Concern for NZers in Iran as internet cut amid Israel strikes
conflict war 16 minutes ago
We were hoping to cross to Iran this morning to speak to a New Zealand woman who's found herself stuck there while visiting family. However, her internet has been cut and we've been unable to reach her. Daria Carrothers is the woman's friend, and she spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
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US President Donald Trump said on Friday (local time) that his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. Trump contested intelligence assessments relayed earlier this year by his spy chief that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon when he spoke with reporters at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey. "She's wrong," Trump said. In March, Gabbard testified to Congress that the US intelligence community continued to believe that Tehran was not building a nuclear weapon. "The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon," she said. On Friday, Gabbard said in a post on the social media platform X that: "America has intelligence that Iran is at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months, if they decide to finalize the assembly. President Trump has been clear that can't happen, and I agree." She said the media had taken her March testimony "out of context" and was trying to "manufacture division." The White House has said Trump will weigh involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict over the next two weeks. On Tuesday, Trump made similar comments to reporters about Gabbard's assessment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has justified a week of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets by saying Tehran was on the verge of having a warhead. Iran denies developing nuclear weapons, saying its uranium enrichment programme is only for peaceful purposes. In March, Gabbard described Iran's enriched uranium stockpile as unprecedented for a state without such weapons and said the government was watching the situation closely. She also said that Iran had started discussing nuclear weapons in public, "emboldening nuclear weapons advocates within Iran's decision-making apparatus." A source with access to US intelligence reports told Reuters that the assessment presented by Gabbard has not changed. They said US spy services also judged that it would take up to three years for Iran to build a warhead with which it could hit a target of its choice. Some experts, however, believe it could take Iran a much shorter time to build and deliver an untested crude nuclear device, although there would be no guarantee it would work. Trump has frequently disavowed the findings of US intelligence agencies, which he and his supporters have charged - without providing proof - are part of a "deep state" cabal of US officials opposed to his presidency. Gabbard, a fierce Trump loyalist, has been among the president's backers who have aired such allegations. The Republican president repeatedly clashed with US spy agencies during his first term, including over an assessment that Moscow worked to sway the 2016 presidential vote in his favour and his acceptance of Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials.
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Tai Rāwhiti protest: A burning question on Ngāti Oneone's redress
Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson stoking the fire at the protest movement taking place at Te Pā Eketū Shed, on Hirini St, calling for the return of Ngāti Oneone's ancestral lands. Photo: Zita Campbell / LDR A fire signalling Tai Rāwhiti hapū Ngāti Oneone's call for the return of their ancestral lands has been burning for over six weeks. The hapū said it will stoke the fire until the grievance is resolved, but after three generations of attempting to remedy it, does not want the redress to fall on them. "It always falls on us to 'make the case'," Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson told Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) when the movement started on 5 May. The Crown said any potential redress in this case is the responsibility of the landowner and the hapū. As part of its protest, members of Ngāti Oneone have inhabited Te Pā Eketū Shed, a warehouse-sized property on Gisborne's Hirini St. Rather than an "occupation", the hāpu calls the action "a reclamation of whenua". The location is where Ngāti Oneone's marae and pā were originally established in 1852 before being removed for harbour development under the Private Works Act. Eastland Port, of which Trust Tai Rāwhiti is the sole shareholder, owns the shed and others on the hapū's ancestral land on Hirini St and the Esplanade. At the beginning of the protest movement, the hapū called on the trust, Eastland Port and Gisborne District Council to return land not used for "core business". Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann told LDR the council had started exploring how land could potentially be returned following formal requests from Ngāti Oneone in 2024. This includes investigating the relevant legal processes, policy settings and the interests of other Treaty partners. However, Trust Tai Rāwhiti, which has a funding partnership with the council and serves as the region's economic development and tourism organisation, earlier said addressing historical Treaty breaches was not its responsibility, but rather a matter for the Crown, after it sought independent legal advice. "We support Ngāti Oneone in pursuing this with the Crown," chairman David Battin told LDR when the protest started. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka had a different view. The 2010 Ngāti Porou settlement of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims includes Ngāti Oneone, Potaka told LDR. "The matter being raised ... is outside of the process for the settlement of historical Treaty claims. "Any exploration of options to return and/or purchase the land is a matter for the landowner agency to undertake in discussion with Ngāti Oneone," he said. Regarding Potaka's statement, a Trust Tai Rāwhiti spokesperson this week said trustees continued to "engage directly with Ngāti Oneone and remained focused on constructive resolutions". Gibson confirmed the hapū had met with the landowner groups involved under Trust Tai Rāwhiti and would have a meeting with the council next week. She was unsure whether the groups would respond individually or together. The hapū has committed to maintaining the protest for two months and then will reassess depending on outcomes, she said. "We'll keep the fire burning until we've had an acceptable response." In addition to the return of land, the hapū has made other requests to the landowners through an online petition signed by over 1950 as of Friday. The petition urges the Tai Rāwhiti leaders to take three actions: "Whakahokia Whenua Mai", which requests the return of land not used for core business, "Whakamana Tangata" and "Te Tiriti". Whakamana Tangata requests that Trust Tai Rāwhiti financially compensate Ngāti Oneone for "the alienation" of their lands without conditions. "Te Tiriti" requests that the leaders seek a pathway that treats Ngāti Oneone in the same vein as a "Treaty" partner, rather than "a community group". Gibson said that after Eastland Port sold a shed on their ancestral land to the Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club three years ago, they worried about what could happen to the rest of their ancestral land, so they started negotiations for the Te Pa Eketū Shed. If the land were sold, it would be harder to reclaim, she said. However, they then realised the port had other sheds in the area, not used for "core business". "In my view, it's not an occupation, it's a reclamation of whenua," Gibson said, explaining that the shed had been leased while negotiating the sales and purchase agreement. The port would send the hapū the bill, which they would send to Trust Tai Rāwhiti, who would pay Eastland Port (owned by the trust), she said. Trust Tai Rāwhiti was going to give them $1.4 million to purchase the shed, but the hapū wanted to use the money to buy the lot. When their request was denied, they understood and looked into other ways of obtaining the sheds, Gibson said. However, when the hapū got the sales and purchase agreement, things shifted. "There were four clauses within the sales and purchase agreement, which undermined Mana motuhake [self-determination], which made it untenable," said Gibson. On 5 May the beginning of the hapū's "Reclamation of whenua", they were supposed to sign the sales and purchase agreement but decided to "reclaim" the land instead. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
