China's Vice Premier Wu Yi (
The Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women was topped by Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser of US President George W. Bush, according to a Forbes press statement released here.
Top Singapore businesswoman Ho Ching (
Sonia Gandhi, the president of India's ruling Congress Party who wields immense influence behind the scenes after turning down the job of prime minister, came in third.
In fourth place was US First Lady Laura Bush, followed by Senator Hillary Clinton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Another US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was in seventh place, trailed by Megawati, Arroyo and Hewlett-Packard chair and chief executive Carly Fiorina.
Forbes said it came up with the list by devising a power scorecard.
"For each candidate, we came up with a numerical weight defined by her title and resume, the size of the economic sphere in which she wields power ... and the number of global media mentions," the magazine said.
Among the other Asia-Pacific women in the list are Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia (14), New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark (43), Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga (44) and Myanmar opposition leader Ang San Suu Kyi (45).
Singapore's Ho, who runs state investment arm Temasek Holdings, was No. 24, reflecting her influence as manager of the city-state's multibillion-dollar global business empire.
Peng Peiyun, president of the All-China Women's Federation, was No. 47 on the list, while Xie Qihua, chairwoman and president of the Shanghai Baosteel Group (
Forbes said the list had made "a refreshing break from the conventional wisdom about women and power" by breaking the notion that women can only gain power by working behind the scenes and forging consensus.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was 21st on the list, while the UK's first lady, Cherie Blair, was number 12.
Queen Rania of Jordan was in 13th place, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 22nd place and television host Barbara Walters was in 25th place.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
RATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI
A new worry has been rippling across the stock market lately: Entire businesses, not just their employees, might be thrown out of work. While most economists say fears of an artificial intelligence (AI) job apocalypse are overblown, seismic shifts have happened in the past after big tech breakthroughs. The IT revolution of the 1990s led to a surge in productivity that sped up the US economy for several years. It also rendered companies or even industries largely redundant — from travel agents and stockbrokers to classified advertising and newspapers, or video rental stores. Economists expect AI would deliver higher productivity,
RSS