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News of Zealand

Terror Threats at Gallipoli, the World’s Spies Come Calling, Would North Korean Missiles Reach Us?

New Zealand, it's your Monday news wrap.
New Zealanders at ANZAC commemorations in Gallipoli. Image via Flickr user David Bacon.

New Zealanders Warned Of Terrorism Threats At Gallipoli

New Zealanders gathering at Gallipoli for ANZAC commemorations tomorrow will face increased security after warnings the gathering could be targeted by terrorists. New Zealand updated its travel advice for Turkey last week, with Foreign Minister Murray McCully saying the change reflected information received that suggested terrorists might seek to target this year's events. Around 1000 New Zealanders are expected at the events. NZ Defence Force spokesman John McLeod told RNZ those attending would be facing airport-style security, including bomb checks to get into the premises. "The security arrangements are incredibly tight and it does feel really really safe. So this morning, just to get onto the peninsula, we're into now checkpoints, accreditation and so on," he said. "We are talking about airport-level security, X-ray machines, and there will be various bomb searches. People will have to get rid of their liquids, aerosols and gels, before they move into each of the sites."

Spies Come to Town: Heads of the Five Eyes Surveillance Network Meet in NZ

Prime Minister Bill English has confirmed international spy network the Five Eyes are meeting in New Zealand this week. The Five Eyes network includes intelligence and surveillance agencies from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA. They've chosen Arrowtown —a little old mining town in the deep South—as the location for the the get-together. According to RNZ, FBI director James Comey and CIA director Mike Pompeo are understood to be attending. English told Morning Report the five countries met regularly to discuss "combating terrorism, protecting our citizens around the world. So it's an arrangement that works well for New Zealand."

Would North Korea's Nuclear Missiles Reach New Zealand?

Good news: looks like our shores are among the safest in the word for avoiding a nuclear attack care of North Korea. The nation made a direct threat against Australia on Sunday, saying if Australia continued to back the US "to isolate and stifle" North Korea, "this will be a suicidal act of coming within the range of the nuclear strike". Experts told Fairfax media New Zealand, with our distance and lack of military targets, is probably one of the safest countries in the world when it comes to a North Korean strike. They said any attacks would likely be centred in the Northern Hemisphere, with nuclear fallout unlikely to spread this far. It's also unclear whether even North Korea's longest range missiles could reach all the way to little old NZ.

Women's Rights, Maori Independence and Te Tiriti — New Zealand's Most Important Bits of Paper Re-Homed

The country's founding documents were moved in a special procession this weekend. The Treaty of Waitangi, the women's suffrage petition and He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni—the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand—were all shifted from the National Archives to their new home at the National Library in Wellington. The new location is aimed to protect the fragile documents, and allow better access for students and visitors. In a release, the New Zealand Government said the three documents were moved under tight security and strict archival conditions. "The move was of particular significance to Māori, representing a significant tikanga event to uplift the mana and tapu elements of these three taonga," they wrote.

You Can Still Volunteer for the Study to Be Infected With Hookworms

So far 20 people have signed up to be parasite hosts for a Christchurch trial researching a cure for coeliac disease. An Australian study has found people with severe gluten allergies had no reaction to gluten when they had hookworms. The Christchurch trial, run by Otago University gastroenterology professor Richard Gearry, is trying to work out how that happens, and turn whatever magic the hookworm is doing into a drug. The worm gets into your system by entering through the skin and makes its way through the bloodstream to the gut. Severe infections can cause problems like iron deficiencies, but Gearry told the NZ Herald that the risks were low when the infection was controlled.
There are still spaces available on the trial.

Politicians Are Quietly Cruising About in an Electric-Hybrid Limousine

The government wants us to be giving up the gas guzzlers and driving more energy-efficient electric cars. It has set a target of having 64,000 electric cars on New Zealand roads by 2021. Now one has joined the Crown's fleet of BMWs to see whether it is up to the job of ferrying politicians and VIPs around on official business. VIP transport manager Steve Dyhrberg told RNZ one challenge with the BMW 740Le xDrive Plug-In Hybrid is its quietness. "Especially in Wellington's quite narrow streets you can't hear it coming and I know that that's proved a bit of a challenge for people driving it."