ILO: Women in Europe 'better educated but paid less'

Women in Europe may be better educated or work harder than men, but they are paid substantially less, according to the International Labour Organization.

The gender pay gap in Europe ranges from about 100 euros (£79) to 700 euros per month, the ILO report suggested.

In the UK, women earn about 28% less than men on average, the UN body found.

In all the countries studied around the world, a proportion of the pay gap is unexplained, implying discrimination, it said.

"The actual gap varies from about 4% to 36% across all of the 38 countries we looked at," ILO economist Kristen Sobeck told the BBC World Service.

Discrimination?

In Europe in 2010, the bottom-earning 10% of women workers earned about 100 euros per month less than the bottom 10% of men.

And the top 10% of high-earning women earned close to 700 euros per month less than the top 10% of men.

The ILO looked at education, experience, seniority, work sector, location and work intensity. It found that in about half of the countries studied around the world women had a stronger or better combination of those characteristics, yet were paid substantially less than men.

"For example, in the case of Sweden, what we see is that the overall gap is about 4%, but when you look at the characteristics of women and what they would be paid otherwise, the gap would turn the other way, and women would actually earn about 12% more than men," Ms Sobeck said.

In the UK, about one-third of the pay gap can be explained by men having attributes such as more experience or more seniority, but there is still "a huge gap" that Ms Sobeck said could be due to discrimination.

The ILO recommended a number of ways to overcome the difference in pay between men and women, including wage policies and equality legislation.

Asian growth

China's fast rising wages lifted Asia's incomes above of the global average

The ILO's Global Wage Report also suggested the Asia-Pacific region outperformed the rest of the world when it came to wage growth.

Annual average incomes rose 6% in the region, compared to a global average growth of 2% in 2013.

But despite the big gains, wages in many countries in the region were still much lower than in developed economies.

Even though wages in Asia have risen almost two-and-a-half fold since the beginning of the century, the report said "one-third of the region's workers remain unable to lift themselves and their families above the international poverty threshold of $2 per day".

The impact of the global financial crisis on wage growth can also still be seen in the region.

The current wage growth trend of about 6% is still below growth rates of more than 7% in the pre-crisis years of 2006 and 2007.

But, that mirrored wage growth in much of the developed world with workers in rich economies such as the UK, Italy and Japan earning less than they did in 2007.

Asia's mixed bag

The region's growth in wages was also driven by China, which saw wages rise 9%, while income growth elsewhere was "much more modest".

For example, wage growth in East Asia was 7.1% last year thanks to China, compared with 5.3% in South-east Asia and 2.4% in South Asia, which includes the region's third largest economy, India.

There also continues to be a vast difference in earnings across the region.

On the lower end, workers in Nepal earned $73 (£47) a month, $119 in Pakistan, and $121 in Cambodia.

That compares to $3,694 in Singapore, $3,320 in Japan and $613 in China, according to the ILO.

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Sony Pictures' nightmare week: what now?

The launch of the new James Bond film - not the only thing Sony Pictures revealed this week

As the week draws to a close, many Sony Pictures employees will be left thinking: Thank heavens for James Bond.

For without the announcement of the new 007 film, this week would have been continuous misery for a company that has suffered one of the most damaging, not to mention embarrassing, security breaches in history.

To recap: We heard last month that Sony had been the victim of a cyberattack. Some employees were reportedly told to turn off their machines.

Some received a message from a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace (GOP).

"Hacked by #GOP" it read, showing even cyberattackers have a social media strategy.

The group warned that if its demands were not met, it would release a bevy of information from the company.

This week, they made good on that threat.

Unreleased films apparently leaked. Information on actors' salaries, too - as well as payroll data and social security numbers for more than 47,000 employees.

And not just any employees: personal details of celebrities including Sylvester Stallone.

In the courts

So what happens now?

Sean Sullivan, a security advisor with Finland-based F-Secure, says it's too late to do anything to contain the leaking.

Sony Pictures will just have to hope the worst is behind them - and move on to preparing for the fall out.

"The range of lawsuits that Sony could be facing is everything under the sun," he told me.

The upcoming remake of Annie, due for release this month, was reportedly leaked online

Most pressing is the payroll data, Mr Sullivan said. Reams and reams of information about employee salaries.

Those who have been able to pick through the data - such as US data privacy firm, Identity Finder - raise the possibility of gender discrimination lawsuits. Men and women, in the same jobs, earning different sums.

"If there was anyone looking to do a discrimination lawsuit, you typically, when standing in a court, have to have evidence of discrimination.

"Now [there could be] plenty of evidence."

Speaking to Buzzfeed, US lawyer Brian Strange said the leak of the data would be enough for current and former employees of the company to "file an action".

Sony Pictures has not yet commented on what lies ahead - but the Sony Corporation, the parent company, has found itself in this kind of situation before.

When its PlayStation Network was hacked in 2011, a class-action lawsuit from users resulted in the company settling by offering free content (i.e. games) and free assistance in monitoring whether users had suffered any credit card fraud.

Sony Pictures will take comfort in how the PlayStation Network, and its reputation, managed to recover.

Adam Sandler

Beyond the courts, Sony Pictures must now consider its reputation, said Mr Sullivan from F-Secure, who added that trust is hard to regain after such a massive breach.

"It has to be a huge blow to morale, a huge barrier to overcome now for anybody else wanting to do business with them.

Some Sony Pictures employees are not huge fans of Adam Sandler's films

"It's about relationships in Hollywood - that's got to be a bad blow for how they can make connections to folks and make deals.

"I would not expect them to have a good time for quite a while."

On the slightly lighter side, there have been some embarrassing leaks. A document detailing suggestions from staff of ways to improve the company contained many less-than-complimentary mentions of comedian and actor Adam Sandler.

"We continue to be saddled with the mundane, formulaic Adam Sandler films," noted one employee, as discovered by news site Gawker.

As well as being an actor, Mr Sandler runs his own studio - with Sony Pictures being the parent company. An awkward meeting with Sony Pictures executives awaits, you would assume.

Targeted executives

Earlier this week I spoke with Gert-Jan Schenk, president of McAfee for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

I asked him why he thought that, despite regular warnings from security firms and journalists, many companies still displayed indifference to threats.

He noted that while companies are, for the most part, expanding their information security budgets, it is not to the same level he thinks is required to give the protection needed in the modern, connected age.

Of course, as someone whose job is to sell security products, Mr Schenk has an interest in encouraging more security, but the Sony Pictures hack is perhaps the wake up call that pushes corporations the world over to invest more.

Pyongyang has not yet made an official comment on rumours it was involved - but experts think it's unlikely

Mr Sullivan agrees - suggesting that hackers, regardless of whether they pose a real threat, will be capitalising on the fear of executives.

He thinks some will target studio executives and claim that they have information.

"If a studio executive at Fox gets an extortion note, he's going to have to take it very seriously," he said.

"It's not just Sony Pictures having a bad day - there's also probably lots of fraudulent claims being foisted at executives all over Hollywood at this point."

Hollywood hacker

We know little about Spectre, the new Bond film.

But we do know that cast once again is Ben Whishaw who, in the previous 007 film, Skyfall, updated the role of Q from gadget maestro to hacking genius.

But his major contribution in the film is a blunder - his lapse in concentration means a malware infection, as villain Raoul Silva gains access to MI6's machines. Cue a fantastic visualisation of an infected network, and gasps of horror from Bond and friends.

At Sony Pictures, the horror at this hack is real.

And the drama surrounding it could be straight out of a Hollywood movie - such as the suggestion that North Korea, angry at an upcoming Sony film, was somehow involved.

F-Secure mostly dismisses that rumour, although Mr Sullivan admits that "nothing surprises" him anymore.

Regardless of who was responsible, the next 12 months will be an uneasy time for Sony Pictures.

If it weathers this monumental hacking storm, perhaps one day it'll make a film about it.

MORE INFO:http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30345227

Old laptop batteries could power slums, IBM says

About 400 million people in India are off grid, and use other sources to get power

Old laptop batteries still have enough life in them to power homes in slums, researchers have said.

An IBM study analysed a sample of discarded batteries and found 70% had enough power to keep an LED light on more than four hours a day for a year.

Researchers said using discarded batteries is cheaper than existing power options, and also helps deal with the mounting e-waste problem.

The concept was trialled in the Indian city of Bangalore this year.

The adapted power packs are expected to prove popular with street vendors, who are not on the electric grid, as well as poor families living in slums.

The research, which comes from IBM's India-based research team, will be discussed at a conference in San Jose, California, according toTechnology Review from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cheap

The IBM team created what they called an UrJar - a device that uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to power low-energy DC devices, such as a light.

The researchers are aiming to help the approximately 400 million people in India who are off grid.

The UrJar uses lithium-ion cells from the old batteries to power low-energy DC devices

Options such as solar power are considerably more expensive and logistically more cumbersome at the moment.

If the UrJar, which would last a year, is made in sufficiently large volume, researchers estimate the price per unit at just 600 rupees (about £7).

They conclude: "UrJar has the potential to channel e-waste towards the alleviation of energy poverty, thus simultaneously providing a sustainable solution for both problems."

Feedback from the trial was positive, the team said. Among the improvements suggested by users was a call for rat-resistant wires.

Urgent

E-waste is a major problem, particularly in the developing world, where the majority of the West's unwanted technology ends up.

IBM's research said 142,000 computers are thrown away in the US daily - around 50 million a year.

India's predicament is particularly urgent. Not only does the country receive a lot of e-waste from other countries, but with a booming IT market it is also generating huge amounts of its own - around 32 tonnes a day, according to one estimate.

Computer Aid, a UK-based charity that redistributes unwanted old technology, welcomed the initiative.

"We think that this is an excellent initiative as it is in line with our practice of reusing and refurbishing rather than recycling," said Keith Sonnet, its chief executive.

"Refurbishing has definitely a more positive impact on the environment and we should encourage more companies to adopt this practice."

Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC

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Apple's $1bn anti-competition trial might collapse

Only iPods purchased between September 2006 and March 2009 are part of the lawsuit

A court case against Apple, which could see the company facing damages of $1bn, might collapse.

Lawyers for Apple have raised a last-minute challenge saying new evidence suggested that the two women named as plaintiffs may not have purchased iPod models covered by the lawsuit.

The case is considering whether the hardware giant abused its dominant position in the digital music market.

The lawsuit covers iPods purchased between September 2006 and March 2009.

During that period Apple used software that meant only rights-protected music purchased from its iTunes store could be played on its devices.

Serial number

Lawyers representing both consumers and businesses claim that the restrictions meant Apple could inflate the prices of iPod in an anti-competitive manner. They are seeking $350m in damages, which could be tripled under US competition laws.

But after lead plaintiff Marianna Rosen testified on Wednesday, Apple lawyers checked the serial number on her iPod Touch and found it was purchased in July 2009.

The other main plaintiff, Melanie Wilson, also bought iPods outside the relevant timeframe, they indicated.

"I am concerned that I don't have a plaintiff. That's a problem," Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said at the end of the trial's third day of testimony in Oakland, California.

Lawyer Bonny Sweeny said that her team was checking for other receipts. She conceded that while Ms Wilson's iPod may not be covered, an estimated eight million consumers are believed to have purchased the affected devices.

The case has been rumbling on for years and offers a fascinating insight into the early days of the digital music business.

At the start of the millennium, the big record labels were terrified that illegal copying of digital music could ruin their businesses.

Rivals frustrated

To help placate them, Apple created digital rights management software known as FairPlay but early versions of it were easily cracked by music pirates.

The software also frustrated rivals such as RealNetworks, who found that music from its digital music store could not be played on iPods.

In response, RealNetworks announced a similar technology - Harmony - which allowed music purchased from the RealPlayer music store to be played on iPods.

It led Apple chief executive Steve Jobs to famously accuse the firm of adopting the "tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod".

By 2007 Apple's software had got more sophisticated and restrictive.

In the trial it emerged that, between 2007 and 2009, if an iPod owner tried to sync their device with iTunes and had music from another digital store on the device, they would receive an error message telling them to restore their iPod to factory settings. This effectively wiped all non-iTunes music from the device.

Apple maintained at the trial that the software and restrictions were necessary to protect users from malicious content and hackers.

If the case continues it will hear video testimony from Steve Jobs, filmed shortly before his death.

Judge Gonzalez Rogers is currently considering her options and has asked both sides to file written arguments as to how they think the trial should proceed.

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Clashes at Greek protests to mark police shooting

Protesters clashed with riot police on Saturday night

Clashes have erupted in the capital of Greece during protests marking six years since police shot dead an unarmed teenager.

At least 5,000 demonstrators marched in Athens on Saturday. Some attacked shops and hurled petrol bombs at riot police.

Police officers used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse protesters.

The demonstrators had been marking the anniversary of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos' death. He was shot by an officer who has since been jailed.

Mr Grigoropoulos' killing on 6 December 2008 sparked violent riots across Greece, with cars being set alight and shops looted in a number of cities.

Clashes have also broken out on previous anniversaries of his death.

On Saturday, anti-establishment protesters attacked banks and damaged shops and bus stops.

Petrol bombs were thrown at police, who responded with tear gas and water canon

Earlier on Saturday, thousands marched in a rally marking Alexis Grigoropoulos' death

At one point, demonstrators looted a clothes shop and set fire to the merchandise in the street, the Associated Press news agency reported.

According to Reuters, police said they detained close to 100 protesters.

Clashes primarily took place in Athen's Exarchia neighbourhood, but violence was also reported in Thessaloniki, in northern Greece.

No injuries were reported in either city.

Protesters have also been expressing support for Nikos Romanos, a friend of Mr Grigoropoulos who witnessed his death.

Romanos, 21, has been jailed for attempted bank robbery. He is currently on hunger strike, demanding study leave after he was accepted onto a university course.

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Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo calls for ban on diesel cars by 2020

The Eiffel Tower and other landmark buildings disappeared in fog in March

The mayor of Paris has called for diesel cars to be banned from the French capital by 2020 as part of plans to reduce pollution.

Anne Hidalgo told France's Journal du Dimanche newspaper she wanted only ultra low-emission vehicles on the capitals' main thoroughfares.

She also suggested more pedestrianised areas and a doubling of cycle lanes.

A partial car ban was imposed in March after the capital's air quality was found to be one of the worst on record.

Serious risk

"I want diesel cars out of Paris by 2020," Ms Hidalgo said in the interview published on Sunday (in French).

"Today 60% of Parisians already do not have cars, compared with 40% in 2001. Things are changing quickly."

Ms Hidalgo said she wanted to limit the traffic on some streets to "clean vehicles"

Her plans also include limits on the tourist buses that clog Paris streets, banning trucks from cutting through the city, and adding electric vans to the city's car-sharing scheme.

She said there was a serious public health risk in the capital, with Parisians living on average six or seven months less than people not exposed to the same levels of pollution.

The plans will be discussed by the city council on Tuesday.

The authorities have in the past banned vehicles from running on certain days

Some 84% of Paris residents see fighting pollution as a priority and 54% supported a diesel ban in the city by 2020, according a poll carried out for the Journal du Dimanche.

Research by the World Health Organization has shown that diesel engines, although more fuel efficient than petrol engines, produce more pollutants.

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A Jewish festival in a town without Jews

Of the 50,000 citizens in the Polish town of Kutno, not one is Jewish - yet it staged perhaps the most impressive concert of Jewish music I've ever heard.

The performers were all children from schools in the town, the youngest no more than six or seven.

They belted out old hits in Yiddish and Hebrew with a fluency and stage presence that few adult performers could match.

The concert was the finale of an ambitious festival of Jewish culture that the town has held since 1993.

So why does it happen? The short answer is that my great-grandfather was born there.

There's a long answer too, but we'll come on to that.

My great-grandfather, Sholem Asch, was born in Kutno in 1880 in a one-storey wooden house teeming with children, and a yard full of livestock that his father traded.

He moved to Warsaw, then Paris and New York, and became one of the most famous Jewish writers of the 1920s and 30s.

He left Kutno far behind, but the Jewish community he grew up in - with its beggars, traders, butchers, rabbis, prostitutes and assorted schemers and dreamers - all found a kind of immortality in his stories and plays.

That world was swept away in World War Two.

Kutno's experience was typical. In one day the entire Jewish community - 8,000 people - was marched at gunpoint to the grounds of a deserted factory at the edge of town.

They spent two years in filthy, overcrowded conditions, with many dying of disease, hunger and cold, before being murdered in gas vans atChelmno death camp.

A German soldier in Kutno during World War Two

When the war ended, Kutno, like so many other towns and cities across Poland, essentially started over again, learning to function without its Jewish tailors, shoemakers, lawyers and merchants.

A town with a hole at its heart.

Asch's play God Of Vengeance, set in a brothel in Poland, is being performed in Yiddish in Warsaw

Polish attitudes to the country's Jewish past are complex. There's plenty of lingering anti-Semitism, a kind of kitsch theme park nostalgia, pride in Poles who saved Jews during the war, and guilt about those who collaborated.

To complicate the picture further, there is a deep-rooted conviction that Poles themselves are victims of a turbulent history.

But even that's not the whole story.

Sholem Asch (left), with the Russian writer Maxim Gorky in Moscow in the 1920s

Something else has emerged in the last 20 years: a growing number of Poles who feel profound loss about the Jewish nation that vanished from their midst.

I came across some of them strolling in Warsaw's vast Jewish cemetery.

They were buying brightly-coloured memorial lanterns to place on graves of people they had no personal connection with, but wanted to honour and remember.

As I stood in front of the large mausoleum to Yitskhok Leybush Peretz, a giant of Yiddish literature, I noticed a glamorous young couple peering at it.

She had thigh-high leather boots, bright red lipstick, an elegant cape.

He had cheekbones to rival Rudolf Nureyev, a natty silk scarf and a trendy beret.

"Do you know who's buried here?" I asked.

"We're Polish - so of course we know about Peretz," they said. "We just can't read the Yiddish words on the tomb."

That deep respect for a vanished culture has also resulted in a world-class museum that's just opened in the heart of Warsaw's former Jewish quarter.

A beautiful shimmering glass structure, it tells the bittersweet story of the Jews' long love affair with Poland with clear-eyed honesty and real flair.

Those same feelings of curiosity, loss and kinship led a handful of people in Kutno to start up a Jewish festival as Poland emerged from communism in the early 1990s.

As private cafes and general stores began to open up, the town announced its first Sholem Asch Festival, a sign that Kutno was looking west, and engaging with European culture.

The town has come a long way since then.

A reconstruction of a wooden synagogue in the new museum

Its new business park is attracting American, German and Chinese companies, and provides jobs for 6,000 locals.

The Sholem Asch Festival has also come a long way. It includes a literary competition on a Jewish theme that attracts hundreds of entries from all over Poland.

There's a local Jewish dance band, theatre performances, and new translations of my great-grandfather's works into Polish.

Poland's rediscovery of its Jewish past started in Warsaw and Krakow, places where Jewish communities re-emerged as the war ended.

It's now spread far beyond the big cities and is growing year by year.

It might not be a mass movement, but as Kutno shows, it's more than just a token effort.

And in a world where bitter sectarian conflicts grab most of the headlines, a Jewish festival in a town with no Jews is surely something worth celebrating.

More from the Magazine

David Mazower remembers more of his family including his cousin Paul. The family patriarch had given all his 10 children an identical watch. Nine of the watches disappeared over time. But at the age of 20, Paul had torn the inner cover off his watch and hidden it inside a window sill in his home in the Polish city of Lodz, before he was deported. He returned as a liberated survivor, persuaded the new occupants of his home to let him in, and retrieved the sliver of metal from its hiding place

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