The World’s Most Powerful Women: June 7

THE BIG STORY

Rome is one step closer to its first female mayor

In an age of anti-establishment fervor in European politics, women look like they're becoming the ultimate anti-establishment brand. Yesterday, Virginia Raggi of the populist Five Star Movement won the first round of Rome's mayoral race. Raggi's win follows that of Ada Colau, the leftist mayor of Barcelona who took office last year, and Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris who became the first female to hold the office two years ago. The trend reminds me of what happened in the U.S. In the early 1990s, when more women ran for the Senate to challenge the traditionally mostly-male club during a similar era of anti-incumbent sentiment. True, Rome's Raggi still must prevail in a June 19 run-off election, but she has taken her weekend triumph to heart, saying,"The winds are changing."

Financial Times

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Merkel at No. 1

A list of the world's 100 most powerful women by Forbes puts Angela Merkel in the No. 1 slot for the sixth year in a row. Filling out the top five are Hillary Clinton, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, Melinda Gates and GM CEO Mary Barra.

Forbes

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Slovenians for Trump

Melania Trump's home country hosts a fan base for her husband, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. In Slovenia, members of the far-right support Donald Trump's anti-immigrant stance.

Politico

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Lacking tact in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to always make headlines for the wrong reasons. Last week, he was in the news after a former Miss Turkey was convicted of insulting him on Instagram. Now, he's said women without children are "lacking" and "incomplete." How tactless.

Coins2Day

ASIA-PACIFIC

Selling in Selfridges

Meet Chitose Abe, the Japanese designer praised by Karl Lagerfeld. Abe, whose interest in fashion began as a child when she made clothes for her dolls, now sells her lines in high-end outlets such as Selfridges and Net-A-Porter.

Telegraph

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The Pink Light Campaign

South Korea is taking caring for its pregnant women to a whole new level. The nation's second-largest city, Busan, is testing a wearable device for pregnant women on trains that lights up in pink to alert passengers that they should give up their seats to the expectant mothers. Not a bad idea.

New York Times

THE AMERICAS

A drop in female CEOs

As I mentioned in Monday's WMPW, the new Coins2Day 500 came out yesterday. This year's list has just 21 companies—4%—with female CEOs. That's down from 24 in both 2015 and 2014. On the list are Most Powerful Women honorees GM's Mary Barra, IBM's Ginni Rometty, and Pepsico's Indra Nooyi.

Coins2Day

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Hillary clinches it

She did it. Hillary Clinton has become the first woman to secure the nomination of a major political party, according to a survey of Democratic superdelegates by the Associated Press.

Time

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Joan Rivers's real passion

Turns out the comedian Joan Rivers, who always made me laugh out loud, was a passionate collector of Faberge pieces. If you're interested, 22 of her pieces will be auctioned at Christie's New York later this month, with a diamond and sapphire brooch going for an estimated $70,000 to $90,000.

Bloomberg

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IN BRIEF

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen says interest rates will rise "gradually"

Bloomberg

Ivanka Trump to pen book on being a working woman

Wall Street Journal

U.S. Court says Madonna's "Vogue" did not break copyright law

BBC

Elizabeth Banks won't direct "Pitch Perfect 3" due to "parental responsibilities"

Motto

What stay-at-home moms say they should be paid

Coins2Day

Army reserve officer who defended women's combat roles becomes Miss USA

CNN

PARTING WORDS

I've probably cried at work, but I'm limited with my crying; I'm the boss, I'm not really allowed to cry at work.

—designer Stella McCartney