An estimated 30 million people worldwide are living in modern-day slavery, according to the inaugural Global Slavery Index published on Oct. 17 last year.
The index, compiled by the Walk Free Foundation (WFF), said that while India by far had the largest number of enslaved people, the problem was most prevalent in the west African nation of Mauritania, where four percent of the population was deemed to be held in slavery.
The WFF hopes the annual index will help governments to monitor and tackle what it calls a “hidden crime.”
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
“A lot of governments won’t like hearing what we have to say,” chief executive Nick Grono told AFP.
Established in May last year, the WFF is a 20-strong team based in Perth on the Australian west coast, founded by philanthropists Andrew Forrest — the chairman of Fortescue Metals Group — and his wife Nicola.
The foundation’s definition of modern slavery includes slavery itself, plus slavery-like practices — such as debt bondage, forced marriage and the sale or exploitation of children — human trafficking and forced labor.
(AFP)
根據去年十月十七日公佈的首份全球奴隸指數指出,估計有全球三千萬人活在當代的奴隸制度下。
這份由自由行基金會彙整的指數表示,雖然印度奴隸人口最多,但奴隸問題最猖獗的地方是在西非國家茅利塔尼亞,國內有百分之四人口被當成奴隸。
自由行基金會希望藉由每年公布指數,來幫助政府監控和處理這種「隱藏性犯罪」。
執行長尼克‧葛羅諾告訴法新社說:「有許多政府不會喜歡聽我們所說的事。」
去年五月成立的自由行基金會,由一個位於澳洲西岸柏斯的二十人小組組成,由福特斯克金屬集團暨慈善家安德魯‧弗瑞斯特和他的妻子妮可拉創辦。
該組織對現代奴隸的定義包含奴隸行為本身,加上類似奴隸的行為—像是債奴、逼婚和販賣或剝削兒童,以及人口販賣和被迫勞動。
(法新社/翻譯:陳?軒)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
A: What’s even more horrible is that the five suspects who purposely supplied ketamine to actor Matthew Perry were all his “friends.” B: Who exactly are the five suspects? A: They include Matthew’s two doctors, a broker, a drug dealer, and even his live-in assistant. B: Those scumbags should go to jail. A: Yeah, one of the doctors may be sentenced to up to 120 years in prison. A: 更可怕的是,提供男星馬修派瑞「K他命」的5人全是他的「朋友」。 B: 嫌犯是誰啊? A: 其中包括他的2位醫生、1位仲介、1位毒販、甚至他的同居助理! B: 那些人渣真該去坐牢。 A: 對啊,其中1位醫生可能面臨120年徒刑。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from