The Thai parliament has approved the country's first woman Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. Ms Yingluck, youngest sister of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, won a clear majority in last month's national elections. Her Pheu Thai party and its coalition partners now command a huge majority in the lower house. After the televised vote in parliament, King Bhumibol Adulyadej must endorse her in a ceremony expected within days. Her brother – a champion of the rural and urban poor – was thrown out of office in a 2006 military coup backed by Thailand's elite.