At Google, Slow Growth in News Site

6/24/08

NY Times:  “For us, news is about search and helping people find information,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search and user experience, who oversees Google News.

Army General’s Nomination Called Historic

6/24/08

Washington Post: President Bush has nominated Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to take over the Army’s Materiel Command as a four-star general, and if confirmed by the Senate she would be the first woman in U.S. history to receive such a high military rank.

U.S. Trains Iraqi Women To Find Female Suicide Bombers

6/24/08

CNN: Female suicide bombers, who often slip through security checkpoints untouched because of cultural norms, are taking a more deadly toll than ever across Iraq. But the U.S. Army has created a solution with “Daughters of Iraq,” a program that trains Iraqi women to find female suicide bombers.

Don Imus Says Race Comment Was Misunderstood

6/23/08

AP via Seattle Times: Months after returning to the radio with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by his comments about a women’s basketball team, Don Imus is once again defending on-air remarks regarding race.

Obama, In Southwest, Sets Sights On Women Voters

6/24/08

LA Times: Barack Obama challenged the women’s rights record of his Republican rival, John McCain, on Monday as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee stepped up efforts to win over female voters.

Will Pro-Choice Women Back McCain?

6/23/08

Time: The 2008 presidential race may have been branded a “change” election, but abortion rights advocates have seen this movie before. Once again they face a Republican nominee who supports abortion restrictions yet is widely viewed as moderate and unthreatening to pro-choice voters.

So-Called Pregnancy Pact In Mass Town Questioned

6/24/08

NY Times: The story made headlines almost immediately: High school girls in this New England fishing town had made a pact to get pregnant.  Now the account is under fire. The city’s mayor on Monday disputed the pact theory originally stated by the high school principal.

Court To Hear Case Over Mothers’ Retirement Benefits

6/24/08

SF Chronicle: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether AT&T workers who took pregnancy leave before 1979, when federal law first banned pregnancy discrimination, should get the same retirement benefits as employees who took disability leave.

Columbia Professor in Noose Case Is Fired on Plagiarism Charges

6/24/08

NY Times: The Columbia University professor who gained widespread attention last fall after a noose was found hanging on her office door was fired on Monday after months of wrangling over charges that she plagiarized the work of two former students and a former colleague.

Tough Economy Tightens Surrogacy Market

6/23/08

Women’s eNews: Increasing numbers of infertile people have been using surrogacy to have children. But it’s expensive, and a tougher economy and tighter credit market are pushing it further out of reach for those with middle incomes.

2 Women Testify Air Force Colonel Assaulted Them

6/23/08

AP via Google: A civilian worker at Sheppard Air Force Base testified Monday that a training group commander raped her and forced himself on her twice more but she didn’t report it and maintained a friendly tone with him because she feared losing her job.

Lawsuit Alleges Little India Beauty Salon Chain Exploits Workers

6/23/08

LA Times: The class action says Ziba employees, many immigrant women, were paid less than minimum wage and forced to work long hours with no breaks. The Artesia firm denies wrongdoing.

Iran Women’s Activist Jailed For Five Years

6/21/08

Reuters: Hana Abdi, an Iranian women’s rights activist has been sentenced to five years in prison on security-related charges, her lawyer said on Saturday.

RIGHTS: Mistreatment of Widows a Poorly Kept Secret

6/23/08

IPS: Millions of women in many parts of the world are facing discrimination and abuse simply because they happen to be either widows or divorced, according to a new report released by a U.S.-based independent research organisation.

NEPAL: A Small Victory for Nepali Women

6/24/08

IPS: Representatives from the Madhesis, Janajatis, Dalits and other indigenous groups were present when Nepal’s newly elected constituent assembly sat for its very first meeting late last month, and 191 of the 601-member assembly were women.

The Mind of a Female Suicide Bomber

6/22/08

Time: No one remembers Hasna Maryi ever opening her family’s Koran. She rarely attended her village mosque and told others she regarded the Imam there as a lech. So it was not religious extremism that made this villager from Anbar province blow herself up at an Iraqi police checkpoint last summer, killing three officers and injuring at least 10 civilians.

Healthy Diet Lowers Death Risk for Women

6/23/08

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Women can protect themselves against death from heart disease and other causes by sticking with a diet that is low in saturated fats and sugar and high in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, a new study suggests.

Bayer And Barr Agree Oral Contraceptive Deal

6/24/08

Reuters: Germany’s Bayer AG (BAYG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to supply a generic version of its Yasmin oral contraceptive for Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc (BRL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to market in the United States in return for a fixed portion of sales.

U.S. Women’s Soccer Coach Names Her Olympians

6/24/08

NY Times: When Pia Sundhage was hired as coach of the United States women’s national team seven months ago, her to-do list included taking the team back to the top of the soccer world, preparing it to defend its Olympic gold medal, and altering the chemistry and composition of the roster.