HONG KONG — Thailand and Malaysia are among the two dozen countries doing the least to fight human trafficking, according to a State Department report released Friday, a finding that could lead to economic and diplomatic penalties.

Việt Nam vẫn ở bậc 2 trong phúc trình về nạn buôn người trên thế giới năm 2014 của Bộ Ngoại Giao Hoa Kỳ, vừa công bố ở Washington.
Trong khi đó thì Thái Lan và Malaysia bị liệt vào danh sách đen trong phúc trình thường niên về nạn buôn người trên thế giới năm 2014 của Bộ Ngoại Giao Hoa Kỳ, tức là nằm trên bậc 3, là bậc chót với lý do không đạt nỗ lực cùng tiêu chuẩn cần có về phòng chống buôn người trong nước họ.

TT - Cầm chiếc thiệp trên tay mà ruột gan héo hắt. Bạn tôi gả con, cô con gái vừa tham gia thi học kỳ II lớp 11, vừa tranh thủ đi đặt thiệp, thử váy cưới. Chuyện thật mà như đùa!

CAIRO — There is a fierce battle raging in Egypt, and it’s not the one between Islamists and military rulers — the two factions that dominate most coverage of my country these days. The real battle, the one that will determine whether Egypt frees itself of authoritarianism, is between the patriarchy — established and upheld by the state, the street and at home — and women, who will no longer accept this status quo.

The future is bleak for women in leadership positions due to our unconscious urge to favour men
It may be tempting to think that the lack of women in leadership will inevitably change. The majority of students are women, so all we have to do is wait. The evidence suggests otherwise:
In Sweden, 61% of their university graduates were women in 1978. By 2010, that generation of women occupied 17% of corporate leadership positions. In 2008, women were taking 64% of Swedish degrees. Statisticians project that in 2040 only 18% of top leaders will be women.

It turns out that judges with daughters are more likely to vote in favor of women’s rights than ones with only sons. The effect, a new study found, is most pronounced among male judges appointed by Republican presidents, like Chief Justice Rehnquist.
“Our basic finding is quite startling,” said Maya Sen, a political scientist at the University of Rochester who conducted the study along with Adam Glynn, a government professor at Harvard.

Tracy Murphy was managing a nonprofit agency five years ago when her mother became seriously ill with heart problems. She promptly left her job to care for her, a task that has consumed Ms. Murphy ever since.
“For me, it was a no-brainer,” said Ms. Murphy, who lives in Syracuse. “When I was growing up she sacrificed for me.”
Ms. Murphy, 54, set aside her career aspirations, drained her savings account and eventually sold her gold jewelry to help make ends meet while shuttling her mother, who is 85, to doctors’ appointments and running errands.
“I always felt like I can find another job eventually — but I only have one mother,” she said.

It would seem an odd cause for optimism: the number of sex crimes reported by colleges rose 52 percent between 2001 and 2011, according to a government report released on Tuesday, even as overall crime on campuses dropped.
The substantial jump in reports — from 2,200 to 3,300 over a decade — doesn’t necessarily mean that more sexual assaults occurred as much as it shows that colleges are getting better at acknowledging the ones that have always taken place.

TOKYO — A group of government-appointed Japanese scholars seemed to raise doubts about the accuracy of a landmark 1993 apology to women forced to work in military brothels during World War II, in a finding that could worsen tensions between Japan and South Korea over wartime history.
Apparently seeking to limit the damage to ties with Seoul over the report issued Friday, a Japanese government spokesman said the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stood by its earlier pledges to uphold the apology, known as the Kono Statement. The statement was Japan’s first official admission that thousands of women from Korea and elsewhere had been coerced into providing sex to Japanese soldiers.

According to Cambodian labour law, factories are supposed to provide maternity leave, but most get around this requirement with short contracts, which leave the estimated 600,000 workers vulnerable to employers’ whims.