Good morning, WMPW readers! The former speaker of Greece’s parliament is starting her own political party, a girl in Afghanistan is braving the odds to lead an orchestra, and corporate boards in India are getting more women, albeit gradually. Want to share some news on a powerful woman? Get in touch, at: laura.cohn@gmail.com or @laurascohn. Have a fabulous Wednesday!
THE BIG STORY
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
| Unpopular prosecution |
| The popularity ratings of German Chancellor Angela Merkel are sinking now that she's allowed authorities to prosecute a German satirist for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. |
| Zeit |
| . |
| Finding freedom in music |
| Negin Ekhpulwak, an Afghan teenager, is fearlessly leading the Zohra orchestra, a group of 35 women at the Afghanistan National Institute for Music. Ekhpulwak, who faces family hostility and threats for performing, says she will never "accept defeat." Playing music was banned when the Taliban ruled the country, and some still frown on it. Talk about girl power. |
| Huffington Post |
ASIA-PACIFIC
| Middle Kingdom Makeup |
| Kate Morris, owner of online beauty retailer Adore Beauty of Australia, is taking her business to China. Morris started her business with a $9,000 loan from her boyfriend's father and has recently received a cash infusion from the Australian supermarket Woolworths. |
| Mashable |
| . |
| Inroads in India |
| A new study shows that female representation on the boards of India's top 100 listed companies is rising, albeit gradually. Last year, an estimated 12% of corporate board seats were held by women. The figure is up from just 5.8% in 2012. Behind the jump: the country's "Company Act," which requires boards to have a least one woman. |
| Business Standard |
THE AMERICAS
| Overcoming obstacles |
| How Teliana Pereira overcame humble beginnings to become Brazil's highest-ranked female tennis player. |
| New York Times |
| . |
| Sales fizzle |
| PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, whose company just reported another drop in quarterly revenue, said most developed countries outside the U.S. are "grappling with slow growth." Nooyi, one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women, also said certain parts of the world were suffering from high inflation, which crimps consumption. |
| Fortune |
| . |
| Yes to Yahoo |
| The bidding deadline has passed and it looks like Yahoo, whose CEO Marissa Mayer has been working on turning around the company, has a number of suitors. Interested parties include Verizon, private equity firm TPG, and YP Holdings. Mayer is another one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women. |
| Bloomberg |
IN BRIEF
| Hillary Clinton trumps Bernie Sanders in New York's primary election |
| Fortune |
| Nearly none of the CEOs hired last year were women |
| Money |
| A generation after Anita Hill, Fortune interviews Jenny Yang, head of the U.S.'s workplace watchdog |
| Fortune |
| U.S. Treasury had planned to put Susan B. Anthony on $10 bill |
| Wall Street Journal |
| Africa's GTBank launches program to give Nigerian female entrepreneurs $15,000 prize |
| Financial Watch |
| Women in Japan and the U.S. work longer hours than their counterparts in Europe |
| Business Insider UK |
| Queen Rania of Jordan to visit refugee camp in Greece |
| ekathimerini |
PARTING WORDS
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| —Dipa Karmakar, who just became the first female Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympics |
