Women's News: Mexico poised to elect first woman president

Hello! After last Friday’s extra-long issue, we’ll be going back to two shorter news updates per week—one each Tuesday and another on Fridays. There’s just too much women’s news to fit into one weekly issue, which I’d say is a good problem to have! As always, feel free to send any thoughts or feedback by replying to this email.

Here’s what’s on the rise today:

World

• Mexico will elect a new president next weekend, and the two leading candidates are women. Claudia Sheinbaum, previously the Mayor of Mexico City and endorsed by the current president, is the frontrunner, while former Senator and businesswoman Xochitl Galvez is polling second.

  • Women across the nation, from domestic workers to indigenous populations, hope a woman in the top governmental seat will bring Mexico closer to gender equality.

• A devastating Israeli airstrike on a refugee tent camp in Rafah left 45 people dead and hundreds wounded. Witnesses said the majority of the victims were women and children.

• A 60-year-old woman competed for Miss Argentina after the Miss Universe organization dropped its age limit for contestants. Alejandra Rodriguez didn’t take home the crown, but she hopes her participation will be the “first step of a change” in societal beauty standards.

U.S.

• Melinda French Gates announced she will allocate $1 billion to global women’s rights efforts over the next two years, her first philanthropic move since resigning from the Gates Foundation.

• Millions of students walked the stage in graduation ceremonies last weekend, including: 

  • A 99-year-old woman who got her high school diploma after dropping out in 1942 to help her family through WWII.

  • A 17-year-old doctoral student who successfully defended her dissertation in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State University.

  • A Yale School of Nursing Graduate and mother of three who returned to her nursing degree decades after pausing to raise her children (one of whom is now a first-year student in the same program).

Politics

• In an interview for her upcoming book, Hillary Clinton said her 2016 presidential loss was due in part to women voters who abandoned her because she wasn’t “perfect,” despite not holding Trump to the same standard.

  • Clinton also reflected on the rollback of abortion rights and gave a stark warning about the future of democracy under a second Trump White House. 

• Closing arguments begin today in Trump’s hush money trial. Meet the courtroom sketch artists—all women—who have depicted the former president through the “female gaze.” 

Healthcare

• According to a new study, it takes about 50,000 calories to sustain a nine-month pregnancy, much more than previously thought. Experts hope the research will improve perceptions of women’s exhaustion during pregnancy.

• A survey sought to measure the impact of Florida’s abortion ban on clinics across the East Coast, which many feared would be overwhelmed by out-of-state patients seeking care. 

  • 30% of abortion clinics surveyed have seen increased wait times, but fewer Floridians than expected are traveling for abortions, which the researchers attribute to the availability of telemedicine and abortion pills. 

Sports

• Barcelona won the Women’s Champions League title in a soccer match that drew record attendance numbers, solidifying Catalonia as a global hub for the women’s sport.

  • For the last five years, The Union of European Football Associations has been working to boost women’s soccer through an initiative called “Time for Action.”

• The Copa America, South America’s men’s soccer tournament, will have its first-ever female referees this year. Eight women will be among the officials for the games, which begin next month. 

• The WNBA is going to Canada. The league announced its first non-U.S. team in Toronto, which will begin playing in 2026.

Culture

• A new wave of fiction is giving voice to the women of Greek mythology, who have long been relegated to minor mentions or vilified portrayals. The upcoming novels Medusa, Hera, and The Last Song of Penelope will join hits like Circe in this growing category of female-driven literature.

• Women-led movies dominated at the Cannes festival in France, with films like Anora scoring rave reviews and top prizes from the majority-female jury.

Further Reading