The World’s Most Powerful Women: July 20

The Sun, Britain’s No. 1-selling tabloid, published a column this week in which it questioned why Channel 4 News had a female anchor wearing a hijab reporting on the recent terrorist attack in Nice.

In the column, former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie wrote: “Was it appropriate for her to be on camera when there had been yet another shocking slaughter by a Muslim?” The TV station said the comments about Fatima Manji, an award-winning journalist, were “arguably tantamount to inciting religious and even racial hatred.” The National Union of Journalists also rushed to her defense, and more than 1,400 complaints were filed with the Independent Press Standards Organization.

Clearly, the Sun realized its mistake. It deleted the tweet that mentioned the piece, and then published another story by female columnist Anila Baig, who wrote that Manji’s headscarf “shows how great Britain is.”

But this is my favorite part. Manji responded with a column of her own yesterday in the Liverpool Echo. She wrote that brushing off Mackenzie would be “dangerous.” She argued, “Racist and Islamophobic rhetoric has real consequences—lives have been lost and shattered in our own country.” Manji tweeted out her response, with the comment, “The truth: I’m here to stay, Kelvin MacKenzie.”

Fighting back against hate won’t stop the haters and the Twitter trolls. But, as Manji says on her Twitter page, “there’s no such thing as the voiceless, only the deliberately silenced and the preferably unheard.” I’d have to agree.

Laura Cohn

@laurascohn

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Measuring May
This piece piqued my interest, having followed the rise of Theresa May to Downing Street really closely. BuzzFeed took a look at what sort of manager the new prime minister is, and concludes she is "brisk, businesslike, and not too friendly"—traits she'll need as she travels to Berlin today to talk to German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Brexit.
BuzzFeed

Questioning qualifications

In other U.K. News, associates of newly-minted Justice Secretary Liz Truss have accused Bob Neill, chair of the justice select committee, of being sexist for questioning her qualifications. Neill, who told the Guardian he is worried about her lack of legal background and cabinet experience, said the accusations of sexism were "bloody outrageous."

Guardian

Stuck in Saudi

A Human Rights Watch video that calls into question male guardianship in Saudi Arabia appears to be getting its message across. The video spawned the hashtag #TogetherToEndMaleGuardianship after going viral on Facebook.

New York Times

THE AMERICAS

Dressing for sisterhood

With all the attention on whether Melania Trump's speech lifted phrases from Michelle Obama — summarized nicely here by Coins2Day's Claire Zillman — the symbolism behind the dress she wore may have gotten lost. The white frock, which sells online for $2,190, was designed by Serbian-born Roksanda Ilincic. Serbia and Slovenia, where Trump was born, used to be part of Yugoslavia, and by wearing the dress, the potential first lady provided a nod of sorts to the designer.

Time

Feeling pain at Yahoo

Marissa Mayer says "uncertainty around the sale process" at Yahoo is hurting the company. CEO Mayer says the process of selling the company's core Internet biz is limiting demand for Yahoo's ads.

Coins2Day

An innocuous pick

There's always safety in numbers. Now that Donald Trump has made a "safe" vice presidential pick, Hillary Clinton can go ahead with an unsurprising choice of her own, political pundits say. Had Trump chosen a woman, Clinton would have been under pressure to follow with a female running mate when she announces her choice, which now could be someone with national security expertise.

New York Times

ASIA-PACIFIC

A nod from Facebook

Women trying to start businesses in Asia just got a boost from Facebook. The social network has extended its "She Means Business" campaign, which offers resources and training for female entrepreneurs, to Hong Kong this week. Some 45% of the entrepreneurs who find success in Hong Kong are female. That's the second highest in the world. India is No. 1.

The Standard