By: Elena Semerikina The head of Women’s Dialogue, a party affiliated with majority party United Russia, has told reporters of her intent to stand in the 2018 presidential elections. Yelena Semerikova means to use the promotion opportunities to support Vladimir Putin. In a recent interview with popular business daily Kommersant, Semerikova said that her decision to run for the Russian Presidency still needed confirmation at her party’s upcoming conference. She also emphasized that if her party colleagues support her intention to run, and the authorities duly register her as a candidate, she will promote Vladimir Putin because she fully agrees with the incumbent’s political course. She also promised that in the course of her campaign she would attract public attention to contacts between women’s groups from the USA and Ukraine and Russian citizens. 60-year old Yelena Semerikova is a former military logistics manager who switched to a political career in…

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Monday that his administration will create safer working conditions for women as women’s participation in the labour market had remained low in recent years. In an economic policy statement delivered at the parliament, Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka had a low percentage of women in the labour market compared to other countries in the region. The present women labour force participation rate is less than half of that of males, lingering around 30 percent to 35 percent since the 1990s. “This participation is not enough to sustain the high growth momentum of the economy,” Wickremesinghe said. He added that his administration would take steps to improve the public transport systems enabling women to travel comfortably to their workplaces. “We are introducing the Light Rail Transit (LRT) with this purpose. This will greatly ease the current passenger congestion and provide a convenient and a…