Russian woman to challenge ban on female train drivers

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Her appeal to drive metro trains was turned down by the Supreme Court, but 22-year-old Anna Klevets will challengeRussian lawthat prohibits womenfrom driving.

The Supreme Court Thursday rejected a St. Petersburg woman's appeal on the grounds that women cannot work with dangerous heavy equipment, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Klevets will now appeal to a St Petersburg court to challenge the working conditions on the city's metro and make it acceptable for women, newspaper Izvestia said, quoting lawyer Galina Yenyutina at the Centre for Social and Labour Rights.

"We need to create equal, safe working conditions, so that men as well as women can work in safety," she said.

Klevets applied to work as an assistant driver on the chandeliered underground system in Russia's second city, St Petersburg, last November. But she was turned down following the ban on women driving trains.

(Agencies)

Report: Nearly half of Indian women get married before 18

NEW DELHI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Nearly half of Indian women get married before reaching the age of 18, said a report by the local newspaper Times of India in its electronic edition Wednesday.

The report quoted a joint Indo-American study as saying in the international medical journal "Lancet" Tuesday that after surveying 22,807 Indian women aged from 20 to 24, the researchers have found that 44.5 percent of them got married before 18.

While India adopted a law banning child marriages in 1929, the "social ill" stays unabated after 80 years, said the report.

The researchers, who are from the Boston University School of Public Health, said economic and educational reforms in India "have failed to lower the prevalence of child marriages, fueling risks of multiple unwanted pregnancies, their termination and sterilization", according to the report.

The research also found that among those women who were surveyed, 22.6 percent got married before 16, while 2.6 percent were married before 13.

Young Chinese men go the "extra mile" in high heels for their girlfriends

BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- A survey at a leading
Chinese website on International Women's Day revealed that many young Chinese
men said they would wear high-heeled shoes - purely to experience their lovers'
aches and pains.

The survey, "Are you willing to wear high-heeled
shoes for her, for just one day?", attracted more than 3,000 netizens on
163.com,one of China's major websites.

Men run in high-heels, some
tumble. They said they would try high-heeled shoes for their wives, or
girlfriends, to show their love, respect and understanding.(Photo:
Guangzhou Daily)
Photo Gallery

They said they would try high-heeled shoes for their
wives, or girlfriends, to show their love, respect and understanding.

"I am worried whenever I see my wife wearing
high-heeled shoes, because it seems to hurt so much," a husband from Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China said.

However, another netizen from Guangxi said, "I prefer
praising her beauty instead of wearing shoes for her, for women like men's sweet
talk."

Men race in high-heels. They said they
would try high-heeled shoes for their wives, or girlfriends, to show their
love, respect and understanding.(Photo: Guangzhou Daily)
Photo Gallery

The idea came from an anti-domestic violence movement
started in the United States, called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a traditional
feminist event, the website said.

The website also investigated why Chinese women liked
wearing high-heeled shoes, and about 70,000 netizens commented.

Nearly 68 percent of women wore high-heeled shoes
before their 20s. About 70 percent wore shoes with heels higher than 5 cm, and
about 20 percent of women were asked to wear high-heeled shoes during work, the
survey showed.

"Of course, most women think they are beautiful after
wearing high -heeled shoes," the survey said. "It aches, but it is fun."

Also a survey by Hongniang.com, a dating website in
Zhejiang Province, said China's post-80s generation would enjoy accompanying
their lovers on Women's Day, as well as other important festivals for lovers,
such as Valentine's Day and Christmas Day.

The investigation, whose topic was marriage and love
affairs, had about 100,000 respondents commenting online and lasted from January
to March.

Some caring men would even cook for their lovers
after work, on their birthday, or Valentine's Day, surprising to them, the
survey said.