In the second round of legislative elections recently, 223 women were elected to France’s lower house. With 38.65% of seats in the National Assembly, the election marks a new record for female representation in the French parliament. Women now hold 223 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, a significant increase over the previous legislature’s 155, which also set a record at the time. These are notable advances since the 33 pioneering female lawmakers of 1945, but they still fall short of true equality in representation. The marked increase can be explained in part by the success of President Emmanuel Macron’s year-old La République en Marche (Republic on the move or LREM) party, 47% of whose parliamentarians are now women. But LREM is closely followed by the Democratic Movement party (46%), France Insoumise (41%) and the Socialist Party (38%) in terms of its female representation. Women account for 25% of…

By: Joyce Lim Hong Kong’s incoming Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who once described her search for ministers as a “nightmare”, recently unveiled a Cabinet packed with old faces. All but one of her 21-member governing team are incumbents, undersecretaries, and veteran civil servants. The top three heavyweights – Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, Financial Secretary Paul Chan, and Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen – will continue in their current posts after July 1, when Mrs. Lam and her team will be sworn in. The only new face in the line-up is Dr. Law Chi Kwong, a founding member of the Democratic Party, who will head the labor bureau. Dr. Law, an associate professor of social work at the University of Hong Kong, said he does not think the pan-democrats will expect him to represent them. “But as an individual with my own values… I guess I will express whatever I represent in…

A homemade bomb placed in a women’s bathroom rocked one of the busiest shopping centers in Colombia’s capital Saturday, killing three people, including a French woman, and wounding nine others. Witnesses told of being evacuated from movie theaters and stores after the blast at the upscale Centro Andino in the heart of Bogota’s tourist district. Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene and the injured were taken to a hospital, where two later died. Police said a potent explosive, possibly made of ammonium nitrate, had caused the destruction. Mayor Enrique Penalosa called it a “cowardly terrorist bombing,” and attention immediately focused on the National Liberation Army, which is the last rebel movement still active in Colombia. The group, known as the ELN, carried out a spate of recent attacks against mostly police targets in Bogota, but leaders denied involvement in the latest bombing. President Juan Manuel Santos made a…

By: Samwel Owino The security of women candidates in the forthcoming Kenya elections has been guaranteed as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has sent out a stern warning to male political rivals and their supporters against harassing their women opponents during this campaign period. Speaking in Nairobi during a meeting of women candidates vying for various political seats in the General elections on Tuesday, IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati urged women candidates to report any kind of harassment during campaigns so that action can be taken against the perpetrators of violence. “Our office is always open, report any kind of harassment and we will fully enforce the electoral code of conduct,” Mr. Chebukati said. “As a woman candidate, do not just sit back when you feel your right has been infringed on, report to us and action will be taken immediately,” Chebukati told the women politicians. The tough talk…

A record number of women were killed in US-led coalition air strikes against Isis targets in Syria and Iraq last month, a monitoring tracking civilian casualties caused by airstrikes in the Middle East has said. At least 57 women died in coalition air strikes in May, along with a minimum of 52 children, according to Airwars, a British non-profit organization. According to the group’s estimates, last month was the second deadliest month for civilians since coalition airstrikes began in August 2014, with likely civilian deaths from coalition air strikes rising by 23 per cent compared to April. A minimum of between 348 and 521 civilians were killed across Syria and Iraq in likely coalition in air strikes, its May report found. It has reported “an unprecedented and sustained rise” in reported civilian deaths since the campaigns to liberate the Isis-held cities of Raqqa and Mosul began to escalate in January.…