Friday, 30 July 2021, 6:45 pm
UN Secretary General António Guterres on
Thursday urged States to take action against human
trafficking, where a third of all victims are
children.
Highlighting how the COVID pandemic
has pushed as many as 124 million more people into extreme
poverty, the UN chief insisted that “many millions” have
been left vulnerable to the scourge.
Half of victims
in low-income countries are children, Mr. Guterres noted,
just ahead of the World
Day Against Trafficking in Persons, adding that most are
trafficked for forced labour.
“
Criminals
everywhere are using technology to identify, control and
exploit vulnerable people,” the UN chief said,
Friday, 30 July 2021, 6:43 pm
GENEVA (29 July 2021) – Zambia must immediately provide
medical treatment to thousands of children suffering from
lead poisoning, and must take swift steps to clean up areas
contaminated by residue from what was once the country’s
largest lead mine, UN experts said today.
“More than
25 years after the Kabwe mine and smelter closed, it is
scandalous that some 300,000 people still have to live on
toxic soil,” the experts said. “Schools, playgrounds,
homes and back yards all have high lead levels, so residents
are being poisoned on a huge scale, and children are the
most vulnerable.”
Kabwe, the capital of Zambia s
In June 2021, the seasonally
adjusted number of new dwellings consented rose 3.8
percent.
In June 2021, 4,310 new dwellings were
consented, an increase of 3.8 per cent from the previous
month.
The latest report shows that the
residential building sector is performing well to meet
demand for new houses, says Acting Minister for Building and
Construction Michael Wood.
“We’ve broken the
record for annual number of new homes consented yet again
and we’re starting to see a pattern here. This Government
is committed to supporting the sector so that we can deliver
more homes than ever before,” Michael Wood
said.
Estimates from Statistics New Zealand released
Friday, 30 July 2021, 12:22 pm
Police and the family of missing Clyde teenager Caitlin
Blanch are urging her to make contact so we know she is
safe.
Caitlin was last reported
to be seen hopping off the school bus at around 8am on
Tuesday, 27 July.
“We just want to know she is safe.
Reach out to us, make contact and let us know you are
safe,” a family spokesperson says.
“It doesn’t
matter who you contact, family or friends, it can be
anybody. We just want to know you are safe, that’s all we
care about,” a family spokesperson says.
Friday, 30 July 2021, 11:31 am
Today the government has announced the proposed
legislation to prohibit conversion practices, which confirms
the intention to ban conversion therapy in
Aotearoa.
“Te Paati Māori whole heartedly support
and welcome this much needed and overdue announcement. We
will always support whanau to be who they are, and
conversion therapy, which tries to stop takatāpui for being
who they are, has no place in Aotearoa.
“Te Ao Maori
has always celebrated our diverse gender and sexual
identities. It was colonisation that started criminalising
and oppressing people for being who they are, turning us
against our own whānau” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader