The World's Most Powerful Women

Elizabeth MacDonald and Chana R. Schoenberger 08.30.07, 6:00 PM ET

For the second year in a row, Angela Merkel, the first woman to become chancellor of Germany, ranks No. 1 on our list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She continued to impress the world with her cool leadership at two back-to-back summits. First, she stuck to her principles, getting G-8 leaders to agree to significant cuts in carbon emissions, among other things. Merkel later corralled European Union countries into an agreement on a treaty to replace the E.U. constitution.
Meanwhile, China's vice premier, Wu Yi (No. 2), continues to help lead a government that oversees an economy whose gross domestic product may soon eclipse Germany's, making it the third-biggest economy in the world. Wu recently stared down U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson when he made myriad demands, including a revaluation of the yuan, in recent strategic economic talks with the U.S.
But China faces enormous challenges in improving its rickety social, legal and economic infrastructure, which now has to contend with an overheated stock market, unsafe and shoddy products and severe pollution.
While there have been plenty of hand-wringing studies arguing that the corporate glass ceiling for women has turned into concrete, we had no difficulty turning up 66 business executives worthy of inclusion on the list. The remaining 34 are mostly in government.
If women aren't being stopped by any ceiling, it still can be argued that they have a tough go on the way to the top. Catalyst, a New York City firm that tracks the progress of women in corporate management positions, reports that women's hold on senior management jobs in the U.S. has stayed essentially flat over the past four years. They account for 15.6% of 10,145 corporate officer positions (chief financial officer, chief information officer or higher) in the 500 largest U.S. corporations.
Our ranking system starts with a list of women who have crossed certain thresholds. Most of them run companies, governments or nonprofits, or are very close to the top. A handful have established power bases in other ways (an entertainment entrepreneur, a judge and an author have been on the list). The power ranking score is based on a composite of visibility (measured by press citations) and economic impact.
The latter, in turn, reflects three things: résumé (career achievements and titles, so a prime minister counts as more powerful than a senator); the size of the economic sphere over which a leader holds sway; and a multiplier that aims to make different financial yardsticks comparable. For example, a chief executive is assigned the company's sales in the economic impact calculation, while a foundation executive is assigned the foundation's assets. The assets get a higher multiplier than sales

Jim Carrey: Help Aung San Suu Kyi

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jim Carrey has made a straight-to-YouTube video. And it's not funny at all.

The 45-year-old actor-comedian -- in rare serious mode -- appears in a new public service announcement on behalf of the Human Rights Action Center and the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The goal: To free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been confined by the government of Myanmar for 11 of the last 17 years.
"Even though she's compared to a modern-day Gandhi or Nelson Mandela, most people in America still don't know about Aung San," Carrey says in the filmed message, posted Tuesday on YouTube.
"And let's face it: the name's a little difficult to remember. Here's how I did it: Aung San sounds a lot like `unsung,' as in unsung hero. Aung San Suu Kyi is truly an unsung hero."

Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent efforts to bring down the oppressive military regime that rules over the Southeast Asian country. She is under long-term house arrest in the city of Yangon.

The regime, led by General Than Shwe, has destroyed more than 3,000 villages in eastern Myanmar, formerly called Burma. More than 1.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes, and the regime has recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world, Carrey says in his spot.
"People around the world need to come to her aid, just as they supported Mandela when he was locked up," said Jeremy Woodrum, co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, in a statement Tuesday.

Source: cnn.com

Brangelina Grab 'Dogs, Hit Benefit in NY

Hot dogs from a Times Square street vendor? Helicopter to a Hurricane Katrina benefit in the Hamptons? All part of Brangelina's whirlwind New York weekend.
Megastars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were spotted Friday with kids Maddox, Zahara and Pax shopping at Lee's Art Shop in midtown Manhattan. Baby Shiloh was not there.
According to the New York Post, the family then headed toward Times Square, where Pitt ordered five hot dogs from a street vendor, three with ketchup and mustard, two with just ketchup.
"I didn't know who he was," said vendor Mahmoud Omer, who added that Pitt wanted relish but he didn't have any.
The "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" stars enjoyed a culinary upgrade Saturday when they attended a fundraiser at the home of Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff in Watermill, N.Y.
The Daily News reported that Pitt and Jolie left the kids with nannies and helicoptered to the Hamptons for the event, where they were joined by model Christie Brinkley, actress Ellen Barkin and beach balladeer Jimmy Buffett. The dinner was a benefit for Pitt's Make it Right project, which is focused on rebuilding New Orleans' Ninth Ward with environmentally friendly homes.
Yahoo entertainment

"Superbad" leads box office past $4 billion

Comedy "Superbad" proved to be super good at North American box offices, holding onto the No. 1 slot for the second straight weekend and pushing summer ticket sales above $4 billion for the first time ever, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
"Superbad" grossed $18 million over the weekend giving it a 10-day total of $68.6 million and making it one of the top comedies of the summer.
"The response to 'Superbad' has been no less than incredible," said Rory Bruer, president of distribution for Sony Pictures, the film's distributor.
The movie, which cost about $20 million to make, follows the antics of two high school friends on their quest for girls and booze.
This year's Hollywood summer season, which runs the first weekend of May through the September 3 Labor Day holiday in the United States, already has set a record in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales.
With one weekend to go, the current $4.003 billion in domestic ticket sales has topped 2004's record $3.95 billion, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.
Meanwhile, action-thriller "The Bourne Ultimatum" climbed one place and grabbed the No. 2 slot with an estimated weekend gross of $12.4 million in its fourth week of release. The Universal Pictures release, the latest installment in the Jason Bourne espionage series, has grossed a total of $185.1 million.
"Rush Hour 3," starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as two hapless cops, came in third with $12.3 million for New Line Cinema.
Late August is a slow period for new releases and none of the movies opening this weekend were expected to be hits.
Two new movies -- Universal's "Mr. Bean's Holiday" and Lionsgate's "War," -- rounded out the top five with grosses of $10.1 and $10 million, respectively.
"Mr. Bean's Holiday," a film that follows the misadventures of oddball British character Mr. Bean in France, already has been an international hit with $189.3 million, excluding U.S. and Canadian sales, according to Media by Numbers, a Web site that tracks box office figures.
Sony Pictures is a unit of Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp. Universal Pictures is part of the NBC Universal media wing of General Electric Co. New Line Cinema is part of Time Warner Inc, and Lionsgate is a public company.