President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he will sign an executive order known as “Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained United States Nationals Home,” which takes aim at hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. nationals.

“This executive order reflects the administration’s commitment not just to the issues generally but to the families in particular and it has been informed by the government’s regular engagements with them,” said a senior Biden administration official, per CNBC, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move comes amid WNBA star Brittney Griner’s wrongful detention in Russia. In February, Griner was arrested in a Moscow area airport for alleged possession of hashish oil. The Phoenix Mercury star has since pleaded guilty to drug charges in a Russian court, facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Griner penned an open letter to President Biden in early July, making a direct plea for assistance from the administration. The President and Vice President Kamala Harris have both spoken with Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, assuring her of their commitment to ensuring the WNBA star’s safe return.

Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBA Players Association, spoke of the league and players’ support of Griner during a Monday appearance on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. She told the Comedy Central host that initially, players were told the best way to help Griner was to remain quiet, but since the U.S. deemed Griner wrongfully detained, the strategy has shifted.

“When we learned that the State Department had classified BG as wrongfully detained, when we heard from Cherelle Griner — BG’s wife — that she needed our help, we heard that through her team, it was go time for my members because this is an issue about sanctity of sport,” Jackson told Noah.

Jackson hopes the entire sports community will step up and speak out on Griner’s detention while calling for her release.

“Quite frankly, Trevor, what this country needs is a rallying cry. And that’s what ‘We Are BG’ is all about. It’s a rallying cry,” Jackson said. “We need a win, so we need to stand with this president. We need him to do whatever it takes to bring BG home.”

Griner’s trial in front of a Russian court continues on July 26.

The San Diego Wave are closing out 2025 with a title, defeating Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 3-0 to lift the World Sevens Football (W7F) trophy on Sunday.

Wave attacker Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring in the 7v7 venture's championship match, before forward Adriana Leon tacked on a second-half brace to put the game out of reach — and secure the $2 million winner's share of the $5 million prize pool for the NWSL side.

"I think in sevens it's a lot more emphasis on the individual, and so I think players who maybe don't play [as much in NWSL matches]...get to show their creative side," noted Robbe. "It was definitely an element to this, which was really fun."

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In a showcase of club talent across the Americas, the San Diego Wave finished the second-ever W7F tournament undefeated, scoring 14 goals while only conceding three en route to becoming the champion of the competition's first-ever North American iteration.

"It was so fun, and honestly, I would love to be back again," said San Diego goalkeeper and the tournament's golden Glove winner DiDi Haračić. "And we got the bag."

Wave midfielder Gia Corley took home the Breakout Player award, and while Tigres fell just short of the trophy, forward María Sánchez earned the competition's Golden Ball and Golden Boot with her six goals and two assists.

Club América of Liga MX Femenil earned a third-place finish, winning $700,000 in prize money as the bronze medal winners.

Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.

The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.

"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."

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Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.

Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.

"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic,"  said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.

How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week

Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.

The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

No. 1 UConn honored one of the NCAA basketball program's legends on Sunday, hanging up the No. 10 jersey of Hall of Fame guard Sue Bird in a retirement ceremony prior to the Huskies' dominant 102-35 victory over DePaul — their ninth win of the 2025/26 season.

A two-time NCAA champion, Bird is now one of only three UConn women's basketball players with a number in the rafters, joining Rebecca Lobo and Swin Cash — and soon-to-be Maya Moore.

"This is home," said Bird. "This is where it started. So to see what we are about to see, my number up in the rafters next to these other legends, it's an incredible, incredible honor. Hard to put into words."

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"The amazing thing about [Cash, Lobo, Bird, and Moore] was the incredible amount of success they had after they left here," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma during Sunday's jersey retirement ceremony. "That as great as their accomplishments were here, what they've done since they left has been nothing short of incredible."

Bird became UConn's first-ever No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2002, with the floor general winning four titles with the Seattle Storm plus five Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA before retiring in 2022.

How to watch No. 1 UConn in action this week

After honoring their past superstar, the reigning national champions are now looking to the future, with No. 1 UConn gearing up for a ranked matchup against No. 16 USC on Saturday.

The clash between the Huskies and the Trojans will tip off at 5:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.

Despite a few shocking upsets in the early rounds of the 2025 NCAA soccer tournament, the ACC has retained its status as the conference to beat, with the powerhouse sending three teams to this season's College Cup semifinals on Friday.

With two tickets to Monday's national championship match on the line, four-time title-winners and No. 3-seed Florida State will take on College Cup debutants TCU in Friday's first semi, with the No. 2 Horned Frogs booking their semifinals spot by ousting fellow SEC standout No. 1 Vanderbilt 2-1 last Saturday.

The nightcap, on the other hand, will be an all-ACC affair, as No. 2 Duke continues their hunt for a first-ever national title against the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, Stanford.

The three-time NCAA champ Cardinal has been unstoppable, outscoring their opponents 21-5 across the tournament's first four rounds to set up a season-first matchup with the Blue Devils.

The 2025 College Cup will take place for the first time at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, home of the NWSL's Kansas City Current.

How to watch the 2025 College Cup semifinals

Friday's 2025 College Cup semifinals will begin with No. 2 TCU vs. No. 3 Florida State at 6 PM ET, with No. 1 Stanford's clash against No. 2 Duke kicking off at 8:45 PM ET.

Both semifinals — plus Monday's 7PM ET championship match — will air live on ESPNU.