Women’s sports are turning into a major moneymaker.

Hot on the heels of the Winter Olympic Games in February, global revenues in women’s elite sports are projected to reach at least $3 billion in 2026, a 25% increase compared to last year, according to Reuters, citing a new report from Deloitte.

The industry has grown rapidly and women’s elite leagues have expanded their viewership in recent years, which is translating into returns — basketball and soccer, for instance, raked in about $2.4 billion worldwide in 2025, according to the report.

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Women’s sports have seen a 248% increase between 2022 and 2025, and that figure is expected to grow to 340% this year thanks to broadcast and matchday revenues.

The lion’s share of the growth comes from North America, with $1.64 billion in revenue, and Europe, with $434 million. They are “expected to remain the largest revenue-generating markets for women’s sport,” the report states.

Hitting the $3 billion mark “would be a phenomenal achievement and would cement women’s sport firmly in the spotlight,” said Jennifer Haskel, knowledge and insight lead in the Deloitte Sports Business Group.

The next Women’s World Cup will be held in Brazil in 2027 — another big year for women’s sports, Deloitte predicts. It will be the first time the women’s tournament has been held in South America, according to The Independent.

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Astronaut Christina Koch is traveling farther in space than any woman has before.

Koch is part of NASA’s four-person Artemis II crew that is blasting to outer space on Wednesday night, and she’ll make history when she becomes the first woman to pass over the moon. In galactic terms, she’d be the first woman to go beyond “low Earth orbit,” according to Space.com.

“Things are certainly starting to feel real,” the Michigan native said during a news conference Sunday, according to the New York Times. The mission will take Koch and her crewmates — Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency — on a 10-day tour around the moon, without landing, before heading back to Earth.

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It’s part of NASA’s broader goal to test out the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems for the first time and plan future missions to the moon.

The quartet (Glover will be the first Black man and Hansen will be the first Canadian to do this type of mission) are quarantining at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the next couple days to ensure they don’t get sick. There are two backup crew members.

Before this, Koch, 47, set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman when she spent 328 days in space and participated in the first all-female spacewalk. She said recently that she wants this mission to help people see that they, too, can aspire to visit the moon one day.

“It is our strong hope that this mission is the start of an era where everyone, every person on Earth, can look at the moon and think of it as also a destination,” Koch said.

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Ms. Rachel is using her star power as a children’s entertainer for another political purpose: getting kids out of ICE detention centers.

The popular figure, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, also has been a fierce advocate for children enduring war in Gaza, a move that has invited controversy and accusations that she is picking sides in global conflicts.

Now, she is raising awareness of children and their parents who are being detained in ICE detention centers — particularly in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, where conditions are bleak for families.

She started fighting for the detention facility’s closure after federal agents in Minneapolis detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, shown in a widely circulated photo wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack, and his father, and sent them both to Dilley.

She also had video calls with a 9-year-old named Deiver Henao Jimenez, who was detained with his parents in early March.

“It was unbelievably surreal to see this sweet little face and feel like I was on a call with somebody who’s in jail,” Accurso told NBC News after she spoke with Deiver. “It broke me, and it was something I never thought I’d encounter in life.”

According to NBC, the Trump administration has placed more than 2,300 children and their parents into ICE facilities, and most of them are being held at Dilley. Detainees have complained about feeling anxious and unable to eat, and some have suffered medical emergencies.

Ms. Rachel said she is working with lawyers and immigration advocates to shut Dilley down “and make sure that kids and their parents are back in their communities where they belong.”

In response to critics who say she frequently picks sides, she has said, “I see all children as precious and equal.”

The post Ms. Rachel Adds Getting Kids Out of ICE Detention Centers to List of Causes appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Women are less likely to jump on the generative AI bandwagon – which could damage their long-term career success, according to a new report in Fortune.

As companies move quickly to adopt new tech tools, women are about 25% less likely than men to use AI. Experts warn that this could have an adverse effect on women’s careers, but it could also perpetuate bias within the systems if they’re not trained on data that capture women’s needs.

“I’m really worried that we’re at risk of creating a two-tiered AI economy if we don’t engage women more actively and really respect the unique skills and expertise that they bring to the field, skills that are critically important to making sure that AI evolves safely and equitably,” said Mara Bolis, founder of First Prompt, which advises businesses on AI. 

Women are more likely to worry about the ethical implications of using AI and they take a more hesitant approach to using it consistently, according to researchers at Stanford University, Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Since women comprise just under 50% of the workforce in the U.S., a 25% usage gap “could result in hundreds of billions of dollars of lost productivity and growth,” according to the researchers’ report, “Global Evidence on Gender Gaps and Generative AI.”

AI is already transforming positions such as administrative assistants, receptionists and legal clerks — roles disproportionately held by women. While men are likely to change jobs if they’re affected by AI, women are more likely to exit the labor market, according to Brookings Institution, a nonprofit think tank.

Women are going to lose out “unless we focus intentionally on creating policies and programs that help them weather this change,” said Bolis.

The post Women’s Relationship to AI Is Complicated. This Could Impact Their Career Success appeared first on The Story Exchange.

Celebrity powerhouse Meryl Streep is helping the National Women’s History Museum enter a new era with a seven-figure donation.

The iconic actress’s landmark gift will go toward expanding the Washington, D.C.-based museum’s digital-first initiatives, which will bring its content to more audiences, including students, museum officials said in an announcement.

“History is shaped not only by those who make it, but by those who ensure it is remembered,” the three-time Academy Award winner said in a statement to MS NOW, which first reported on the donation.

“The National Women’s History Museum has long been a catalyst for bringing forward the stories that deepen our understanding of who we are,” Streep continued, wryly adding: “I am proud to continue supporting this essential work so that future generations inherit a history that is both truthful and complete.”

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Her comments are likely a barbed response to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on any program or initiative that has even vague ties to diversity, equity and inclusion. While his administration has worked to erase certain parts of history and threatened to pull funding from the Smithsonian if exhibits are deemed “divisive” or unpatriotic, the National Women’s History Museum, founded in 1996, is independent from the Smithsonian.

As part of the gift, the museum will also establish the annual Meryl Streep Educator Award, which will honor an exceptional educator who advances the public’s understanding of women’s history. Streep has portrayed influential women across generations, including chef Julia Child, Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and, of course, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, upon which her Miranda Priestley character in The Devil Wears Prada (and its upcoming sequel) is loosely based.

“Meryl Streep understands that storytelling shapes culture, and culture shapes what societies believe is possible,” said Frédérique Campagne Irwin, President and CEO of the National Women’s History Museum. “Her remarkable gift allows us to meet this moment with urgency and imagination, reaching new generations with stories that inspire confidence, ambition and progress.”

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About a month after a large Pride flag was removed from the Stonewall National Monument following an order by President Donald Trump, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the first Mayor’s Office for LGBTQIA+ Affairs.

The new office will be led by Taylor Brown, the first out trans person to lead a New York City office, according to Gothamist. Brown currently works in the civil rights bureau of the state Attorney General’s office and has fought for trans women and girls who were banned from playing sports in Nassau County facilities.

In his announcement of the office, which will focus on how agencies can help members of the LGBTQ+ community access affordable housing, healthcare and other services they traditionally don’t have access to, Mamdani said the dedicated resource was a long time coming — especially as federal protections for these communities continue to get rolled back.

“It took years of activism from community leaders who recognize how often queer New Yorkers fall through the cracks while attempting to access our city’s social services,” he said, according to Gothamist.

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The Trump administration has issued executive orders to eliminate the idea of a “gender identity” separate from sex and make sure that no funds are allocated to promote “gender ideology.” In February, federal guidance was issued on displaying “non-agency” flags in National Parks, which included the international symbol of Pride: The flag outside of Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, the heart of the gay rights movement.

The National Park Service also removed any mention of “transgender” on its website, according to NPR.

“We want the same things as everyone else, and we deserve the same things as everyone else, and that’s what this administration is about,” Brown said after her appointment was announced. “We’re all people.”

In her new role, Brown will also work to provide sanctuary protections for queer New Yorkers as well as those coming to the city after facing oppression elsewhere, and help ensure that other city agencies do not discriminate against people for their sexual orientation, gender or gender identity.

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Even as housing prices have surged post-pandemic, more single women now own homes in the U.S. than ever before — outpacing single men in the housing market by nearly two to one.

A record 20 million single women became homeowners in 2025, according to an analysis from First American that was reported on by Fortune. They made up a quarter of all first-time buyers last year, compared to 10% of single men and 50% of married couples.

“We continue to see that single women are truly a force in the market,” Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors, told the magazine. These home buyers range in age, from young women just entering the market to older women buying homes after a divorce or death of a spouse.

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It’s a stark contrast from 1981, when single women comprised just 11% of home buyers. Now that figure has doubled to 21%.

Many Americans are waiting longer to purchase homes amid a stubborn affordability crisis. Home prices surged 50% since the pandemic, according to the New York Times, and more than half of people under 30 who were polled said they were most worried about trying to afford housing.

Home buyers need to earn roughly $93,000 to afford a typical home with a 20% down payment — up from $52,000 needed six years ago.

According to First American’s findings, single women are more empowered to buy homes because of their gains in education and earning. Single women are also more likely than men to cut non-essential spending, forgo vacations and work overtime to save for a down payment.

“Single women are making more financial sacrifices,” Lautz told Fortune. “They’re really just saying, ‘This is my top financial priority.’”

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Uber says it’s on a mission to make rides safer for women.

In response to reports of sexual assaults that have been steadily filed over the years from passengers and drivers alike, the ride-hailing platform launched a new feature that allows female riders and drivers across the country to be matched with other women for trips.

Passengers will have the option to select “women drivers” on the app and they will be able to reserve trips with their preferences in advance. Users and drivers will be able to set preferences for women in their app settings. If the wait for a ride is too long – about one-fifth of Uber’s drivers in the U.S. are women — riders can choose another driver.

Lyft rolled out a similar feature in 2024 called Women+ Connect, which allows women and nonbinary riders and drivers to pair together more often. According to the company, users have utilized it for more than 10 million rides.

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Both companies currently face class-action lawsuits, according to The Guardian — in the latest case in California, Uber drivers say the new feature discriminates against men. The plaintiffs argue that Uber’s policy “reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women,” and that the feature gives female drivers access to a wider pool of passengers.

Uber is fighting the suit: “This feature is a commonsense solution to a longstanding request from both women drivers and riders who told Uber they would feel more comfortable and safer if they could choose to ride with another woman,” the company said in a court filing.

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Kesha doesn’t mince words in her songs, or on social media — especially when it involves the Trump administration.

The Grammy-nominated hitmaker called administration officials “perverts” for using her song “Blow” as the backdrop to a graphic video of military strikes.

“Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane,” she wrote on X, as reported by The Daily Beast. “I absolutely do NOT approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind. Love always trumps hate.”

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She ended with a pointed jab at President Donald Trump.

“Also, don’t let this distract us from the fact that criminal predator Donald Trump appears in the Files over a million times,” Kesha wrote to her 2.8 million followers.

The 2011 song was co-opted by the White House for a TikTok video called “Lethality,” posted on Feb. 10. The 30-second clip, which has been viewed more than 1.9 million times, shows a jet launching a missile into a ship that then explodes in a cloud of black smoke.

“This show of blatant disregard for human life and quite frankly this attack on all of our nervous systems is the opposite of what I stand for,” Kesha wrote.

White House communications director Steven Cheung prompted the pop star’s “perverts” remark after he suggested the administration uses popular songs to troll musicians and boost views on their videos.

“All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this,” Cheung wrote. “This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re bitching about.”

A half hour later, Kesha had one thing to say: “Stop using my music, perverts @WhiteHouse”.

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Parents had already dropped off their kids at school in Iran on Saturday morning, the start of the workweek there, when an explosion hit and black smoke rose from a building with pastel-painted walls.

More than 100 children were killed as the U.S. and Israel carried out strikes against Iran, according to Iranian officials. The strike, one of two over the weekend, hit the girls’ elementary school in a province of southern Iran.

“They were girls who went to school to learn, with hopes and dreams for their future,” Pakistani-born activist Malala Yousafzai wrote on X. “Today, their lives were brutally cut short.”

She added that she was “heartbroken and appalled” by the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

The number of casualties has not been verified as the death toll keeps rising, but Shiva Amelirad, a representative for a network of teachers’ unions in Iran, told TIME that multiple children from the same family, as well as some teachers, were killed in the strike.

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Amelirad added that school officials had decided to close the building when the strikes began, but the window between the announcement and the time of the explosion was too short to avoid the heartbreaking deaths. “Many families had not yet arrived to pick up their children,” she said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the U.S. and Israel, which said it was “not aware” of any military operations in the area, for the deaths.

“This barbaric act is another black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors against this land that will never be erased from the historical memory of our nation,” he said, according to ABC News.

Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said the bombing would be investigated but insisted “we have never – and will never – target civilians.”

“We take these reports seriously and are looking into them,” Hawkins said in a statement. “The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm.”

Yousafzai blasted the violence and urged officials to better protect civilians amid the escalating conflict.

“The killing of civilians, especially children, is unconscionable,” she wrote. “Every child deserves to live and learn in peace.”

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