World's Most Powerful Women

Angela Merkel, followed by Hillary Clinton

(NEWSER) - Want to get onto Forbes ’ annual 100 Most Powerful Women list? Better get yourself into one of these six categories, which is where all of this year’s candidates came from: billionaires, business, lifestyle, media, nonprofits, and politics. Candidates were ranked by money, traditional and social media influence, and their “reach” or power base. The top 10:

1. Angela Merkel: Chancellor of Germany
2. Hillary Clinton: Secretary of State, United States

The first lady beats Hillary Clinton ... and Lady Gaga and Beyonce

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is pretty powerful, but she’s still no Oprah Winfrey. The secretary of state does, however, wield more heft than Lady Gaga on Forbes ’ annual list of the world’s 100 most powerful women. This year's list still took wealth into account, but gave more weight to social and creative influence and media attention, the Independent reports. The top 10:

1. Michelle Obama
2. Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive of Kraft Foods
3. Oprah Winfrey
4. Angela Merkel, German chancellor
5. Hillary Clinton

Gallup poll includes Tiger Woods and his wife in top 10

(NEWSER) - Despite falling approval ratings, President Obama is the most admired man among Americans polled. He’s got “a very strong fan base,” says a pollster from Gallup, which conducted the survey with USA Today . Obama’s 30% of the vote, though partisan enough, is a blowout compared to the women’s contest, where Hillary Clinton’s 16% stake barely edged out Sarah Palin’s 15%. More»

Focus on appearance is dragging down both politics and journalism

(NEWSER) - Remarks like Tina Brown's recent crack on MSNBC that Hillary Clinton "needs to get back in the gym," are dragging public debate down to a high-school level, Chloe Angyal writes at SpliceToday. Nobody's looking too hard at the waistline of male politicians or diplomats, Angyal notes, but journalists—especially female ones—can't resist bitchy attacks on women's bodies and clothes. More»

Despite success of Clinton, Pelosi, drop likely in women office-holders

(NEWSER) - If Hillary Clinton is elected president next year, she could be deilvering her State of the Union before a dwindling number of women, the Journal reports. Many female governors and congresswomen face either tough re-election campaigns or term-limit boundaries in 2008, and after a surge in the early 1990s, the number of female office-holders could tumble. More»