The World’s Most Powerful Women: September 14

Last week’s controversy over Facebook’s removal of the iconic “Napalm Girl” photo, which shows a naked 9-year-old fleeing a napalm attack in Vietnam in 1972, evolved this week into a trans-Atlantic back-and-forth between Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, whose account was caught up in Facebook’s effort to censor the photo. A Norwegian newspaper recirculated the picture in a story it posted about war photography, and Solberg shared it on her page. When Facebook deleted the post from Solberg’s account, the conservative PM accused the social network of editing history. (Facebook later reinstated the photo across its site.)

Sandberg sought to smooth things over by sending a letter to Solberg, in which she admitted that “screening millions of posts on a case-by-case basis every week is challenging.” She said Facebook doesn’t always get it right and that it “intends to do better.” Sandberg said the letter, which Reuters uncovered with Norway’s freedom of information rules, signified “how seriously we take this matter and how we are handling it.”

Solberg, who was elected in 2013, welcomed Sandberg’s letter on Tuesday, calling it “humble,” and saying that she wanted to work with Facebook to promote education. She and Sandberg met in Davos last year and, at the time, they talked about ways Facebook could help train teachers and ensure schooling in war zones. But it’s worth noting that there’s also a financial relationship at play in this high-powered make-nice. Through its sovereign wealth fund, Norway has a 0.52% stake in Facebook, which was worth some $1.54 billion at the beginning of this year.

@clairezillman

EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

The Great British Break-Up
The blockbuster news that the Great British Bake Off was moving from BBC to Channel 4 was followed yesterday with the bombshell revelation that hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc are leaving the hit reality show. "We made no secret of our desire for the show to remain where it was... We're not going with the dough," the duo said in a statement.BBC

Imagine that

By January 2017, there could be an unprecedented situation in global politics in which the G7 has three women leaders—Angela Merkel, Theresa May, and Hillary Clinton. This story looks at what research on gender and negotiations tells us about how they will lead.

Harvard Business Review

THE AMERICAS

Owning the CEO search

James Chambers, the CEO of Weight Watchers, stepped down this week and Oprah Winfrey, who owns 10% of the company, will help find his replacement. Weight Watchers saw its shares rally 100% when the talk show queen invested in the company last year, but it's struggled as consumers shift away from diet schemes and toward natural foods and fitness and calorie trackers.

Coins2Day

"Sandbagger"-in-chief

The Wells Fargo executive who oversaw the unit where employees opened more than 2 million largely unauthorized customer accounts is leaving the bank with an enormous pay day: $124.6 million. Carrie Tolstedt's division was largely responsible for the misconduct that merited the largest penalty ever imposed by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Coins2Day's Stephen Gandel explains how her exit package works.

Coins2Day

ASIA-PACIFIC

The O Project

Activist Firliana Purwanti is taking an unorthodox approach to empowering women in Indonesia. Dubbed the "Orgasm Lady" and author of a book titled The O Project, Purwanti is encouraging women in the largely Muslim country to speak more openly about sex in their own homes in hopes it will embolden them to publicly challenge the treatment of Indonesian women, some of whom are subject to virginity tests and the ritual of female genital mutilation.

Reuters

Saying no to new dads

In the wake of a new bill that gives new moms in India 180 days of paid maternity leave, this story examines why private companies in India are hesitant to provide new fathers with extended paternity leave.

Live Mint