• 20 Women Win Tourism Scholarships. [Techtree.com, India] MasterCard Worldwide and U21Global have announced the inaugural cohort of the first, annual MasterCard Worldwide-U21Global Scholarship Program for Women in Travel and Tourism in the Asia Pacific region. Twenty women from around-the-region have been offered a full scholarship for the U21Global Diploma in Tourism and Travel Management.

Australia

• Women 'Under-Represented' in Boardrooms. [Ninemsn, Australia] Australia's top companies have made little progress getting women into the boardroom. The 2006 Australian Census of Women in Leadership, conducted by the Federal Government's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), shows there has been only incremental improvement in the number of women board directors since the census was first conducted in 2002. The number of women executive managers in the ASX 200 has increased slightly to 12% from 11.4% in 2004. That gain has been amplified though as the overall size of management teams shrink, EOWA said.

• More Women Entering Mining Workforce. [ABC Online, Australia] The resources boom has led to a more women enter the mining workforce across Australia. More than 3,500 women have started work on mine sites over the past three years and now make up 18% of the workforce. The trend will have to continue to make up for a severe shortage of workers.

• Indigenous Women Living Longer. [ABC Online, Australia] The Northern Territory's Health Department says recent figures show there has been a significant improvement in the life expectancy of Indigenous women and children. The department's Steve Guthridge says the life expectancy of an Aboriginal woman has jumped from 65 years in 2000 to 68 in 2003. He says it coincides with increased access to primary health care over the past decade.

• Leg Scratch 'Controls' Women's Loo Call. [Ninemsn, Australia] Women trying to control the sudden and seemingly irrepressible urge to get to the bathroom need only to vigorously scratch the back of their leg. This unusual suggestion put forward by a Victorian physiotherapist claims to cure the short-term battle many women face trying to hold on when their bladders are bursting. About one in three Australian women who have had a baby report poor bladder control.

• Women 'Prefer Tech to Diamonds'. [Daily Telegraph, Australia] Diamonds are no longer a girl's best friend, according to a new US study that found three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace. The survey, commissioned by US cable television's Oxygen Network, which is owned and operated by women, found the technology gender gap has virtually closed with the majority of women snapping up new technology and using it easily.

• Women's Sport 'Wins in Media Changes'. [NEWS.com.au] The Federal Government's changes to media regulation will bring more women's sport to free to air television, the ABC says. In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry looking into women in sport, the national broadcaster says it plans to use digital channel ABC2 as a platform for more female sport on television. The Government's changes are expected to pass Parliament this year.

• Does Women's Sport Get a Fair Go? [Sydney Morning Herald] Netballer Liz Ellis, one of Australian sport's most recognisable female faces, has told a senate inquiry into women's sport that her struggle to combine work, a marriage and sport nearly drove her to an emotional breakdown. Ellis told the inquiry that there were 3000 full-time jobs for men as professional sportsmen, but none for sportswomen.

• Basketballers Help Defence Recruit Women. [The Age, Australia] The Defence Force wants to recruit healthy young women who love basketball under a $300,000 plan to boost sagging numbers. In a deal to be announced on Tuesday, the national basketball team - Olympic silver medal-winning Opals - and the eight Women's National Basketball League teams will take to the court wearing singlets promoting defence jobs, Fairfax newspapers report.

• Female Prisoners to Keep Parks Clean. [ABC Regional Online, Australia] Bowen's Mayor has welcomed the State Government's decision to establish a low security female prison work camp in the shire. Mike Brunker says the announcement is great news for the community as the prisoners will be cleaning the town's parks and streets. Councillor Brunker says the streets and parks will be cleaner than they have ever been and it is a low risk program.

• Female Australian Soldier Serious After Attack. [NEWS.com.au, Australia] A female Australian soldier is in a serious condition in hospital after a rocket attack wounded four Diggers in Baghdad. The young woman, Corporal Signaller S. Webster, sustained internal bruising and head cuts when a 122mm rocket landed close to an Australian accommodation block inside the international or green zone.

• Call for Women's Honour Roll. [Daily Telegraph, Australia] They might have won Olympic gold, scaled the world's tallest mountains, or are leaders in otherwise male-dominated fields. Victoria wants to find out who its outstanding women are for inclusion on the Victorian Honour Role of Women. An impressive line-up of women already inscribed on the roll called today for nominations for the 2007 intake.

• Women 'Must Ignore' Glass Ceiling. [The Australian] Women can break through the glass ceiling by refusing to acknowledge its existence, one of Australia's most prominent businesswoman said. Qantas chair Margaret Jackson was the first woman appointed to chair a top 100 Australian company. She also sits on the board of ANZ Bank and Billabong surfwear.

• Rural Women's Isolation a Key Topic in Youth Survey. [ABC Online, Australia] The isolation of women has emerged as a big issue in a national survey of youth in rural Australia this week. Workshops are being held in five states as part of the Year of the Outback, to identify key issues and find some answers. Coordinator Fiona Campbell-Maybury, says women want some kind of network to help them get access to resources.

• Women's Centre to be Revamped. [ABC Online, Australia] A meeting place for women and their children at a remote Aboriginal community will receive a much-needed overhaul. A State Government grant of about $120,000 will go towards upgrading the Jarlmadangah Women's Centre. The centre's Martina Watson says the facility is crucial in assisting with the cultural and social wellbeing of Jarlmadangah's 100 residents.

• Chinese Media Hail Women's Asian Cup Victory. [EastDay.com] Chinese newspapers devoted full-pages to hail China's long-awaited victory in the women's Asian Cup today after the "Steel Roses" grabbed their 8th Asian title following a 7-year drought Sunday in Adelaide, Australia. The Chinese women's soccer team overcame hosts Australia 4-2 in penalty shootout after China came back from behind to level the score at 2-2 in regular time.

• ISF Women Fast Pitch Worlds to Take Place in Beijing. [People's Daily Online, China] The International SoftBall Federation Women Fast Pitch World Championship, the first test event for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, is to take place here. There are a total of 16 teams to attend the Championship, which are divided into two Pools. China, the host team, is to play in Pool A along with United States, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, DPR Korea and Britain.

• Chinese Women Lead in World Military Pentathlon Championship. [Xinhua] China's Tian Linna and Tian Jing respectively captured the first place in the events of women's obstacle running and shooting in the 53rd World Championship Military Pentathlon in Vienna New City. Tian Linna, the world record holder of women's 500 meters obstacle running, clocked a fastest time of 2 minutes and 16.7 seconds.

• Recent Successes for China's Women. [Guardian Unlimited, UK] A list of achievements by Chinese women tennis players in the last two years.

• Man Annoys Female. [Fiji Times, Fiji] A company supervisor was given a suspended sentence of 12 months jail after pleading guilty to showing his private parts to a female. Vijay Kumar, 29, of Navua appeared in the Suva Court before Magistrate Aruna Prasad charged with indecently annoying a female.

• Lau Talks Business at Women's Conference. [Bizjournals.com] Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. President and CEO Constance Lau represented Hawaii's business community Tuesday at Gov. Linda Lingle's Third Annual International Women's Leadership Conference in Waikiki. Lau was one of nine speakers at the daylong conference at the Sheraton Waikiki that drew 700 participants -- most of them women. Lau, who is also the chairman, president and CEO of American Savings Bank and chairman of the board of Hawaiian Electric Co., spoke about her career first at Hawaiian Electric Co., and later how she was able to turn American Savings Bank from a savings and loan into Hawaii's third-largest bank by having a vision of what the bank should be.

• Baby Badges Help Pregnant Women get to Work. [Reuters.uk] Tokyo rail companies are providing pregnant women with badges in the hope of prompting other passengers on the capital's crowded trains to offer them seats. The pink and blue badges reading: "There is a baby in my belly" are being handed out at stations around the region to try to make commuting and other train journeys easier for pregnant women, who are often left standing. No proof of pregnancy is required.

• Waseda University Appoints Its First Female Dean. [Asahi Shimbun, Japan] The winds of change are sweeping through one of Tokyo's top academic institutions: for the first time in its history, Waseda University has a female dean. It is the first time that a woman has assumed a top post at the prestigious private university, which was set up in 1882 by Shigenobu Okuma, who was later to become prime minister. It will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year.

• Insurers Scour the Streets to Fill Female Sales Ranks. [The Japan Times] A couple approach a young woman on a Tokyo street and ask her if she is interested in pursuing a new career. This is not an attempt to recruit a young girl for a seedy modeling job, but a major life insurance company trying to find a saleswoman. Big name firms are out looking for new employees on the street because they are under pressure to stem the declining numbers of "seiho ladies."

• Female Band Hopes North Korean Pop Stylings Will Win Fame in South. [Voice of America] An all-girl group of musical hopefuls in Seoul like to teach the world to sing - North Korean style. They call themselves "Dallae" - naming their band after a sweet berry plant that Koreans of North and South harvest in the springtime. As trained musicians and dancers back in the North, they did not suffer the severe hunger and deprivation that drives thousands to leave their country.

• First Female Judge Nominated By President. [All Headline News] President Roh Moo-hyun has nominated the first female judge for the post of chief justice of the country's Constitutional Court. If cleared by parliament, Chon Hyo-suk will head a nine-member top court. A ruling-party lawmaker also became the country's first female prime minister last May. The developments signal the future of better political representation for women in a South Korea predominantly ruled by men.

• Koreans Forced into Brothels, U.S. Says. [International Herald Tribune] Law enforcement officials announced the arrest of 31 people involved in running an international prostitution ring that operated a Korean-owned brothel network in the Northeast U.S. Officials said that they also took 67 young South Korean women into protective custody, all of whom they believe were brought to the U.S. illegally and forced to work as prostitutes, victims of human trafficking.

• Korean Women Beat Poland. [Korea Times, South Korea] The winless Korean women’s volleyball team took their first win in Week 2’s preliminary match of Pool E at the World Grand Prix in Seoul, beating Poland 3-2. Facing Poland, who rates ninth in the world, Korea lost the first set but Han Song-yi and Na Hye-won led Korea in its rallying effort for a 3-2 victory. Korea, 1-5 in matches, will play against Russia, the United States and Thailand next week in Thailand.

• Chief Judge Spells Out Way to Promote and Guard Women’s Rights. [Malaysia Star, Malaysia] Women’s rights must be promoted and protected through machinery consisting of structures, mechanisms and strategies that aim to achieve equality for women, according to Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob. She said women should have equality as participants, decision makers and beneficiaries in the political, civil, social and economic, and cultural spheres of life.  “The approach of the machinery is premised upon a basic principle of gender mainstreaming, namely that ‘women’s issues’ are everyone’s issues and that no real development can take place without attention to gender,” she said.

• Bangla Gigolo Blackmails Female Executive. [Malaysia Star] An executive was forced to pay RM1,000 a month to a Bangladeshi gigolo over the last one year to keep the man from making public their affair and intimate photographs, reports Metro Ahad. Foreign Workers Service and Counselling Centre (PPKPA) managing director Ismail Haider said such cases usually involved women in their 30s and 40s, who had money and were lonely.

• Quartet Blaze Way for Female Counterparts. [Malaysia Star, Malaysia] Four Iranian girls who will participate in taolu competitions in the World Junior Wushu Championships are certainly blazing a trail for their counterparts back home. They are trained by female coach Amane Ehsaninezhaad, a former exponent who specialised in daoshu (broadsword) and qiangshu (spear).

• Arts & Culture: Mini Bonsai Winning Female Fans. [Sin Chew Daily, Malaysia] Bonsai was once a hobby for elderly men. But that image has changed in recent years, with a new type of bonsai winning fans among women. A mini-bonsai workshop in Tokyo, in which Yamada served as an instructor, proved bonsai was increasingly popular among women. About 100 people turned up to learn how to make kokedama bonsai, a kind of mini-bonsai whose roots are covered by moss.

• Female Teachers Have Important Roles. [Gorkhapatra, Nepal] It is very encouraging that the Nepal government recognizes the importance of female teachers in increasing student enrollment in formal education. In this context, Minister for Education and Sports Dr. Mangal Siddhi Manandhar recently announced that the government was adding 3,000 more female teachers in Primary Level.

• Nepal, India Urged to Fight Trafficking in Women. [Reuters.uk, UK] Nepal and India need to step up efforts to fight trafficking of Nepali women and children for sex and include the crime in a future extradition pact. Thousands of poor and illiterate Nepali women, who are increasingly lured by pimps with false promises of finding jobs in India, are forced to work as sex workers there. "Nepal should work with India to include trafficking as one of the offences in their extradition treaty.".

• Politics In Women’s Festival. [United We Blog, Nepal] Each year married, unmarried and widowed women travel to their natal homes to take part in a ritual that is growing increasingly controversial. Teej has functioned, not only as an important ritual for Hindu women, but as a site of critical social commentary for dozens of years.

Philippines

• Philippines National Police (PNP) Now Has 1st Female General. [Sun.Star, Philippines] PNP Chief Oscar Calderon said the promotion of Tanigue to star-rank manifests the responsiveness of the National Government as well as the PNP leadership to promote gender equality in the police service where almost 9% of personnel are female. Tanigue is the first female officer to become police general in the PNP's 15-year history.

• Female Activist Shot Dead. [Sun.Star, Philippines] A woman militant was killed by unidentified men in Nueva Ecija. The murder of Julie Velasquez, an officer of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in Nueva Ecija brings to 728 the number of activists killed under the Arroyo administration, according to a radio station dzMM report. The radio report said the victim was visiting a friend in Guimba when gunmen shot Velasquez 15 times, killing her instantly.

• Exam Fraud Taints Philippine Nurses. [International Herald Tribune] After disclosures that questions for the Philippines' nursing board examinations were leaked to hundreds of applicants, officials and industry experts warn that the country's status as one of the top sources in the world for nurses could be threatened. The Philippines' Professional Regulation Commission has confirmed that questions in the board exams had been provided in advance to hundreds of examinees.  

• Samoa Women Chosen for World Cup. [Planet Rugby, UK] Samoa's women will be taking part in the Women's Rugby World Cup when they set off for Edmonton in Canada later this month. There is a good deal of experience in the team. Of this side 12 were at the 2002 Women's' World Cup in Barcelona and 23 play in New Zealand. Potentially the star player us Lanuola Keil who is based in the USA.

• US Women to Play Taiwan in Exhibition. [ESPN] The U.S. women's soccer team will play Taiwan in an exhibition game on Oct. 1 at Carson, Calif., as it prepares for qualifying for next year's World Cup. The game was announced Thursday by the U.S. Soccer Federation. It follows exhibition matches against China (Aug. 27 at Bridgeview, Ill.) and Mexico (Sept. 13 at Rochester, N.Y.).

• National Women's Forum Under Way. [People's Daily Online, China] The first-ever National Women's Forum in Vanuatu is under way with 100 delegates spending this week mapping out an action plan for women's development to 2011, the Suva-based regional news agency Pacnews reported. According to Pacnews, Minister of Justice and Social Welfare Isabelle Donald Sikawonuta, who is also one of the two female MPs in Vanuatu's 52-member parliament, said it is an historic occasion because it is the first time so many women will work together to develop policies for the advancement of women of Vanuatu.