Checkpoint

A seasoned Melbourne homicide detective said New Zealand urgently needs to stamp out the black market for tobacco or else face fire-bombed shops and violent organised crime like it's causing in Australia. An RNZ investigation last month found black market cigarettes were being openly sold in Auckland shops at huge discounts. Now, Retail NZ has released a report calling for the establishment of a taskforce to stop the illegal sale of tobacco, which it said is putting communities at risk. Finn Blackwell has more.

The government is opening 14 new infusion centres around the country, where patients can get chemotherapy and other therapies. It's also expanding 14 existing infusion centres. The Health Minister said a boost in Pharmac funding that same year is delivering 66 new medicines including 33 cancer treatments, increasing the need for infusions. Triple negative breast cancer survivor, Catherine Cooke, slammed the anouncement saying without medications like Keytruda, funded for early stage cancers, more infusion centres are not the solution and patients are being driven into debt to survive. Cooke spoke to Lisa Owen.

Trains are at last running through Auckland's long awaited City Rail Link, but passengers won't be allowed on-board for several months. Auckland Transport and its partners are running timetable tests before the stations open later this year, but it still can't put a date on when that will happen. Felix Walton went underground at the new Te Waihorotiu Station in heart of Auckland's CBD.

President Donald Trump called Pope Leo weak on crime, terrible for foreign policy and suggested he stop catering to the radical left and claimed if he wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican. The comments have drawn wide criticism from religious and other leaders. But President Trump's doubling down and said he won't be apologising. Cardinal John Dew took part in the conclave that elected Pope Leo. He spoke to Lisa Owen.

The harrowing stories of people who narrowly survived Cyclone Gabrielle and lost their loved ones are being heard in the Hastings District Court this week. Coroner Erin Woolley is investigating the deaths of 19 people who died in 2023 as a result of the cyclone and the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods. Hawke's Bay Tairawhiti Reporter Alexa Cook has the story.

Residents have been urged to shelter in place while all flights in and out have been cancelled, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded in the self-governing United States territory. Correspondent Mark Rabago was hunkering down in the capital of Saipan. He spoke to Lisa Owen.

The countdown is on to the Commonwealth Games. Tuesday marks just 100 days until Glasgow and also saw the first crop of Kiwi athletes selected. Sports reporter Jonty Dine spoke to Lisa Owen.

It's Wellington's Willy Wonka; a local restaurant is offering the daily chance to win a golden ticket to a free lunch to supercharge enthusiasm for eating out. Diners who book lunch at Mr Go's, an Asian inspired restaurant, get to draw an envelope from a pile at the end of the meal. Score the Golden Ticket and the meal's free. Wellington's hospitality industry has taken a hit in the past year with the closure of the Leuven Belgian Beer Cafe after 25 years in business, Chocolate Fish cafe and brewery Fortune Favours. Co-owner of Wellington's Mr Go's, Tom Parsonson spoke to Lisa Owen.

President Donald Trump has faced backlash for posting, then deleting, an AI-image depicting him as a Jesus-like figure. The move has been condemned by world and religious leaders with some labelling the post blasphemous. Meanwhile, Mr Trump has become embroiled in a verbal feud with Pope Leo, the tit for tat sparked by the pontiff's vocal opposition to the war in the Middle East. United States correspondent Todd Zwillich spoke to Lisa Owen.

The government is keeping New Zealanders in the dark during an oil crisis, publishing week-old data on fuel stocks. That's the claim from the Tax Payers union which said there should daily fuel data updates. At the moment, MBIE releases information about the country's fuel stocks twice a week. Taxpayers union spokesperson Tory Relf spoke to Lisa Owen.

United Kingdom correspondent Lucy Thomson spoke to Lisa Owen about how the UK is responding to President Donald Trump's latest claims that the US would be blockading the Strait of Hormuz with the assistance of NATO allies. She also spoke about how  police officers in Ireland have had their work cut out for them over the past week following protests over the rising cost of fuel and a  school choir from Cardiff has receiving the surprise of a lifetime.

A former Boxing New Zealand board member said the organisation has been marred for too long by bullying and inappropriate behaviour. Ken Clearwater has written to the Sports Integrity Commission and the Sports Minister about behaviour that he says he witnessed during his time at Boxing NZ. It comes amid an ongoing investigation into the national body and its head coach following a string of complaints from athletes. Adam Burns reports.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy has won golf's Masters to collect his sixth major and become the fourth repeat winner at Augusta National. It ended up being a one shot win for the Northern Irishman but it was closer than it could have been. Sports reporter Felicity Reid spoke to Lisa Owen.

Christchurch Airport has landed a bumper summer, with international visitor numbers 22 percent on last year, pumping an estimated $860 million into the South Island economy. Between November 2025 and March 2026, 287,000 international visitors passed through the airport. Aussies were top of the arrivals list, followed by visitors from China; those numbers increased more than 100 percent on last season. Christchurch Airport Chief Executive Justin Watson spoke to Lisa Owen.