World

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Serbs and Kosovars Talk. But That Doesn't Mean They Like Each Other

BRUSSELS

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. And despite the recognition of 75 countries, including the U.S., its relations with Serbia are tense. Negotiators from both countries met for the first time in E.U.-brokered talks, in which the two sides discussed small-scale steps that could gradually normalize ties. More than a decade since NATO's intervention on behalf of Kosovars struggling against the forces of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, both countries harbor hopes of E.U. accession.

China's Military Gets a Raise

BEIJING

The rubber-stamp National People's Congress gathered in Beijing for its annual confab and granted the Chinese military a 12.7% increase in spending, bringing its yearly budget to $91.5 billion. With China's recent military maneuvers already worrying regional neighbors, the budget hike will give new ammunition to other Asian nations eager to up their defense spending. A survey by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that from 2000 to 2009, military expenditures in East Asia increased by 71%. Nations in the shadow of China's rise, including Vietnam, South Korea and Japan, have all embarked on ambitious military modernizations, with the threat of China clearly in mind.

Not What The Voters Had in Mind

IVORY COAST

Tensions escalated between loyalists of incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, who won a November election that Gbagbo has refused to recognize. Pro-Ouattara forces have seized whole towns, while Gbagbo's militiamen gunned down 11 protesters in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

For the First Time in Almost Five Decades, the White House Looks at the State of U.S. Women

WASHINGTON

The Obama Administration issued the first federal report since 1963 on the welfare of women in America. Among the findings: while more women than men now have college degrees, women still earn only 29% of total household incomes in the U.S.

Women are having children later ...

[The following text appears within 2 charts. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual charts.]

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN GIVING BIRTH FOR THE FIRST TIME AT AGE 30 OR OLDER

1970 4%

2007 22%

... and men and women are marrying later.

AVERAGE AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE

1970 20.8

2010 26.1

1970 23.2

2010 28.2

More women than men are enrolled in college ...

WOMEN 57%

MEN 43%

2008 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

... and women are less likely to be unemployed ...

DEC. '07 12% 8%

DEC. '10 4%

... but a pay gap persists.

75% PERCENTAGE OF MEN'S SALARIES THAT WOMEN EARNED IN 2009

SOURCE: WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON WOMEN AND GIRLS