Women's News Wrap

Happy Friday, and hello to the new subscribers joining us for the first time! There’s a lot of big news this week, so let’s dive right in. Here’s what’s on the rise:

World

• India kicked off the world’s largest general election, and women have emerged as a key constituency among the nearly one billion people expected to vote. Incumbent Prime Minister Modi has pursued women voters more than any previous government, a strategy that experts predict will pay off in the polls. 

• In Sydney, Australia, a knife-wielding assailant seemingly targeted women, who made up the majority of the six fatalities and dozen injuries. Police are investigating why the attacker focused on women and avoided men, while the killer’s father theorizes it stemmed from frustration at not having a girlfriend.

• The U.K. announced a new law criminalizing the creation of non-consensual, sexually explicit deepfake images, the latest step in its ongoing initiative to reduce violence against women.

Business and Tech

• There is a persistent gender gap in startup CEO salaries, according to a new report. On average, women startup CEOs are paid $14,000 less annually than their male counterparts. The silver lining? This is an improvement from 2022 when the pay gap was $20,000.

• Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spearheaded an effort to give the U.S. an upper hand in the AI race with China. Raimondo was the lead negotiator between Microsoft and G42, an Emirati AI company, in a $1.5B deal that the Biden administration orchestrated to block China’s tech presence in the Gulf.

• YouTube star Emma Chamberlain does more than make viral videos; she also built and scaled a startup. Read about how the brand, Chamberlain Coffee, hit $20 million in revenue last year.

Politics

• The fallout from Arizona’s enforcement of an 1864 abortion ban continued this week. Democrats in the state Senate advanced a proposed repeal of the ban, but only after Republicans in the state House blocked a similar effort to overturn the law.

  • The state’s government is deeply divided within and across party lines. Some GOP members, including U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, have walked back their previous pro-life stances, fearing negative repercussions in the presidential election.

• Donald Trump’s hush money trial started this week, and the prosecution’s witness list will likely include several key women. 

  • Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress at the center of the case, is almost certain to testify. 

  • Prosecutors may also call Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who alleged an affair with Trump, as well as members of Trump’s inner circle, including assistant Rhona Graff, former director of Oval Office operations Madeleine Westerhout, and longtime aide Hope Hicks.

  • It could be a rough few weeks for Melania Trump, who has stayed largely quiet about the trial but privately called it a “disgrace.”

• Lawyer Lisa Blatt will make her 50th appearance before the Supreme Court this month. She will have argued more cases than any other woman and won the vast majority of them.

Sports

• Nike saw major backlash after unveiling Olympic women’s track uniforms that leave little to the imagination. In response to accusations of sexism, the company said the kit in question was just one of many options for female runners.

• 2.4 million people tuned in to the WNBA Draft on Monday, surpassing last year’s viewership numbers by over 300%. 

  • As expected, Caitlin Clark was selected first by the Indiana Fever. Her ~$76,000 annual starting salary is more than 150x lower than last year’s number-one pick in the NBA draft

  • But the star athlete is reportedly about to sign an eight-figure endorsement deal with Nike (maybe she can influence their uniform designs, while she’s at it). 

• Clark is one of many factors driving the spike in women’s sports, which are expected to generate over $1 billion in annual revenue for the first time, causing investors to flock to the industry.

• A 58-year-old grandmother broke the women’s world record for planking after holding the position for a whopping four and a half hours.

Culture

• A new poll found that women report getting less sleep and experiencing higher stress than men.

• Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, came out today, and Rolling Stone called it “wildly ambitious and gloriously chaotic.”

  • It’s just three weeks since Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter, but despite the media’s frequent attempts to depict them as rivals, the two superstars have shown mutual support and respect.

• Actress Hannah Waddingham, best known for her role in Ted Lasso, went viral after rebuking a photographer who asked her to “show some leg” on the red carpet.

• Sarah J. Maas, who wrote cult-favorite fantasy books like A Court of Thorns and Roses, is the bestselling author of 2024 so far.

• TIME released its annual list of 100 Most Influential People, and the women recognized are nothing short of inspirational, including:

  • Diana Salazar Mendéz, the youngest person and first Black woman to serve as Ecuador’s attorney general. 

  • Sakshi Malik, an Olympic-winning wrestler in India who stood up against sexual harassment.

  • Julienne Lusenge, a human rights advocate fighting to end gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  • Thasunda Brown Duckett, the President and CEO of TIAA, and a driving force for financial inclusion.

  • Akiko Iwasaki, an immunologist whose research is shedding light on the impacts of Long COVID.

Further Reading