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The Rise of a Dynasty: Houston's Unexpected WNBA Reign Fran Harris remembers a late-night dinner in Sacramento. Her Houston Comets squad had just dispatched the lowly Monarchs by 10 points. To celebrate, she and a few teammates, including Cynthia Cooper, Tammy Jackson and Kim Perrot, decided to grab a bite. Cooper had scored 44 in the 25 July 1997 contest, and her talents dazzled even her dinner companions. "I said to Cynthia, 'I just cannot believe how great you're playing – and I know how great you are!'" Harris tells the Guardian. "And she goes, 'I know!' She was just, like, Yeah, I'm the motherfucker! I was like, 'You absolutely are!'" From Underdogs to Champions: The Comets' Unexpected Journey Cooper, an eventual two-time WNBA MVP and four-time champion, was not supposed to be the league's top player. She'd played in Europe for a number of seasons after winning college championships at USC in the mid-1980s. But when the WNBA began in the summer of 1997, she was already 34. In fact, her entire Houston Comets team, who would win the league's first championship – as well as the next three – were predicted to finish last by many ahead of the inaugural campaign. (They could get a chance to add to their tally: on Wednesday the WNBA confirmed a franchise will return to Houston in 2027, 19 years after the original Comets folded.) "They were very unimpressed with our roster for some reason," says Harris, now a television analyst for the WNBA's Dallas Wings. "When we read that, we were like, 'This shit is funny! That is hilarious.'" The League's Precarious Foundation: Women's Basketball Before the WNBA When the WNBA began, professional women's basketball was in a precarious state. The WBL, the first pro women's league in the US, started nearly 20 years prior. But it folded within three years. After that, several more leagues popped up, including the ABL, which launched in 1996. That year, the US boasted an all-time Olympic team, and the league wanted to capitalize on the enthusiasm around their gold medal. But things didn't go to plan for the ABL. Harris, who had won a NCAA championship in 1986 with Texas, had heard about the ABL and was interested, but a former teammate working as a college coach warned her against joining, with the NBA getting ready to launch the WNBA. Harris took note. The ABL, without big-money backing, folded after two seasons. Building a Team: Tryouts and Team Chemistry Tryouts for the Comets' inaugural season kicked off on Mother's Day weekend. "It was just survival of the fittest," says Yolanda Moore. "It was a free-for-all. We did your basic three-man-wave – that kind of stuff. But really we were just put into teams and played basketball. And at the end of every session, they would make cuts." The Comets' first coach was Van Chancellor. A veteran of the college ranks, he'd been Moore's coach at Mississippi. Still, he told her that she had a "snowball's chance in hell" to make the Comets, she says. Moore, who graduated with a degree in journalism, initially wanted to be "Robin Roberts Jr". When she heard about the WNBA, though, she had to jump for it. She also didn't listen to her coach's negative attitude. Moore's perseverance landed her a spot on the Comets' practice team, and later one on the main roster. The Legacy of the Comets: Paving the Way for Future Generations Thinking back on the year, Harris vividly remembers the Comets' first regular-season game. It was on the road in Cleveland with an official attendance of 11,455. "It was sold out," she says. "I was like: 'Woah!' The crowd for that moment was a big deal." In a way, Harris says, that entire first year was like a dream. The WNBA marked the first time longtime women's basketball stars could play against one another professionally in the US. "We had all played against each other in college," Harris says. "Now, here we were playing against each other in a pro league. It was incredibly surreal." "Not only were we trying to prove ourselves in the league," says Moore, a bench player in her first season before blossoming into a top backup center, "but we were women trying to prove ourselves to this sport, that we deserved to have this space. We were proving that this was our time." The Return of the Comets: Houston's WNBA Future The announcement that a WNBA franchise will return to Houston in 2027 marks a significant moment for the league and the city. The original Comets folded in 2008 after winning four championships in the league's first four years. The return of professional women's basketball to Houston comes nearly two decades later, reflecting both the growth of the WNBA and the enduring legacy of the original team. As the league approaches its 30th season, the return to Houston symbolizes how far women's professional basketball has come since the Comets' early dominance. The team's legacy continues to inspire new generations of players and fans, proving that the electric atmosphere the Comets created in Houston can be reignited in the coming years.

The Harsh Reality of Motherhood in Gaza On May 10, many flowers and boxes of chocolates will be gifted to mothers in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. However, in Gaza, 22,000 women have been killed in two and a half years, and many children dread this special day because it reminds them of intolerable pain. The Impact of Genocide on Gaza's Mothers The genocide has brought immense suffering to Gaza's mothers. Maternal death rates during childbirth increased threefold during the genocide, with 220 Palestinian women dying while giving birth in Gaza between January and June 2025. The famine has disproportionately affected pregnant and breastfeeding women, putting them and their children at risk of death and various health complications. The Personal Story of Struggle The author's mother, Najat, is suffering from cancer, which was diagnosed late. On Mother's Day, she did not wear her finest clothes and did not join the family for a special meal. She was frail and worn down after undergoing chemotherapy. The author silently prayed that her mother would remain with her a little longer, holding back tears to avoid adding to her mother's pain. The Burden of Survival More than 22,000 women have lost their husbands and are now forced to be both mothers and fathers to their children, carrying the excruciating task of survival amid a genocide. Many mothers have to live with the constant pain of losing their children in Israeli attacks; more than 21,000 of the victims of the genocide were children. The Lack of Medical Care Israel has made sure that Gaza's mothers are not getting the treatment they need. The Israeli army has bombed all hospitals in Gaza and destroyed the only specialized oncological hospital. This has meant that cancer and chronic illness patients are not receiving proper treatment, and regular checkups that can catch diseases in early stages are not possible. The Uncertain Future The author's mother needs radiation therapy, which is not available in Gaza. She has been given a medical referral, which has not been approved yet. She is one of 20,000 Palestinians in Gaza in urgent need of evacuation, which has been purposefully made brutally slow. The author's mother may not survive, and her suffering, along with that of many other Gaza mothers, will go unseen.

Model Erin O'Connor has spoken out against Instagram's inconsistent application of its nudity policy after the platform repeatedly removed her pregnancy photos celebrating her heavily pregnant body.The photos, taken in 2014 when O'Connor was eight and a half months pregnant, were posted on Mother's Day but removed and reinstated multiple times by Instagram. O'Connor argues that the platform's guidelines are unclear and context-insensitive, leading to double standards in how women's bodies are represented online.O'Connor's post included two nude portraits: one where she touches her baby bump with a blissful expression, and another highlighting her pregnant belly. Despite Meta's assurances of 'freedom of expression,' the post was flagged as 'sensitive' and removed twice.O'Connor expressed her frustration with the process, stating, 'It feels inconceivable that a heavily pregnant naked woman could be perceived as offensive when she stands in her full power, her body at its most extraordinary, embodying its innate ability to grow, birth and sustain new life.'The incident has sparked a broader conversation about body positivity, pregnancy representation, and the need for clearer guidelines on social media platforms. O'Connor emphasized the importance of context-sensitive policies to prevent the mistaken removal of meaningful content.Meta has stated that its default response is to remove 'sexual imagery' to prevent non-consensual or underage content, but allows exceptions for 'real-world art and certain medical, educational, and awareness-raising content.'