The World’s Most Powerful Women: April 27

By Laura Cohn

Good morning, WMPW readers! A new study shows more companies in Europe are putting women on their boards, India is trying to make women feel safer, and New York has a new media maven. Want to share some buzz on a remarkable woman? Get in touch, at: laura.cohn@gmail.com or @laurascohn. Happy Wednesday!

THE BIG STORY

All hail Norway

A new study tracking the presence of women on the boards of Europe's 600 largest companies has some good news. Over the last five years, the percentage of women on boards at big firms in Europe has nearly doubled—to 25% from 13.9%. The study, conducted by Brussels non-profit European Women on Boards, says the jump is due to firms adding non-executive female directors. So which countries' boards have the highest percentage of women? Norway garnered the No. 1 slot with 38.7%; followed by Sweden (34.6%), France (34.4%), Finland (31.6%), Belgium (27%), and Denmark (26.5%).

European Women on Boards

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Recovering from terror

Beatrice Delvaux, the editor of Belgian newspaper Le Soir, reached out to Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany to help Belgium cope with the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks. She pled with France to help stop the Francophone jihadists. "It is not that the situation is hopeless," she wrote, in the Spanish newspaper El Pais. "It is that we need you."

El Pais

Borrowing from the Iron Lady?

Nicola Sturgeon, head of the Scottish regional government, is running a billboard campaign that her opponents have blasted as too similar to one used by Margaret Thatcher. Sturgeon's ad says: "Don't just hope for a better Scotland, vote for one." Thatcher's, from 1979, said: "Don't just hope for a better life. Vote for one." Sturgeon has chalked the criticism up to the Labour party's desperation.

Telegraph

Still riding in cars with boys

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia said he wants to increase female participation in the workforce to 30% from 22%. On the issue of allowing women to drive, he did not close the door completely but said: “We hope that there would be positive changes in [the] future in this respect.”

Al Arabiya

ASIA-PACIFIC

Panic button protocol

In a victory for Maneka Gandhi, India's minister for women and child development, mobile phones in India will be required to have a panic button next year. The move comes as officials face pressure to make the country a safer place for women.

Bloomberg

Buying a bridesmaid

A new business has sprung up in China: the rent-a-bridesmaid service. To me, it sounds like a plot line for another Wedding Crashers movie. But in China, where bridesmaids have to be single, the practice has become trendy among the country's new rich, who want to emulate Western wedding customs. If the bride and groom are older, they can have trouble finding unmarried friends for their wedding party.

Financial Times

Driven by women

Tata, India's biggest car company, is shifting its focus to women by putting advertorials in lifestyle magazines. It is also partnering with the Cartoon Network's popular "Ben 10" character in an effort to target mothers, and it's considering hiring women instructors to teach female customers how to drive.

Business Standard

THE AMERICAS

Cabinet of women

Democrat Hillary Clinton, who won four more primaries this week, has said that if she wins the U.S. presidential race, half of her Cabinet will be made up of women. "Well, I am going to have a Cabinet that looks like America, and 50 percent of America is women," she said. I wonder who she'll put in her old job at the State Department.

The Hill

Media maven

Pamela Wasserstein, whose family owns New York magazine, will take on the role of chief executive of New York Media, the parent company of the publication. With ad sales declining, Wasserstein faces a challenging time for the industry, but she seems to be keeping an open mind. "Any media company is a laboratory right now," she said.

New York Times