The Americas and the Caribbean

Susan Wismer, challenger of incumbent Gov. Dennis Daugaard, is the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the state's high office.

Wismer says that had nothing to do with her decision to run, but she knows it matters to some of the women who support her. "I'm understanding more and more how much it means to women across the state," said Wismer, a state representative from Britton.

A recent study found black women are underrepresented at all levels of politics — federal, state and local government.

Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics and Higher Heights for America, a national nonprofit that seeks to elevate the voice of black women in politics, conducted the study. The group argues black women face distinct challenges when running for political office and are more like to be discouraged from running than their white counterparts or black men.

A former lawyer at Morgan Stanley will become the first woman to lead a bureau at Japan’s Ministry of Justice, the government said Friday, part of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s drive to promote women in the workforce.

With support from UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality, the Network of NGOs in Trinidad and Tobago is training women to be more effective in running for election. They seek to learn the rules, use the rules and change the system.

Like a DJ, she stands aboard the campaign truck, microphone in hand, singing along “we’re ready” and dancing to soca, calypso and dancehall rhythms, popular even during elections in Trinidad and Tobago.

Female politicians are presented more negatively in the press than their male counterparts, and receive less coverage overall, a recent academic study has revealed.

The investigation analysed newspaper reports covering female MPs, using samples from the election years 1992, 2002 and 2012. The researchers dug through archives of papers to both the left and right of the political spectrum, including the Guardian, Telegraph, Mail, Sun and Mirror.

Support for Brazil President Dilma Rousseff has edged higher in the latest polls, following a sharp fall earlier this year, but rising inflation could hurt her prospects.

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