On October 30, 2022, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, China’s top legislative body, passed the revised Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests (hereinafter referred to as the “Women’s Protection Law”). The amended Women’s Protection Law, which will take effect on January 1, 2023, added nearly 30 new provisions Read more
The government cannot give a deadline for phasing out emergency motel accommodation, but the Social Development Minister told Checkpoint she would reveal the results of a review and redesign by the end of the year. A “bloody fiasco”, a “failed govt experiment”, and “tantamount to child abuse” – some of the descriptions of the accommodation. Read more
Catholic nuns who cited a Pope Francis climate-change encyclical to claim a natural gas pipeline on their property violates their religious beliefs waited too long to raise those concerns, a federal appeals court said on Tuesday rejecting their request for compensation. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ sisters claimed the pipeline built on their Read more
Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis helped facilitate recent prisoner exchanges with Ukraine and said the Vatican is ready to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia. The Italian news agency Askanews reported the ambassador, Aleksandr Avdeyev, said the exchanges of prisoners occur in accordance with the lists of military prisoners of Read more
Disabled workers are disproportionately affected by bullying and harassment in the workplace, according to research by the Human Rights Commission. The research published in Experiences of Workplace Bullying and Harassment in Aotearoa New Zealand showed 61% of disabled workers had been racially harassed in the previous five years, compared to 37% of non-disabled workers. Nearly Read more
Nearly $70 million has been spent on emergency housing in Rotorua over almost five years and the average stay in motels has stretched to 35 weeks, new figures reveal. A slide presentation by the Rotorua Lakes Council, obtained by the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend, also reveals Government officials were warned about the city’s dire situation Read more
Nearly three years of pandemic-related disruption has damaged learning in some schools and left others almost unscathed. In some areas principals warned it could take years for children to catch up on what they have missed, while others said achievement was no different from before the pandemic. Schools visited by RNZ also described effects including Read more
The government and authorities in the Philippines have prohibited unvaccinated people from entering several cemeteries during the observance of All Souls Day to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The Santo Tomas cemetery in Daet province, southern Luzon, and the Holy Redeemer cemetery in Benguet province, northern Luzon, have made it mandatory for visitors to carry Read more
Donation platform Pushpay has entered into a deal that will see Sixth Street and BGH Capital pay $1.53 billion for the company, but analysts have not ruled out rival bids landing before shareholders get to vote on the deal early next year. Sixth Street – a global investment firm – and BGH Capital – an Read more