Seoul Taxis Get Protection Screens for Women Drivers

Protection screens have been installed in 35 taxis driven by women, with the Seoul Metropolitan Government paying half the cost. A female taxi driver sits in a car with a protection screen near Seoul Plaza on Thursday. /News 1

The screens cost W250,000 (US$1=W1,116) each to install. They are made of polycarbonate that is strong enough to resist hammer blows and installed on the side and back of the driver's seat for complete protection.

If the measure is well received, all taxis in the capital will have the screens installed next year.

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3 Women Behind the N.Korean Throne

Three women form a core part of the repressive North Korean regime, loyally lining up behind their tubby brother and husband to fend off challenges to his authority.

They are leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju, his older half-sister Kim Sul-song, and his younger sister Kim Yeo-jong.

Kim Sul-song is the oldest of the three. She is believed to have been born in 1974, the eldest daughter of former leader Kim Jong-il and his second wife Kim Yong-suk. She studied political economics at Kim Il-sung University. Since the late 1990s, she has worked in the Workers Party.

She is believed to have acted as a secretary to her father, managing his security detail and engagement schedule, and now does the same job for Kim Jong-un.

Ken Gause of the U.S. Center for Naval Analyses speculates that Kim Sul-song is at the apex of a structure that collects and controls the information flow in the regime.

From left, Kim Yeo-jong, Kim Sul-song and Ri Sol-ju

Kim Sul-song and her husband, Sin Pok-nam, a senior party official, played a central role in purging former eminence grise Jang Song-taek and are now spearheading the reform of the party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Hong Ihk-pyo said last year quoting a North Korean source in China.

Ri, who was born in 1989 or thereabouts, is believed to have been influential in helping Choe Ryong-hae, who had been almost elbowed aside by Hwang Pyong-so, return to the center of power recently.

Ri came to Choe's rescue because she is close to his wife Kang Kyong-sil, according to rumors.

There also is speculation that Air Force general Ri Pyong-chol was appointed to the top decision-making National Defense Commission in September because Ri Sol-ju's father was an Air Force pilot.

This suggests that she is a vital ally for anyone seeking promotion.

Kim Yeo-jong has taken a key post in the Workers Party, though what exactly her duties are is unclear.

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3 Women Behind the N.Korean Throne

Three women form a core part of the repressive North Korean regime, loyally lining up behind their tubby brother and husband to fend off challenges to his authority.

They are leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju, his older half-sister Kim Sul-song, and his younger sister Kim Yeo-jong.

Kim Sul-song is the oldest of the three. She is believed to have been born in 1974, the eldest daughter of former leader Kim Jong-il and his second wife Kim Yong-suk. She studied political economics at Kim Il-sung University. Since the late 1990s, she has worked in the Workers Party.

She is believed to have acted as a secretary to her father, managing his security detail and engagement schedule, and now does the same job for Kim Jong-un.

Ken Gause of the U.S. Center for Naval Analyses speculates that Kim Sul-song is at the apex of a structure that collects and controls the information flow in the regime.

From left, Kim Yeo-jong, Kim Sul-song and Ri Sol-ju

Kim Sul-song and her husband, Sin Pok-nam, a senior party official, played a central role in purging former eminence grise Jang Song-taek and are now spearheading the reform of the party, New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmaker Hong Ihk-pyo said last year quoting a North Korean source in China.

Ri, who was born in 1989 or thereabouts, is believed to have been influential in helping Choe Ryong-hae, who had been almost elbowed aside by Hwang Pyong-so, return to the center of power recently.

Ri came to Choe's rescue because she is close to his wife Kang Kyong-sil, according to rumors.

There also is speculation that Air Force general Ri Pyong-chol was appointed to the top decision-making National Defense Commission in September because Ri Sol-ju's father was an Air Force pilot.

This suggests that she is a vital ally for anyone seeking promotion.

Kim Yeo-jong has taken a key post in the Workers Party, though what exactly her duties are is unclear.

View the original article here

BMW Opposes Plan to Require More Women in Leadership Positions

German carmaker BMW says it opposes a plan by Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition to force companies to promote more women to non-executive leadership positions.

The Christian Democratic Union and Social Democrats agreed Tuesday to move forward legislation that would require large publicly traded companies to put women in 30 percent of such supervisory roles.

Munich-based BMW says it strives for diversity "in terms of gender, ethnicity and age" in the workplace but does not believe in fixed quotas.

The government's planned 30 percent requirement could start in 2016 and impact more than 100 large corporations.

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More Women Quit Work to Care for Children

The number of working women who quit their jobs to raise children has risen around 10 percent this year. Statisticians say the main reason is that children born in the boom year of 2007, the Year of the Golden Pig, started elementary school.

Statistics Korea on Wednesday said 1.98 million women quit their jobs in order to have babies or raise children as of April this year, up 1.1 percent from to the previous year.

The number who quit work once they got married fell 8.4 percent to 822,000, but the number who stopped working to have babies or after childbirth rose 9.7 percent and 5.4 percent, to 627,000 and 436,000.

Statistics Korea said that 2007 saw more births than usual because it was believed to be auspicious, which led to 40,000 more children starting elementary schools this year. More mothers therefore decided to quit work to help their kids through the first years of school.

Statistics Korea added some 162,000 women quit their jobs to take care of sick family members.

This raises the total number of women who quit their jobs this year to 2.14 million, or 22.4 percent of the married female population.

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Turkey's Erdogan: Women Not Equal to Men

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan /Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that women are not equal to men, saying Islam has defined a position for women: motherhood.

Speaking to a conference in Istanbul on women and justice, Mr. Erdogan said that it is against nature to put men and women on an equal footing.

The Associated Press quotes him as saying "You cannot tell them to go out and dig the soil. This is against their delicate nature."

He also accused feminists of not accepting the concept of motherhood.

The Turkish leader's Islamic-rooted political party has been repeatedly accused of trying to undermine modern Turkey's secular foundations and civil liberties.

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Women to Outnumber Men Next Year as Korea Ages

Women will outnumber men in Korea from next year, not because of the fading traditional preference for boys but because women outlive men. The aging society is leading to massive demographical change.?

According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, there will be 25.31 million women in the country in 2015, overtaking the estimated 25.3 million men.

The change is expected to have a profound impact on the economy. A country with a growing population can achieve economic growth thanks to a larger working age population and burgeoning consumer market. But an aging population means a decrease in the working-age population and increase in dependent population, which tends to stall economic growth.

The working-age population between 15 and 64 will peak in 2016 at 37.04 million and then strat to dwindle. The most economically active population, between the ages of 25 and 49, is already in decline, dropping below 20 million for the first time last year with 19.78 million.

The number of employed people will also drop. According to the National Assembly Budget Office, 25.55 million people are in employment this year, and this will peak in 2026 with 28.65 million before dropping.

Korea will turn into an aged society by 2017, where those over 65 account for 14 percent of the total population. As recently as 2000 they made up seven percent.

The elderly population now stands at 6.39 million and is expected to surpass 7 million by 2017, outnumbering the 6.84 million people under 15.

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Barbra Streisand raps Orthodox Jews' actions against Israeli women

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. entertainer Barbra Streisand on Monday took a swipe at Orthodox Jews in Israel who compel women to sit in the back of buses and assault them for following religious rituals traditionally reserved for men.

"It's distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of a bus or... having metal chairs hurled at them when they intend to peacefully and legally pray. Or women being banned from singing in public ceremonies," she said.

The Oscar and Emmy-winning actress and singer, who is Jewish, was speaking at a ceremony at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she was awarded an honorary doctorate.

A public bus system operating in some Israeli cities forces gender segregation in deference to ultra-Orthodox rabbis who have long wielded political power in the Jewish state.

Some of these clerics are also battling against a women's prayer group seeking to liberalize worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites. The women wear prayer shawls and read aloud from the Jewish scriptures there, defying a tradition that only men should do so.

Streisand starred in a 1983 film "Yentl" which explores the yearning of Jewish women for religious equality with men.

The Brooklyn-born Streisand, 71, also offered some criticism of her own country's failure to achieve full gender equality.

"I know that solutions don't come easy, and they don't in the United States, where women are still making 80 cents for every dollar that a man makes," she said.

During her visit to Israel, Streisand will also sing at a 90th birthday celebration for President Shimon Peres and will perform at two concerts in Tel Aviv.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Gareth Jones)

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Barbra Streisand raps Orthodox Jews' actions against Israeli women

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. entertainer Barbra Streisand on Monday took a swipe at Orthodox Jews in Israel who compel women to sit in the back of buses and assault them for following religious rituals traditionally reserved for men.

"It's distressing to read about women in Israel being forced to sit in the back of a bus or... having metal chairs hurled at them when they intend to peacefully and legally pray. Or women being banned from singing in public ceremonies," she said.

The Oscar and Emmy-winning actress and singer, who is Jewish, was speaking at a ceremony at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where she was awarded an honorary doctorate.

A public bus system operating in some Israeli cities forces gender segregation in deference to ultra-Orthodox rabbis who have long wielded political power in the Jewish state.

Some of these clerics are also battling against a women's prayer group seeking to liberalize worship at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites. The women wear prayer shawls and read aloud from the Jewish scriptures there, defying a tradition that only men should do so.

Streisand starred in a 1983 film "Yentl" which explores the yearning of Jewish women for religious equality with men.

The Brooklyn-born Streisand, 71, also offered some criticism of her own country's failure to achieve full gender equality.

"I know that solutions don't come easy, and they don't in the United States, where women are still making 80 cents for every dollar that a man makes," she said.

During her visit to Israel, Streisand will also sing at a 90th birthday celebration for President Shimon Peres and will perform at two concerts in Tel Aviv.

(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Gareth Jones)

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PHOTOS: Beyonce Headlines Charity Concert For Women

LONDON ? Beyonce and a few famous friends ? including John Legend, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna ? turned the home of English rugby into a fortress for women's rights at a star-studded charity concert.

Beyonce headlined a concert at Twickenham rugby stadium in London in support of Chime for Change, a campaign set up to help empower girls and women around the world.

The singer, sporting a slinky leather body suit, had the 50,000-strong crowd in a frenzy when she performed "Crazy In Love" ? joined onstage by husband Jay-Z.

She also performed hits including "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," "Run The World (Girls)," "Halo" and the Destiny's Child classic "Survivor."

"It's time for change. Let's chime for change. This is such an incredible night for me," said the 31-year-old star.

Earlier, Simon Le Bon performed with Timbaland, and J-Lo and Mary J. Blige sang The Beatles' "Come Together," as a raft of stars united for the Sound of Change Live show, which also featured John Legend, Florence + The Machine and Rita Ora.

Madonna, Freida Pinto, Aishwarya Rai, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Franco, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Chastain and feminist icon Gloria Steinem were among the presenters. Even Prince Harry sent a videotaped message of support.

Beyonce is co-founder, with actress-producer Salma Hayek Pinault and Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, of the charity, which supports projects improving access to education, health care and justice for women.

Partner organizations include UNICEF, the Global Fund for Women and Plan International.

Giannini said she was grateful for Prince Harry's involvement, because "it's very important in projects like that, talking about women that some very strong male personalities are with us."

Hayek Pinault said Beyonce was the best possible ambassador for the cause.

"Do you know that everybody in her band is a girl?" she said. "I mean talk about woman power."

___

Online: www.chimeforchange.org

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