Top court justice Brigitte Bierlein was named to become Austria's first female chancellor Thursday, tasked with forming a caretaker government until September's snap election.

South Africa's president on Wednesday named a trimmed-down Cabinet that is 50% women, making the country's one of few in the world to be "gender-balanced."

President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement followed similar moves by Ethiopia and Rwanda last year.

Women will make up about 15% of the lower house of parliament — less than the global average.

A record number of women are set to enter India's parliament after a marathon election that returned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to power, initial results showed on Friday.

Theresa May has bowed to intense pressure from her own party and named 7 June as the day she will step aside as Conservative leader, drawing her turbulent three-year premiership to a close.

The outcome of the world’s largest election is almost upon us – the counting of votes by 900m eligible voters begins on May 23. With more than 500 directly elected seats being contested in India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, all eyes are on who will win and what this means for the next government.

The Elections Commission and political parties have agreed to introduce a quota to increase the number of women in leadership posts.

The low participation of women in politics was among the issues discussed at a forum held Monday night to propose changes to the Political Party Act.

Representatives of political parties supported a mandatory 30 percent quota for women in organs such as executive councils, according to media reports.