Checkpoint

Emergency Departments already facing their busiest time of the year have been under even more pressure than usual. This week, Wellington ED recorded its busiest day in almost a year, and North Shore Hospital was too full to take some patients, diverting ambulances to Whangarei Hospital. Christchurch has been warning they are at 'critical overload'. Ongoing challenges like this have led nurse Keziah Jones to hand in her resignation at the hospital where she has worked for 20 years. She joined Melissa Chan Green to share her story.

Checkpoint reporter Bella Craig spoke to Melissa Chan Green from outside Sylvia Park following reports of multiple gunshots at the mall.

Oral nicotine pouches don't produce any smoke or odour - instead they're placed between the gum and upper lip. Researchers say young people are being targeted through social media. A survey of 16 to 25 year olds found they were aware of them and perceived them to be low risk because of claims such as 'tobacco free' and flavours like bubblegum and cola vanilla. And while the products can't be bought legally in New Zealand, the Government has agreed in principle to allow sales as a stop-smoking option. University of Otago researchers say there's not yet any robust evidence they're safe or effective for that. Lead author Professor Janet Hoek spoke with Melissa Chan-Green.

Richie Mo'unga is en route to Africa. The mercurial Mo'unga has been called into the All Blacks squad following a tour ending injury to midfielder Billy Proctor. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

If you live anywhere between Oamaru and Dunedin you no longer have an excuse to mistakenly take off with someone else's pen. That's because a group of 15 year-olds have been selling their theft-proof invention at markets all around there - and they want to expand. Their business sells pens with customisable beads at one end to spell out your name, so there's no confusing who it belongs to - which is just as well because they come with lots of other cool features too. East Otago High School student William Newton spoke with Melissa Chan-Green.

More details on Trump's elaborate plane switch involving a catering truck and decoy plane, and the latest on a plan by ICE to give its agents electric shock gloves. US correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke with Melissa Chan-Green.

Checkpoint visited five shops and found the banned pipes in three of them, some costing under $10. This comes a month after a briefing paper warnted the Health Minister they were readily available through some retailers. Penalties for anyone selling them range from three months jail to a $5000 fine. But drug addiction services are concerned Police aren't doing enough to enforce the law. Melissa Chan-Green spoke with Police assistant commissioner Corrie Parnell.

There were reports of multiple gunshots at the mall in Mt Wellington and shoppers and staff were locked inside stores as armed police responded. Checkpoint reporter Bella Craig spoke with Melissa Chan-Green from Sylvia Park.

United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Melissa Chan-Green about how the British summer is continuing to cause headaches, with extreme heat, drought and more wildfires. She also spoke about how the UK Government's prisoner early release scheme could be about to hit another roadblock and how Heathrow is no longer Europe's busiest airport.

News from the business sector, including a market report.