Barbara Morgan, the alternate to teacher Christina McAullife, who was killed in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion, is now flight-ready and will fly a space mission in 2004, says NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe. Morgan, like McAullife, was initially recruited to participate in a one-time teacher-in-space program. However, NASA, in conjunction with the Department of […]
In a letter to fellow priests in the Boston area on Saturday, Cardinal Bernard Law said he will not resign, despite fervent and numerous calls from prominent city leaders, publications, and church members to do so. Law’s remarks come only days after recently released court documents show that Law was aware of the sexually abusive […]
The Swiss government has come out in support of legalizing abortion and is urging voters to vote “yes” in a referendum scheduled for June 2, 2002 that would legalize the procedure. Switzerland’s current law allows for abortion only when the women’s health is in danger. However, as many as 13,000 Swiss women obtain abortions every […]
The NYC Fire Department recently announced plans to diversify its workforce, currently comprised of 93% white men. TV ads, billboards, and allied organizations, such as the Urban league and Harlem Chamber of Commerce, will disseminate information on the department’s efforts to hire more women and minorities. “Clearly we have a long way to go,” said […]
According to a study from the Center for Women’s Business Research, women-owned businesses have been an essential part of the country’s economic success and have been growing at an unprecedented rate. Between 1997 and 2000, the number of women-owned businesses with more than 100 employees has grown by more than 43%, 68% faster compared to […]
Sudanese girls who fled their country’s civil war in the early 1990’s are reportedly being sold into marriages by their foster families in the Kahuma refugee camps of Kenya. More than 1200 girls are believed to have fled Sudan when civil war broke out in 1992. However, while many of those girls left Sudan seeking […]
A study published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine reports that circumcised men who have had six or more sexual partners are less likely to be infected with the human papilloma virus (HPV) than uncircumcised men with similar numbers of sexual partners. Researchers conducted studies in five countries and found that 19.6 percent of […]
Ten nations ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) today bringing the total number of nations to ratify the 1998 Rome treaty to 66, meaning that the ICC will finally enter into force this July. The ICC will operate across from the International Criminal Tribunal until it can move into its permanent home in the Hague, […]
Afghan Interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai and United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi called on the international community yesterday to release aid money pledged for Afghanistan’s reconstruction in January in order to fund a national security force in the country. “[T]he establishment of a well-trained, properly equipped national security force is an absolute […]
New research shows that the vast majority of American women do not know that an alternative to hysterectomy is available to treat uterine fibroid tumors, but many women could benefit from this less invasive procedure. The most common treatment for uterine fibroids is hysterectomy, a surgical operation in which the uterus is removed from a […]
The Diocese of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania announced that it is transferring priest Bill Hausen to another parish after Hausen, in a homily delivered on Easter Sunday, called for women to be ordained and expressed anger at the Roman Catholic Church for the child sexual abuse scandal. “If that homily had not been delivered, he may not […]
Addressing the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Shamssuzakir Kazemi, a member of the Afghan Interim Authority UN delegation in Geneva, pledged that the interim government would work “to lay the foundations for a democratic, just progressive Afghanistan.” International assistance and an expansion ofpeace troo[s, added Kazemi, are “essential in order to help the Afghan […]
Church records released under court order in Massachusetts show that the Archdiocese of Boston knew of allegations of pedophilia against priest Paul Shanley and had shared information about the allegations with the Vatican by 1979. There is no evidence, however, that the Vatican or the Archdiocese asked Shanley to leave his post as priest. As […]
Hundreds of Massachusetts voters unknowingly signed petitions calling for a ban on gay marriage in the state, according to organizers of the Massachusetts Save Our Horses Campaign. The campaign alleges that the Pheonix-based firm Ballot Access asked voters throughout the state to sign petitions calling for a ban on the slaughtering of horses for food […]
Thirty-four women are registered as candidates in the May municipal elections in Bahrain, the first time women will appear on the ballot. Only 320 candidates are running for office, making women 10 percent of the contestants. Elections will be held May 9. These will also be the first elections in Bahrain in which women will […]
Delivering the keynote address at the National Council of Women’s Organizations’ Women’s Equality Summit and Action Day, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal called for a national women’s campaign in support of peace troop expansion and more U.S. resources for Afghanistan’s reconstruction. “Peace and security must be established across Afghanistan to enable the restoration of women’s […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been forced to cut new programs and staff because of under-funding experienced after the Bush Administration froze $34 million appropriated for UNFPA by Congress. According to UNFPA spokesperson Stirling Scruggs, the U.S. hold “could mean 2 million unwanted pregnancies, 800,000 induced abortions, 4,700 maternal deaths, and 77,000 infant […]
While women make up 70 percent of the world’s poor, men continue to dominate the world’s major global financial institutions. A study by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) found that women made up only 2.2 percent of the Board of Governors at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and 5.5 percent at the World […]
A Washington Post editorial today criticized the “feminist left” for not embracing President Bush’s welfare reauthorization plan that would include $300 million for state programs promoting marriage as a means of ending poverty. Specifically, the editorial blasts feminists for not considering marriage as a method of decreasing the number of children in single-parent homes living […]
Dr. Benjamin Chu, President of the New York Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs New York City’s public hospitals, is searching for donors to help fund mandatory abortion training for obstetrics and gynecology residents in the hospitals’ eight OB/GYN residency programs. The mandatory training, an initiative supported by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is […]
