkes Bay florist has had her music listening habits nipped in the bud. Francie Croy listens to tunes on her phone while she works at her Waipukurau store. The florist was contacted by a music licensing organisation and told to turn the music off at the flower shop or buy a licence. The fee comes from OneMusic, which issues licences for certain music to be played in a commercial setting, so artists get their royalties. That includes music played while people are on hold on the phone, at a hairdressing salon, music radio in the background at the office or thumping tunes on the factory floor, there is a cost to anything outside of personal use. E-Central Flowers owner Francie Croy spoke to Lisa Owen.

Australia correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen about the push for the incoming social media ban for those aged under 16, which is now set to be expanded to include Youtube.