Fortune just released its 2016 Most Powerful Women International list. You can check it out here.
This year’s list has a fresh look since it’s one ranking of businesswomen outside the United States, rather than two lists divided into separate regions—EMEA and Asia Pacific. That change has reshuffled the ranks for these impressive execs and identified a single No. 1—Ana Botín, group executive chairman of Banco Santander. She leads the Eurozone’s largest bank by market value that managed to eke out a small growth in profit last year even amid volatile times.
The list also boasts some noteworthy newcomers, including recently-appointed CEOs Alison Brittain of U.K. conglomerate Whitbread, and Anne Richards of M&G Investments.
The geographic diversity of the honorees spans 19 countries, though almost half come from England and China.
You’ll notice that despite landing on this list, few of the executives had an easy year as sluggish growth, the slowdown in China, geopolitical upheaval, and a strong U.S. dollar tested their leadership.
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
| . |
| Upset city |
| Czech tennis star Karolina Pliskova stunned the sports world on Thursday by upsetting No. 1 Serena Williams in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open. Pliskova's victory puts her in a Grand Slam title match for the first time and makes her the first Czech woman to reach the U.S. Open final since Helena Sukova in 1993. |
| Sports Illustrated |
THE AMERICAS
| Speed bumps |
| GM's Mary Barra, No. 1 on Fortune's U.S. MPW list this year, has steered the carmaker through its ignition scandal and delivered undeniably stellar earnings. If only the company's stock price would respond in kind. |
| Fortune |
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| Getting a word in |
| TV anchor Matt Lauer cut Hillary Clinton off Wednesday night as she tried to answer a question at a town hall, prompting commenters to call out Lauer for 'manterrupting' and accuse him of a sexist interview approach. |
| Fortune |
| . |
| Looking like a president |
| After that same town hall, Republican chair Reince Priebus criticized Clinton for having "no smile" during her interview, echoing Donald Trump's earlier comments that Clinton lacks a "presidential look." Those remarks prompted opinion columnist Alexandra Petri to advise Clinton on how to achieve the "look" of each U.S. president going back to George Washington, and her pointers are pure gold. |
| Washington Post |
ASIA-PACIFIC
| A new era |
| A former TV host who goes by the single name Renho is in the running to be the new leader of Japan's main opposition party. A victory for her could usher in a new era for the Democratic Party, which lost badly in the election in the upper house in July and is still tied to the fumbled response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. |
| Economist |
| . |
| A model with a message |
| Reshma Qureshi went viral last year after posting a video advocating for an end to the rampant sale of acid in India. The 19-year-old who was disfigured in an acid attack in 2014 took her message to New York Fashion Week on Thursday when she walked in designer Archana Kochhar's show. |
| Cosmopolitan |
IN BRIEF
| Sarah Storey becomes most decorated British female Paralympian of all time |
| Guardian |
| See Michelle Obama on the cover of InStyle and Essence |
| New York Magazine |
| Hillary Clinton loves reading Elena Ferrante |
| Entertainment Weekly |
| Angelina Jolie makes a surprise appearance at the UN peacekeeping summit |
| Guardian |
PARTING WORDS
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| —GM CEO Mary Barra talking with Fortune about changing her company's culture. |