Female politicians made history this week in Israel with a record of at least 11 women chosen to head cities and local councils across the country, five more than in the previous municipal elections. Six additional female candidates will contest run-off votes in other councils and towns, where no candidate managed to reach the 40 percent threshold.

Daw Saw Yee and Daw Ohn Shwe have many things in common, but until recently their paths had not crossed. Both in their 50s, their communities elected the two women as village tract administrators in January 2018 during the third local elections to take place since Myanmar started its transition to democracy.

By Susan Chira

Conventional wisdom on women and politics goes like this:

A young Bosnian MP who denounced her uncle’s war crimes, a member of the Syrian opposition and a Gambian women’s rights campaigner are among the female parliamentarians who will sit in the House of Commons chamber this week.

A landmark event on Thursday will celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK, involving more than 100 female politicians from around the world, from Afghanistan to the Vatican.

Rashida Tlaib, running in a tough six-way Democratic primary for a House seat in Michigan and positioning herself to be the first Muslim woman in Congress, was thrilled when a man who champions Muslim candidates across the country donated just under $1,000 to her campaign.

Then she found out he had given three times as much — $2,700, the maximum allowed under federal law — to Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim man in Congress.