Jennifer Lopez’s life and career have taken the world on an unforgettable roller-coaster ride. We’ve witnessed the ups, downs, and unexpected twists in between. She may not always be a favorite among critics, but Lopez has continued to produce films through her company Nuyorican Productions, elevating herself to celeb royalty. As she juggles the many crowns she wears, one that deserves the spotlight is her role in essentially being our first Latina rom-com queen.
Sure, some of her earlier films, like 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan,” were criticized for perpetuating Latina stereotypes (and 2003’s “Gigli,” which she costarred in with Ben Affleck, was chewed up and spit out by film critics for just not being funny). But despite the naysayers, Lopez has never given up her spot as a rom-com star. The 2005 romantic comedy “Monster-in-Law,” which she stars in alongside Jane Fonda, followed those less desirable films and became one of her highest-grossing films to date.
Lopez is to the 2000s what Meg Ryan is to the 1980s and ’90s. Her comedic timing is always on point, and mixing it with her vulnerability has created a recipe for success in the rom-com genre. From 2001’s “The Wedding Planner,” which grossed $94 million worldwide, to 2004’s “Shall We Dance?” which brought in $170 million at the box office, and recent films like 2022’s “Marry Me,” which racked up $50 million, Lopez has continued to solidify herself as a rom-com queen. Other Latina actors have dipped their toe in the genre and done well: think Salma Hayek in 1997’s “Fools Rush In” alongside Matthew Perry, and Eva Mendes in 2005’s “Hitch” alongside Will Smith. However, the Puerto Rican actor continues to stretch the bounds of the rom-com characters she portrays. In one role, she’s struggling with a difficult mother-in-law, and in the next, she’s toting guns and combat boots, as she did in 2022’s “Shotgun Wedding.”
The 54-year-old multitalented star doesn’t wait for the opportunities to come either — she creates them for herself. She recently dropped $20 million to produce 2024’s “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story,” an Amazon original showcase that coincided with her first studio album in a decade. Through breathtaking choreography, star-studded cameos, awe-inspiring costumes, and scene changes, Lopez takes viewers on a journey through her love life, a hot topic in the public eye for years. And, of course, she throws in some comedy with her therapist, who is played by longtime friend and fellow Bronx native Fat Joe. Despite the harsh criticism and low ratings, the musical film was important for Lopez to detail her love life in her own way, not the media’s.
Overall, Lopez has brought in approximately $1 billion in gross revenue for her rom-com films. She is staking her claim in an arena that lacks Latine representation by a long shot. In 2019, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a report that showed the low percentages of Latine contribution on camera and behind the scenes. In partnership with Eva Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, the report found that only seven percent of films from 2019 featured a lead or colead Hispanic/Latino actor.
In other words, Lopez — for more than 20 years — has carved out representation where Latinas are nearly nonexistent. While the critics may lay on her heavily and unapologetically, we cannot deny that when it comes to rom-coms, she’s doing it bigger and better than any other Latina actor. She is laughing all the way to the bank and slowly and steadily bumping up those insultingly low percentages. There’s no doubt that Lopez has rewritten history and solidified a path in film that other Latina actors are sure to follow.
Zayda Rivera is a POPSUGAR contributor. She has been a professional writer for more than 20 years. Z is a Reiki Master Teacher, a yoga and Zumba instructor, a mindfulness and meditation guide, a tarot reader, and a spiritual mentor.
Sleepless in Seattle, Doomed in Denver. Two straight postseasons. Two straight playoff exits for Valeri Nichushkin.
It’s been real, Val. Lord, it’s been glorious. But this is your stop.
The Avalanche title train needs engines it can rely on.
You weep for the man. You rage at the loss. You wonder about the Avs front office, which circled the wagons, protected and enabled their troubled winger. Only to be burned again.
It’s over. It’s time.
The championship window won’t wait.
Nathan MacKinnon turns 29 in September. Mikko Rantanen’s 28th birthday falls a month later. Gabe Landeskog will be 32 a month after that.
The Avs are on the clock.
And the timing couldn’t be worse.
Roughly an hour before Colorado dropped the puck on a pivotal Game 4 at home in their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series Monday night with the Dallas Stars, the NHL and NHLPA jointly dropped the bomb on the player nicknamed Nuke.
Nichushkin, the announcement read, had been placed in Stage 3 of the NHL Player Assistance Program but did not disclose why. Which means he’s suspended without pay for six months, and eligible to apply for reinstatement after that.
In other words, not just whatever’s left of this year’s postseason run — but at least a month into the regular season of 2024-25 as well.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The clock doesn’t just apply to the window, either.
Nichushkin has a whopping six seasons left on an eight-year, $49-million deal inked after he lifted Lord Stanley high. It’s turned into Kris Bryant minus the laugh track, bad money wasted by a good organization.
If he can’t help you reel in another Cup, it’s time to cut bait.
Let someone else take this challenge on.
Nichushkin’s got too much talent to give up, you say. Absolutely true. He’s also too unreliable to lean on anymore as a piece of this championship puzzle, too much of a risk to be a pillar for the core.
After the mysterious departure in Seattle, his absence for treatment this past winter and Monday’s suspension, can the Avs, his brothers, trust him? Can MacKinnon, who tolerates fools about as much as he tolerates defenders? Can Colorado fans?
Because it’s the brilliance that breaks your heart. The Choo Choo Train, who spent much of the winter in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program, was exemplary this postseason. His nine playoffs goals as of Monday afternoon were tied for the most in the league. His six-game streak of lamp-lighting to open a Cup run is an Avalanche record and fell one shy of the league mark.
When Nichushkin is on his game, he’s a force of nature. A 6-foot-4 speedster, a masterful screener, a power play cheat code, a colossus with soft, careful watchmaker’s hands.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Two straight postseasons. Two straight playoff vanishing acts.
During its G20 presidential year, South Africa will host a summit of heads of state and government. It will also be responsible for organising and chairing about 200 meetings of ministers and officials. These will come from the G20 members, invited countries and international organisations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The meetings will focus on issues such as the challenges facing the global economy and whether the current arrangements for global economic governance are able to respond effectively.
The G20 presidency, therefore, presents South Africa with an opportunity to promote reforms in global economic governance. But there are constraints. It will inherit an agenda from Brazil, the current G20 chair. And it will have to respond to developments in the current dynamic and complex global environment.
Danny Bradlow
The IMF/World Bank spring meetings held in April in the US suggest some achievable objectives for the G20 next year. There was a great deal of discussion about the inability of current arrangements to adequately address global challenges like climate, public health, inequality, poverty and digitalisation.
There’s not necessarily agreement on how to prioritise these challenges. And, unfortunately, the views of the rich states, which prioritise issues like carbon emissions, dominate the discussions. For example, the World Bank highlighted the fact that, in the 2023 financial year, it increased the funds loaned for climate-related purposes by more than 20%, allocating 41% of all its lending to climate.
But its own survey of its borrower countries shows that climate ranks number 11 on the list of priorities of its borrower states. Health, education, agriculture and food security, and water and sanitation rank much higher. Nevertheless, at least two gaps became evident in the discussions.
The first relates to IMF reform. The second concerns the relationship between international organisations and their member states.
South Africa should aim to fill these gaps. It should encourage the G20 to commission two studies on the scale and scope of the challenges that the international community faces, and propose some responses. Ideally, it should convince the G20 to commission these studies in 2024 so that it can begin discussing policy responses in 2025.
This kind of approach has been effective. Over the last few years, the multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies. This has led to proposals designed to make them “bigger and better”.
These changes are being made in an opaque and unpredictable way, however. The IMF has not made publicly available the principles and procedures it uses when deciding what aspects of these “new” issues to take on.
It can’t accurately assess the full impacts of these issues unless it understands how communities, workers, businesses and civil society organisations will respond to the social and environmental impacts of specific policy and fiscal initiatives with macroeconomic implications. It cannot gain this information without consulting these groups.
This means it must engage more with a broader range of stakeholders than it did when it focused exclusively on more traditional macroeconomic and financial stability concerns. These new issues, therefore, raise questions about the appropriate form for the relationship between the IMF and its member states.
This is an important and creative idea. But the proposal raises difficult questions about state sovereignty and about the design of the institutions of global governance.
What’s needed
While multilateral development banks have been the subject of G20-commissioned studies, the IMF has not undergone a similar examination.
South Africa should commission a group of experts to study how the IMF should change to take on these new issues. The study should look at IMF governance, operational policies and practices, and its financial needs. The purpose would be to identify the current shortcomings in structures and functions.
Experts should also think of ways to make the IMF more responsive to the needs and priorities of all its member states and their citizens.
Second, South Africa should call for a study of how best to divide responsibility between states and the international financial institutions. This is particularly important when it comes to the environmental and social impacts of operations.
The purpose would be to understand how the roles and functions of these institutions are evolving and how this is affecting their relations with their member states. The study could propose ways to ensure that the structure and functions of institutions are both respectful of state sovereignty and appropriate for the responsibilities that the institutions are assuming.
Raising a global wealth tax for developmental purposes could be one example used in this study.
Danny Bradlow is a Professor/Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria. In addition to his position at the University of Pretoria, he is also a Compliance Officer in the Social and Environmental Compliance Unit of the UNDP and Co-Chair of the Academic Circle on the Right to Development, which advises the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development.
Source: The Conversation– a nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good. The University of Pretoria provides funding as a partner of The Conversation AFRICA.
The Al-Helal Al-Emirati maternity hospital in Rafah is one of the last remaining functioning health facilities in southern Gaza. Midwives are delivering more than 70 babies per day in dire conditions and while drastically under-supplied. Credit: UNFPA Palestine/Bisan Ouda
Opinion by Natalia Kanem 2 (united nations)
Inter Press Service
UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (IPS) – Today, as millions of children and families celebrate their mothers, my thoughts turn to the pregnant women and new mothers our teams at UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, support in more than 130 countries around the world. And I hold in my heart all those who, tragically, will never live to see their newborns.
Natalia Kanem
More than 800 women a day – one woman every two minutes – die needless deaths from entirely preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The situation is particularly dire for women and girls caught up in the world’s escalating crises and conflicts. Globally, more than half of all maternal deaths take place in countries affected by humanitarian crisis or fragility.
In Gaza, women face appalling conditions before, during and after birth. At a moment when new life is beginning, what should be a moment of joy is being overshadowed by death, destruction and despair. Severely limited access to health services and emergency obstetric care put the lives of women and newborns at risk.
Today, major hospitals lie in ruins across Gaza and not a single health facility is fully operational following more than 440 attacks on health care since the war began in October.
At the Al-Helal Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital, one of Gaza’s few remaining health facilities and now the main facility for pregnant women in Rafah, at the time of writing there are only five beds for deliveries and around 60 deliveries every day. Women hoping to give birth on the ward are told to bring their own mattress and pillow.
“We are delivering babies nonstop,” says midwife Samira Hosny Qeshta. “We tell the woman who has just given birth: we need the bed. Get up and sit on a chair.”
Most women have had no prenatal care, she says. They just arrive at the hospital hoping for the best. Many are suffering from infections, due to the unhygienic living conditions in the overcrowded camps, where hundreds of people may share a single toilet and there is a lack of clean water and hygiene supplies.
“We live in a tent, and every time it rains the tent floods, and our beds get wet,” says Suhad. She is nine months pregnant and scheduled for a C-section. Hours later, she will be back in the tent.
“It will be extremely difficult after the birth,” she says. “From the physical pain to the ice cold – and there are no clothes for the baby. What has she done to be born into a situation like this?”
Even if their babies are delivered safely, thousands of women like Suhad face the inevitable question: What next? How will they keep their newborn clean, warm, fed, alive?
Many of these mothers are themselves too dehydrated and malnourished to breastfeed their children, and there is no formula to be had.
UNFPA has delivered reproductive health kits that have enabled safe births for more than 20,000 women in Gaza. We have set up a mobile maternity clinic in Rafah, with two more on the way. Hundreds of UNFPA-trained midwives are supporting pregnant women and new mothers unable to access a health clinic or hospital. We have also distributed hygiene supplies, diapers, baby clothes, blankets and other essential items to thousands of new mothers. Yet all of this is just a drop in an ocean of need.
The world must not abandon the mothers of Gaza. They, their newborns, and all civilians must be protected and their needs met. Hospitals and health workers must never be targets.
From time immemorial, cultures across the globe have honoured the sacredness of motherhood. On this Mother’s Day, let us pay tribute to that sacred bond by remembering all the women who create, protect and nurture life, even under the most catastrophic circumstances. The mothers in flooded tents or fleeing bombs. The mothers of hostages still waiting for their families to be made whole. The mothers and newborns fighting for their lives in overcrowded hospital wards without adequate medicines or supplies. They need life-saving health services and support. They need dignity. Above all, they need peace. This war must end now.
Benn launched. He left his feet. Toews’ head snapped like a crash test dummy. Officials declared it a shoulder-on-shoulder crime and suggested we all move on. To paraphrase my best pal Deion Sanders, that’s some bull junk, right there.
For one, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews’ shoulder, at least one angle showed him connecting directly with No. 7’s neck. Which, last I checked, is connected to and immediately south of the head.
“I mean, does he catch a piece of his shoulder? Yeah, I guess you could argue that,” Avs coach Jared Bednar, whose team returns to Denver after a road split at American Airlines Center, replied when I asked about the collision. “But the target is high and it’s at his head, and he makes contact with the head. And I’ve seen, many times, guys get called for the head shot and penalty with a lot less than that. But I guess they didn’t think so.”
Two, Benn knew exactly what he was doing. The Stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, whose Vegas teams delighted in pushing the Avs around in the postseason, knew darn well.
“Benner has been outstanding in this playoff. I thought against Vegas he did and he did (it) smart,” the Stars boss said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right times and he did it clean. But his presence physically is having an impact for us in these playoffs in a real positive way.’’
In the NFL, Benn’s shot is an ejection, a fine, a suspension and a chat with the safety cops.
In the NHL, it’s a “real positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in a no-holds-barred, merciless bracket.
The refs decided the hit was at Toews’ shoulder blade and not a head shot. Some slo-mo angles showed otherwise, especially as the D-man pinged off another Dallas player like a rag dol. By the letter of the law, it looked (makes air quotes) “clean.”
But barely legal is still barely.
“It is what it is,” Bednar said. “You’ve got to play through it.”
Once a bully knows they can get away with murder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s only way to stop a killing spree.
Someone’s gotta pick up the Captain’s spine. Someone’s gotta let Benn know that this won’t stand. And neither will he.
Someone’s gotta pick up Landy’s steel. Landy’s soul.
It’s not in Nathan MacKinnon’s game, bless him. It’s not in Cale Makar’s DNA, although a reactive shove after Toews got clocked landed him in an awkward headlock for a few seconds.
“Hopefully there was no intent into the head,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said of the Benn ambush.
Then, instead of walking it back, Cogs walked it forward.
“Maybe there was, obviously, a little bit to the head,” Cogliano added. “But, yeah, I don’t know.”
He knew. Everybody did.
“It’s a physical game this time of year,” Bednar said, “but I just can’t understand how that was not a penalty. Even if it isn’t a five (minute major).”
Join the club. Fortunately, Toews returned to the ice, but Benn needs a break. And a lesson. If the league won’t do it, somebody in burgundy and blue needs to apply a little elbow grease.
Food is distributed to Sudanese refugees in Koufron, Chad. Credit: WFP/Jacques David
Opinion by James Elder (darfur, western sudan)
Inter Press Service
DARFUR, Western Sudan, May 09 (IPS) – As dawn breaks over Darfur, my return after two decades feels heavy. Many millions are suffering once again. Twenty years ago, I was part of the humanitarian effort to make a difference. That was in the early 2000s, when celebrities and world-famous journalists would make the trek in a well-intentioned effort to focus attention on the atrocities across Darfur.
Meanwhile, a former UN staff member who worked for a decade in Sudan’s Darfur region for the African Union-United Nations mission, UNAMID, has told UN News how she had to “avoid stepping on the bodies in the streets” as she fled for her life to neighbouring Chad. March 2024.
But despite years of progress, this return is difficult; something akin to a bleak déjà vu. Indeed, in many respects, this time it is much, much worse for children and women. Sudan’s Darfur region has long been plagued by conflict, displacement, and unimaginable suffering.
But now, as Sudan is torn apart by warring parties, there are no Hollywood actors, nor coordinated, concerted international pressure from politicians and media, to tackle what is the largest displacement crisis for children on the planet.
Darfur faces one of the world’s worst man-made disasters, yet so few people are talking about. After a year of fighting, more than 4.5 million children have been displaced. That’s more children than the entire population of many countries.
My initial experience 20 years ago left an indelible mark on me. Now, two decades later, I find myself standing once again on the soil of Darfur, the landscape hardly changed, but the problems all too familiar.
There’s a frightful, familiar pattern to this current war. The fighting has been brutal. The ceasefires almost non-existent. The clashes spreading. And the atrocities many, with girls and women so frequently targeted.
“If they couldn’t carry it, they burnt it”
Talking to the people, most of whom are displaced, I hear familiar themes from 20 years ago. Fighters didn’t just battle each other but looted whatever they could find, including basics like beds, mattresses, blankets, pots and pans or clothes. They took everything and, as an elderly woman told me in the city of Genenia: “If they couldn’t carry it, they burnt it.”
As I travel across West Darfur, I see evidence of a rebuilt life demolished once again, this time for the next generation. There were schools, health clinics and water systems less than 20 years old that now, after intense fighting, have been destroyed.
Lifesaving services that protect children and families again on the brink of collapse. Frontline workers like nurses, teachers, doctors, have not been paid in months. They are running out of medicines. Safe water is sparse.
Similarly, for those who were children the last time I was in Darfur it is again a desolate place. University students and graduates, mostly young men but some women – young people who wanted a job in economics, medicine or IT – are now refugees in Chad with next to nothing. They crave the tiniest opportunity.
Dreams on hold
In the chaos of this war, the brightest minds have been forced to abandon their studies, their ambitions shattered. As 22-year-old Haida said to me in Darfur: “I had a dream – to study medical science. I was living that dream. Now I have nothing. I do not dream. Sadness is my friend.”
Her gentle voice, perfect clarity, and utter grief floor me. I can only imagine how much more attention Sudan would get if the world could meet young Sudanese women like Haida.
Or Ahmed, 20, now in Farchana, Chad: “I cannot afford to dream here.” How then to reawaken their dreams? Those in power need to negotiate a ceasefire, and ensure aid is no longer blocked – from any side.
Those in the region need to show leadership. Those in donor countries need to show compassion – and translate that into funding to address immediate needs.
I speak to Nawal, 24, from Zelinge in West Darfur, for whom the stress of war had become so much that she delivered her baby, at home, two months premature. And then, as she was giving birth, Nawal’s house was bombed. Miraculously, she and her baby survived, but when I met her, the baby was badly malnourished. I will always remember the look of this mother, as she whispered to me, head bowed, “I am a nutritionist, but look at my child’.
She was ashamed. I thought she was heroic. She had walked for a day to get her baby to a facility where the baby could receive treatment from UNICEF, but without additional resources and improved access, she will be one of the few lucky ones.
James Elder is UNICEF’s spokesperson. Follow him @1james_elder
In case you missed it, another beauty brand is coming under fire for lack of inclusivity with its shade range. Cosmetics brand Youthforia first launched its Date Night Skin Tint Serum Foundation with 15 shades, a relatively low number considering the current options on the market. Then, when it came time for an expansion, the 10 additional hues left much to be desired. In fact, people quickly began to point out that its darkest shade, 600 Deep, looked more like deep grey – just black pigment with a smidge of white.
While people have been rightfully outraged, this latest controversy points to a larger issue in the beauty space: beauty brands are still struggling to be inclusive in 2024. There is no sugarcoating that this is discrimination. (A representative for Youthforia did not respond to a request for comment.)
Yes, not everyone can pull a Fenty Beauty and launch right off the bat with 40 shades of foundation. It’s expensive and not everyone has the capital or connections to find a lab that will work with them on such a large scale. Still, what consumers are looking for is equity.
As a brand founder, not only should you consult experienced makeup artists if you aren’t one yourself before creating a complexion line, but you must – at a minimum – make sure to offer products that work for every color on the Fitzpatrick scale. Launching an already limited foundation range with multiple shades for people with lighter complexions and only a handful for people with darker skin tones doesn’t make sense, today or ever. It’s more than just unfair – it’s also not good for business and makes consumers question your values.
The beauty industry at times feels ubiquitous, and that’s by design; there’s a product for every need that you can think of. The market is valued at over 400 billion dollars and is only expected to grow over the next few years. Understandably, everybody wants a piece of the pie. Still, as a result, the industry is also extremely over-saturated. For brand owners, this means that competition is stiff. So if you aren’t going to make sure that a launch is inclusive for a variety of skin tones, what exactly is the point?
No one is denying that launching – and maintaining – a beauty brand is expensive. Everyone should be able to recognize their dream of owning a cosmetics line if they wish to do so, regardless of the cost. Just don’t gaslight beauty consumers into believing that making shades for dark skin is somehow too high of a cost to justify. That’s not true, it is lazy, and it is going to get called out every single time.
Ariel Baker is the associate editor for PS Beauty. Her areas of expertise include celebrity news, beauty trends, and product reviews. She has additional bylines with Essence and Forbes Vetted.
“I think in Game 1, we didn’t give him a lot of chances to make quality saves,” Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson told me before Colorado and Georgie wiped out the Whiteoot in Winnipeg with a 6-3 victory late Tuesday. “I felt like a lot of (shots) were going in from the backside or (to) his right, which is tough.
“And then that can rattle your confidence a little bit. But he’s stepped up and just playing like how he can.”
He grounded the Jets for four straight games. He won twice in Manitoba. He rose to the moment. He blocked out the jeers. He stiffed the haters.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how Lord Stanley comes home.
Down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series Tuesday, Winnipeg threw everything at the crease that wasn’t nailed down. The Jets blistered Georgiev with 19 shots in the second period alone. They came away with one goal to show for it.
Game 1: Seven goals against. Games 2-5: Eight goals. Combined.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is starting to look familiar.
Remember that opening-round whupping of Nashville two years ago? The one where the Avs outscored the Predators 21-9 in four games? The one that got Colorado’s Stanley Cup party train off the platform and rolling toward Union Station?
As first impressions go, this series victory was the more impressive of the two.
Winnipeg had home ice. Winnipeg had momentum. Winnipeg had mojo. Winnipeg had arguably the top team defense in the NHL. Winnipeg had the best goaltender in the Western Conference. The ’22 Preds were forced to roll out rookie backup Connor Ingram to defend the net, effectively ending that fight before it ever really got started.
The Stanley Cup champs two years ago averaged 5.25 goals in smashing Smashville. Against Connor Hellebuyck, the Vezina Trophy finalist who’d shut them out on April 13 at Ball Arena, they averaged 5.6 goals per game.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This stuff is historic.
The Avs became just the fourth team in NHL history to notch at least five goals in the first five games of a series. The Jets became the first club to ever allow five or more games in each of their opening five playoff tilts.
Cynics will cite the bloody cut last week that knocked Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon out of the series. They’ll point to the nasty shot that Winnipeg center Vladislav Namestnikov took to the head, shelving him for Game 5.
Yet they were both good to go in Game 1. The Avs scored six.
They looked fine in Game 2 and Game 3. The Avs scored five. Then six again.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is deep.
Every line brought the heat. And a mean streak. Precedent says Colorado’s Stanley Cup run will probably go as far as the bottom-six forwards can carry it. If Tuesday was any harbinger of what’s to come, best find a comfy chair.
About five-and-a-half minutes into the second period, the score tied at 1-all, fourth-line center Yakov Trenin put down a marker and laid down the law. Trenin was one of GM Chris MacFarland’s under-the-radar deadline pickups, a banger from Nashville, a 6-foot-2 grinder who got swept away by the Avs two years ago.
The Russian pretty much single-handedly badgered his way from behind the net to the corner of Hellebuyck’s left eye, out-hustling at least two Jets defenders to a loose puck, staying with the play through contact, and whipping the biscuit past Bucky for a 2-1 Colorado lead.
Forgive me, Georgie.
This is how you flip the script.
Steel between the ears.
Stone between the pipes.
“Have you ever seen a guy flip a switch in just a few days the way Georgiev has?” a reporter asked Manson after Game 4.
He pondered for a second.
“I don’t think so.” Manson replied. “I think that’s a really tough job for goalies to have to do that. And kudos to him.”
Qurban Mamut (left) and Bahram Sintash (second from left) with their family in Xinjiang, China in 1989. Credit: Courtesy of Bahram Sintash
Opinion by Iris Hsu (taipei, taiwan)
Inter Press Service
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Apr 30 (IPS) – This is the first in a series of articles on World Press Freedom Day, which the UN will commemorate on May 3.The last time Bahram Sintash saw his journalist father was in 2017. Qurban Mamut, an influential Uyghur editor had come to the United States for a visit but upon his return to Xinjiang in northwest China, he disappeared.
Sintash later learned that his father had been swept up in China’s 2017 crackdown on Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups. China has said its policies in Xinjiang, which involve reeducation camps, forced sterilization, and family separations, are in the name of counter-terrorism, but 51 United Nations member countries have accused the government of “crimes against humanity.”
Mamut, as a prominent intellectual who edited the state-owned Xinjiang Civilization and Tepakkur magazines, was sentenced to 15 years for “political crimes,” according to news reports. According to Sintash, his father’s decades of journalism drew the attention of the Chinese government in its efforts to quash the Uyghur cultural industry.
After initially fearing that speaking out could harm his 74-year-old father’s case, Sintash decided to go public about the detention in 2018; in 2020, he joined the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) in Washington, D.C. to be a “voice of voice-less Uyghurs.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) spoke with Sintash about his father’s love of journalism, restrictions on the press in Xinjiang, and what he knows of Mamut’s detention.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Chinese foreign ministry did not reply to CPJ’s email requesting comment on Mamut’s arrest and sentencing.
What can you tell us about your father’s detention?
I initially thought my father was detained in 2018, but later learned it was actually in late 2017. Communication with my family in Urumqi has been severed since then, with China cutting off our ability to talk in late 2017 and early 2018. My mother told me, “We can no longer talk to you,” leaving me without any information about my father.
In September of the following year, I sought to find out what had happened to him. Eventually, one of my neighbors who also lives overseas informed me that my father had been taken away from our neighborhood. This neighbor had heard the news from their family who witnessed my father being taken from his home. I was shocked by this revelation.
At the same time, I was considering what actions to take. I felt that raising my voice was the right decision, but I was extremely cautious. I was unsure of the exact steps to take or the words to use, as anything I said could potentially endanger my father further, given China’s unpredictable actions.
What was the media environment like in Xinjiang before your father’s arrest?
In 2016, a well-known writer, Yalqun Rozi, was detained and later sentenced to 15 years , a fate similar to that of my father. My father visited the United States in January 2017 and stayed for a month, during which time he learned about the detention of Yalqun, a close friend. Yalqun had not been sentenced at that point but was under arrest, likely due to his publication of sensitive topics.
Yalqun had written extensively on various subjects, including Uyghur welfare, and had contributed many essays to my father’s journal, Xinjiang Civilization. Their past collaboration made my father concerned that Yalqun’s arrest might not be an isolated case.
Yalqun’s detention marked the beginning of a broader crackdown on Uyghur intellectuals. China targeted Uyghur intellectuals first in order to more successfully repress Uyghur identity. They began by arresting individuals and then expanded their investigation to a larger network of Uyghurs.
My father understood that this could happen, but we were uncertain about China’s next steps. After 2017, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the situation became increasingly dire, reflecting the tense atmosphere of that time.
Can you tell us about Xinjiang Civilization, the magazine your father edited from 1985 until 2017?
The content in the magazine mainly focuses on culture, history, current affairs, the identity of Uyghurs, examining the shortcomings of the Uyghur nation and society, and opinion pieces. This was the main content before 2017, primarily when my dad was the sole editor-in-chief.
Interestingly, all the names of the journal’s editorial board members were removed in the third issue of 2017 just half a month before the mass detentions began in 2017. The content of the journal dramatically changed in its last publication. It now became filled with red Communist propaganda.
Many of the members on the board were subsequently taken to re-education camps, including my dad. At least two of other members, Abduqadir Jalalidin and Arslan Abdulla, as well as my dad were sentenced to long prison terms.
Before the magazine’s third issue in 2017, its content mainly focused on Uyghur culture and literary works. However, after that issue, it primarily began publishing political content, which mostly revolves around studying Xi Jinping’s ideology.
The next editor even wrote an open letter titled “Protecting the security of the ideological sphere is my priority,” in which he promised not to publish anything promoting “separatism,” “terrorism,” or “two-faced” behavior. The letter followed two articles written by Uyghur officials calling the readers to “protect the unity of the nations with hearts and protect the homeland with loyalty.”
What was your father’s relationship to his journalistic work?
My father was the sole editor; there were no secondary editors. However, he had two assistants who could be considered as secondary editors, but their main role was typing and assisting with computer-related tasks. My father worked tirelessly, often putting in 16-hour days. He would work at the office, come home for a quick meal, and then continue working late into the night, spending countless hours at his desk.
Qurban Mamut (left) and Bahram Sintash (second from left) with their family in Xinjiang, China in 1989. Credit: Courtesy of Bahram Sintash
Your father was quite well known for his journalism. How was he seen in the Uyghur community?
My father was an exceptional teacher, not through writing himself, but by curating and compiling works from other writers. He focused on selecting the right topics, aiming to present the truth without imposing his own opinions on the journal.
He steered clear of politics, especially avoiding any praise of the Chinese Communist Party or spreading its propaganda, which some writers and editors did to secure better positions and ensure their safety. My father, however, sought out authentic voices who could present genuine work, which is why the journal promoted many unknown writers who eventually became famous. The platform allowed them to express the truth.
While my father didn’t publicly express his own views, he was frequently interviewed on TV talk shows due to his extensive knowledge of Uyghur culture. These appearances contributed to his fame. During the 1990s and 2000s, there was a period when Uyghurs enjoyed a degree of freedom to discuss their identity, language, and other aspects of their culture — a stark contrast to the current situation.
Did your father face retribution for his journalism before his imprisonment?
My father was called in for questioning in 2004, although he didn’t face persecution or punishment. This was related to an opinion piece published in his journal about the Uyghur language. At that time, Xinjiang authorities were starting to phase out the Uyghur language from schools and universities, replacing it with Chinese in subjects like mathematics and other majors.
The writer of the piece was arrested, and my father was questioned by the security bureau and China’s intelligence department. To avoid worrying us, my father never shared the full details of what happened.
You believe your father was arrested for his journalism. Why?
After his retirement in 2011 , my father didn’t stop working. He continued to serve on the editorial board of Xinjiang Civilization, and became the head editor of a newly established magazine called Tepakkur. The magazine, published by the state-run Xinjiang Juvenile Publishing House, or Chiso, gained popularity due to my father’s reputation. “Tepakkur” means “think.”
My father, invited to be the editor-in-chief, established this magazine to have more freedom and flexibility in selecting topics.It was not available digitally, only in print, and this was just before the mass arrests began around 2014-2015. As a result, I don’t have a copy and haven’t read the articles, but the journal was well-regarded by its readers.
Can you tell us about your work at RFA? Has your father’s imprisonment made you rethink your personal safety, especially while covering Xinjiang?
I joined RFA because my fear diminished as I became more vocal in advocating for other Uyghurs. I couldn’t remain silent; I had to speak the truth. My mindset became open, ready to face any challenge. Many Uyghurs, concerned for their safety and their families’, avoid RFA and don’t pursue journalism there. But for me, there were no limits. I saw RFA as the only true voice for Uyghurs worldwide, so I joined to work for my people.
As for my efforts to free my father, it’s been an emotionally challenging task. I’ve been in constant communication with organizations, governments, NGOs, and even the United Nations, explaining my father’s situation and speaking to the media. My work extends beyond my father to all Uyghurs and our culture, which I learned to preserve from my father.
Iris Hsu is CPJ’s China representative. Prior to joining CPJ, Hsu interned at Human Rights Watch, Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, and the Atlantic Council. Hsu obtained her master’s degree in international affairs from American University. She speaks Mandarin and French and lives in Taipei.
A solid grade for Denver on two fronts and with one caveat. The Broncos hit a position of need at No. 76 overall in Utah edge rusher Jonah Elliss. They also stayed patient. After picking at No. 12 instead of trading back Thursday, the only way to move up from No. 76 in a meaningful way would have been to deal a player or dip into 2025 draft capital. Instead, Denver held on to its assets and picked a player with the skillset to help early — if he stays healthy. Some risk there given Elliss’ shoulder and hamstring issues, but a solid bet to make deep into Day 2.
Ryan McFadden, Broncos beat writer
Grade: B
Elliss plays with a high-motor, a trait that helped him collect 12 sacks in his final season at Utah. He will need to improve as a run defender, and his shoulder injury, which forced him to not work out at the scouting combine, is a bit concerning. But Elliss has the potential to be a solid rotational player as a rookie who could develop into a starter on the edge in the future.
Troy Renck, sports columnist
Grade: B
Utah’s Jonah Elliss brings energy and intensity to the edge. He has good hands, but needs to add more counter moves to his arsenal. He likely will need to bulk up to help him support the run. He profiles as a sub package pass rusher as a rookie for a group that hasn’t had a player reach double-digit sacks since 2018. That is too much to ask for as a rookie, but his ceiling suggests it is possible by Year 3 as he grows into a full-time role.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist
Grade: B
Troy Franklin? No? Anyone? Elliss is fine — lean, mean, great bloodlines. If you love your edge-rushers with a no-quit engine, you’re going to love this guy. His first-down, short-yardage mileage is still TBD, but Luther’s kid won’t be awed by the stage. Or by Patrick Mahomes. Promise you that.
Matt Schubert, sports editor
Grade: C+
The Broncos pass rush needs help. That much is true. Jonah Elliss has the pedigree (dad, Luther, could play) and the production (16.5 sacks at Utah). But it sure would’ve been nice to give first-round pick Bo Nix an extra weapon on offense — especially with so many good ones still on the board.
The gut reaction to this pick is going to be almost entirely driven by the strength of trust in Sean Payton to pick a quarterback. The fact that Nix was the sixth of the perceived top six selected Thursday will either prove Payton and the Broncos’ evaluation process to be a terrific one or it will end up looking like desperation. That makes Nix, far from a sure bet to turn into an upper-echelon player at the NFL level, a fascinating case study going forward.
Ryan McFadden, Broncos beat writer
Grade: B-
Going into the draft, it felt like Denver couldn’t walk away without a quarterback. But taking Bo Nix at No. 12 seems like a reach. Unless the Broncos thought the Raiders would take him at No. 13, they could’ve tried to obtain more picks and still taken Nix after trading back. Nix fits Sean Payton’s offense, and his experience (61 college starts) gives him a chance to be a Week 1 starter. But Broncos Country will need to put its full trust in Payton that he knows something that others don’t.
Troy Renck, sports columnist
Grade: B
There was no way the Broncos could rationalize leaving the first round without a quarterback. The AFC demands it. In Nix, Sean Payton landed a quarterback with maturity, intelligence, a quick release and a talent for avoiding sacks. Is he Drew Brees? That’s not fair. But could an athletic game manager be capable of keeping the offense on schedule? Yes. The USC game film provides reason to believe. His Auburn career creates pause. But at some point, you have to trust Payton. And all he’s done is stake his legacy to Nix.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist
Grade: B+
Is the kid a reach at 12? Yup. Is Michael Penix Jr. better? Yup. Not every NFL braintrust loves Bo Nix as much as Sean Payton did, but that’s OK. Even if Nix is more Checkdown Charlie than Drew Brees II, this was a statement of intent. On Day 1, the Broncos didn’t come away from the best QB draft in ages empty-handed. You don’t get big victories in this league without making some small ones first.
Matt Schubert, sports editor
Grade: B
Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Broncos headquarters Thursday night. Was Bo Nix the Broncos’ guy all along? Or did Atlanta turn this thing upside down when it took Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8? It’ll be a long time before we get answers to those questions — if ever. Brock Bowers may very well spend the next eight years shredding the Broncos defense in silver and black. And he was right there for the taking at No. 12. Get ready for that to be one of the many measurements of success with this pick.
The occupancy ban still allows cities and counties to enforce fire codes and to regulate unhealthy and unsanitary conditions, but for the most part, cities will no longer be able to restrict how many unrelated people live in a house or apartment together.
Very few cities still have occupancy limits on their books, and those that do rarely enforce them. Most of the enforcement was occurring in areas near colleges where neighbors complained about cars blocking driveways and too many loud, late-night parties, and landlords use the law as an excuse to limit the number of tenants in an apartment (a discriminatory trick that can intentionally restrict units from less affluent renters).
But late-night disturbances in college neighborhoods can occur whether it is guests or residents making the problems. And we know that both rich and poor tenants can trash a condo or fail to make rent payments on time.
The reality is that with housing reaching unsustainable costs in places across the state, more and more families are doubling up to be able to afford housing. Those families should not live in fear of being “caught” and also should be afforded the protections that come with having their name on the lease as legitimate tenants.
Colorado cities will just have to get more aggressive in enforcing nuisance ordinances that already exist in most places. Anyone can have a problem neighbor whether there is one person living in a house or 15. The problem most generally isn’t density, but rather is the behaviors that can be associated with many college-aged tenants living together. We doubt families will be a concern.
Next up Polis will likely have to consider a bill to allow ADUs on every lot in large cities. Accessory Dwelling Units are a way to bring gentle density to single-family neighborhoods. We understand concerns that coupled with the occupancy limit ban, this bill may bring more than gentle density.
That’s why we are glad to see changes in the proposed law that allow for local jurisdictions to regulate setbacks for detached ADUs. It’s a gentle acquiescence that not every lot, in every city is appropriate for a detached ADU, but that some would try to squeeze one in any way possible to maximize return on investment on a small lot even if the unit takes up the entire backyard.
House Bill 1152 prohibits municipalities from passing ordinances that are more restrictive or require more in terms of design and appearance than the city does for other residential structures. But under the law communities will still be able to set dimensional standards and setback laws that hold ADUs to the same standard as houses. For example, Denver has a minimum amount of a lot that must not be developed, regardless if it’s simply one massive house or two units on a single lot.
The bill also includes a grant program for lower-income homeowners looking to add an ADU that they would rent and for those looking to keep their ADU rents affordable. This will be the key to making certain that more ADUs are constructed than just those that will be used as pool houses or fancy guest houses — developments that do nothing to add to the housing supply.
None of this legislation will solve the housing crisis. We don’t expect a slew of ADUs to pop up in backyards or to get developed in basements, but a few hundred a year, across the state, that could be rented out to more than one family, could slowly have an impact on bringing down rents and purchase prices.
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I grew up in extreme poverty. The ability to access a free, high-quality education in North Texas changed my life. I benefited greatly from the ways community colleges meet students where they are and wrap their arms around them. Classes were small, and I had a clear sense of belonging, despite being the first in my family to go to college.
I still remember having deep discussions with my English professor about author Larry McMurtry. I am a first-generation Latina from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, where everyone looked and sounded like me. But this professor and I both loved McMurtry. It was the first time I connected with someone based on shared academic interests despite entirely different lived experiences.
I did not have the remediation needs or learning gaps that many of today’s pandemic students are experiencing, but I did need support and direction. The tiny community college I attended put me on a path toward a successful and purpose-driven life, and I’m grateful.
I believe that every community college, and every higher education institution, can do the same for their students — and in doing so, help close pandemic learning gaps. It starts with effective strategies and investment of resources.
However, it won’t be easy. Although enrollment at community colleges is on the rise after steep drops during the pandemic, these schools are facing more challenges than ever before. That’s largely due to the pandemic upending education as we knew it — including at San Jacinto College, where I serve on the board of trustees. Students are showing up with serious needs across academic and nonacademic areas, and community colleges, which are often under-resourced, aren’t always equipped to address them.
The pandemic led to sweepingachievement declines in core content areas, and recovery efforts have beenuneven and unfinished. Millions of students left high school with large knowledge and skill gaps that may negatively impact their futures, including their earning potential, according to forecasts by leading economists.
Students who learned virtually or in hybrid settings largely missed out on the critical thinking that develops through classroom conversations. Their teachers were focused on keeping them engaged in an online environment and on providing fundamental instruction. They missed hearing their peers and teachers reason, explain and express. This has made the transition to higher education that much more challenging.
To address such students’ needs, community colleges typically enroll them in noncredit, remedial or developmental classes so that they can gain and demonstrate proficiency in areas they didn’t master in K-12.
At the same time, community colleges are struggling to meet thegrowing mental health needs of today’s students. Past funding models created resource challenges in this area; during the pandemic, employee turnover rates created much higher than normal advisor-to-student ratios. Thankfully, many community colleges were able to bolster mental health support through pandemic relief funding, but we must invest in this critical area in more sustainable ways, such as by focusing on a holistic set of policies and practices that others might learn from.
Higher education also hasn’t mastered how to have important conversations with students about what’s going on in their lives. We have to know them better to effectively support them. Regular surveys and focus groups are essential, and we need to act on the information they provide.
Schools should do a basic needs assessment for each student —at least once a year. Schools that do not run a food pantry, a coat closet or a partnership with local shelters should start doing so. When students don’t have basic needs met, they are unable to focus on academics as much as other students can.
We also need better academic data on incoming students. Higher education and K-12 systems typically don’t collaborate, but we should have two-way conversations to ensure that we understand who is going to need developmental support in college and in which areas.
And finally, we should adjust our teaching practices to better support students. As a former developmental education faculty member, I always did a first-day writing assessment that allowed me to learn more about my students personally and about their writing strengths and weaknesses. To help students develop their writing, I also broke essay assignments into smaller pieces so students could get quicker feedback — and I could make quicker assessments of their needs.
That approach should be extended to other courses post pandemic. Providing college students with developmental coursework means creating and delivering compact and efficient lessons to help them fill their K-12 learning gaps. It also means dealing with insecurities about reading and writing deficiencies.
We also need to recognize that many college students are also working part-time jobs and being caregivers. Taking an empathetic stance is vital.
We must get students on their desired higher education pathway as quickly as possible, and avoid holding them in high-school level, remediation courses for extended periods.
In higher education today, a lot is happening to make school leaders feel both energized and daunted. But it’s vital that we focus on the most critical tasks before us. Community colleges must get to know and understand their students so they can meet their needs.
Michelle Cantú-Wilson is a member of the San Jacinto College Board of Trustees, where she previously served in faculty and administrative roles. She also serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Rescuing Zach Wilson is smart. Stopping at Zach Wilson is hubris.
As a quarterback, Wilson’s merely appetizer material. If the NFL draft is still serving Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. as a main course, and at a reasonable cost, the Broncos would be crazy not to bite.
A QB room consisting of Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci and a seventh-round flier to be named late would be the worst in the division (pending Raiderfoonery ). And arguably the worst in an AFC that’s still loaded with franchise signal-callers.
In isolation, though, you get it. Landing Wilson from the Jets with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder is a solid, low-cap, low-risk move. It just better not be the only one, at least where the quarterback is concerned.
After Russell Wilson took the money and ran, the best thing the Broncos could do at QB1 right now is open this competition to the masses. Bring in as many bodies as you can afford until one of them actually sticks.
On one hand, the kid did beat Russell Wilson, head-to-head, at Empower Field as a visiting QB with the Jets twice in two trips since September 2022.
On the other, what the heck does that say?
If you look at Zach Wilson’s 30 career starts against anyone not named the Broncos, he’s sported a 10-20 record, thrown 23 touchdowns and 22 picks, and completed 17 passes per game at a clip of 56.5%.
Wiser football heads, old coaches and scouts texted me Monday to say they still see a spark in Zach Wilson, that nobody could’ve walked away from the dumpster fire that is the J-E-T-S without some second-degree burns. That maybe Broncos QB Whisperer Sean Payton — Russell Wilson notwithstanding — is the sensei who winds up bringing it out of the guy, the way he brought it out of Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Kerry Collins, another top-5 bust in his early days with Carolina.
Although with the latter, it’s worth noting that Collins went 16-9 as a starter over his first two seasons with the Panthers, pre-Payton. He even made a Pro Bowl during his second season in the league before things went south. Wilson, at a similar stage in his career, hasn’t come anywhere close to that.
As depth, though, he works. As insurance, he fits. If anything, it means Payton and GM George Paton don’t have to feel forced to sell whatever farm is left in order to try to swoop into one of the top 5 picks in the draft. It probably also means that they’re not sure if they’ve got the capital to even pull that off.
Unless the tank for 2025 — a reality show of Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders and Peyton would be more theater than these mountains could handle — is truly on, Wilson helps a QB room. He doesn’t complete it. Add Penix or Nix to that mix, though? Now you’re cookin’ with gas.
Wilson is the banana bread French toast at Panzano, the mac & cheese at Nola Jane. A great first bite. But if he’s the last, this off-season is going to leave Broncos Country with a familiar, empty feeling in their guts.
The Winnipeg Jets know it. John Buccigross knows it. The moose wandering around south Manitoba know it. Over his last six appearances, dating back to April 5, Georgiev’s given up 29 goals. Bednar, the Avs’ venerated coach, isn’t just running out of options here. He’s running out of time.
Winnipeg put seven more past No. 40 in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series Sunday, roughly a week after peppering him for a touchdown and extra point at Ball Arena.
This time, it took two periods for Georgiev to become Fourgiev. It took three for him to become Sevengiev.
Yes, when the other guys put seven on your tab, it’s a group fail. The hope was that the Burgundy and Blue had a postseason gear they could shift to. That Bednar’s porous, sloppy defense over the last three weeks would flip a switch.
Guess what? No gear. No switch. They are what they were. They need a guy between the pipes who can bail them out.
Georgie ain’t it.
With 5:20 left, down 7-5, the Avs had outshot Winnipeg 36-19, per NaturalStatTrick.com, and produced 10 “high-danger” chances to the Jets’ 8. What does all that mean? In terms of “expected goals,” per the site’s metrics, with a typical netminder, the Avs should’ve been leading 3-1 or 3-2 at the time.
Nothing about this is typical anymore. What doubles the hurt is that the Avs came out firing right from the jump, getting off 11 shots in the first 10 minutes to Winnipeg’s one. They managed a 1-0 lead for their trouble. It lasted all of 112 seconds.
More galling is that Colorado had a pivotal road game — since 2018, the Avs have won six of seven series in which they’ve notched a Game 1 victory — rocking at their pace of choice. Up and down, PlayStation style. “NHL 94” with the “icing” and “fatigue” sliders switched to off.
Alas, this is reality, not your frat bro’s basement. Although Game 1’s first period was so crazy, both goaltenders played as if they were wearing straitjackets. Six goals, seven giveaways, 22 shots and zero sanity.
What happens when a team with playoff scars and playoff skill but leaky goaltending (the Avs) meets a team with postseason nerves but one of the best net-minders on the planet (the Jets)? The opening 16 minutes of Colorado-Winnipeg, a ride with more twists than a David Fincher flick.
Down 1-0, the hosts scored twice in 3:55 to take a 1-goal lead. The Avs scored twice in 18 seconds for a 3-2 cushion. Which lived on for about 48 seconds until Mark Scheifle, camping out in front of Georgiev, slipped behind Josh Manson and slotted past the Colorado goalie to square things at 3-all.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be healthy enough to play or not,” Bednar told reporters Sunday. “He wasn’t healthy enough to play (Game 1). We’ll see what we see (Monday) morning.”
The more you think about it, the more depressing it becomes. The Avs pounded Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, your likely Vezina winner, with six goals — on his home ice. It was the first time Bucky’s ever been tagged for more than five in the postseason. And only the third time over his last 130 starts.
Still wasn’t enough.
“GEORRRRRR-GIEV!” the Jets fans jeered.
“GEORRRRRR-GIEV!”
They know it, too. When the game didn’t find Manson, it found Georgie. If he’s in the net Tuesday, the Avs are going to find themselves halfway to Cancun.
We need to change our health care system to Medicare for All. Our current health care system is in crisis and the cost of health care has been rising so rapidly that many people can’t afford it even with insurance.
Health care is a basic human need. It should be available to everyone. The United States is a rich, developed country but its health care system is broken and fragmented; we have the most complicated and expensive health care in the world.
Stories of how we don’t get the health care we need abound. My friend Melinda is a single mother and earns barely above minimum wage. She has health insurance but each time Melinda takes her daughter to a doctor, she has a co-payment of $70, which is expensive. Melinda has medical problems, but she can’t see a doctor herself because she can’t afford the co-payment. The mother of an eight-year-old boy in the Midwest couldn’t afford to take him to a dentist. This boy died because his untreated toothache grew into a brain abscess that killed him. His mother had health insurance but it didn’t cover dental health. Apparently, teeth are not considered part of our body by the insurance companies. A young woman in Nevada was denied care for a blood clot in her leg because the hospital said she didn’t have insurance even though she actually did. She died.
Over 1,600 insurance companies increase health care costs with a high overhead, mountains of paperwork, prior approvals for care, expensive advertising, and salaries of millions of dollars to their executives and billions of dollars in profit, hidden in offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands.
Corporate greed has no place in health care. Despite the Affordable Care Act, health care costs are out of control with ever-increasing premiums, co-payments, high deductibles and out of pocket expenses. Diabetics die because they can’t afford the high cost of insulin, often close to $400 a month.
When people cannot afford needed care, they delay care or skip preventive care, needed tests or prescription drugs. They get sicker. Care delayed is care denied and many suffer and die! I have lost very dear friends because their cancer was detected too late to be treated.
Meanwhile, the health care industrial complex continues to make huge profits. The insurance companies are not our doctors but they often control our health by not paying for necessary care.
This causes pain, suffering, death and medical debt and bankruptcy when patients have to pay for life-saving care out of pocket. The insurance companies also create networks that dictate what hospitals and providers a patient can use. A woman in New York City received a heart transplant. As she was recovering, she got a bill for $60,000. Because her surgeon was not in the insurance company’s network, they wouldn’t pay for the operation that saved her life.
We need to take the profit out of our health care. Medicare for All is the solution to our health care crisis. Medicare for All is health care for all. It will create a new system of publicly-funded health care that would be affordable, cover all our medical needs and cover everyone. No one will be denied medical care or the prescriptions they need. Medicare for All will cover all health care needs, including dental, vision and reproductive health. No one will die because they can’t see a dentist to treat a toothache. Improved Medicare for All is efficient, simple, and eliminates administrative waste and eliminates corporate greed.
Canada has Medicare for All. It is affordable and Canadians are healthier and have a longer life expectancy than us. Ask your legislators to vote for Medicare for All and make it the law of the land. It’s a matter of life and death.
Maria Termini is an artist, activist and public speaker who lives in Roslindale, MA. She has worked with Habitat for Humanity and served in the US Peace Corps in Bolivia. She works with Mass Care and Healthcare Now. She can be reached at mariatermini2013@gmail.com and welcomes your comments.
Opinion by Felix Dodds, Chris Spence (apex, north carolina / dublin, ireland)
Inter Press Service
With current UN Secretary-General António Guterres set to step down in 2026, who is in the running to replace him? In this seven-part series, Felix Dodds and Chris Spence reveal who might be in the running and assess their chances.
The potential candidates include Amina J. Mohammed (Nigeria), Mia Motley (Barbados), Alicia Barcena (Mexico), Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica) and Michelle Bachelet (Chile). These are names that have come up in conversations with UN insiders and other experts. All six would offer skills and experiences we believe would be valuable in these fast-paced, uncertain times.
APEX, North Carolina / DUBLIN, Ireland, Apr 18 (IPS) – Is the rough-and-tumble of leading the UN General Assembly a good preparation for the top UN job?
Maria Fernanda Espinosa served as President of the UN General Assembly from 2018-2019, garnering votes from 128 out of 193 member states. With her victory, she became only the fourth woman—and the first from Latin America—to run this important UN body.
The UN General Assembly in session.
Her time in charge of the General Assembly was eventful. During her year as its leader, Espinosa pushed hard for progress on women’s empowerment and gender equality, particularly in terms of boosting women’s political participation. On several occasions she gathered women heads of state and government, as well as other female leaders, for events aimed at advancing this agenda.
María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. Credit: UN Photo
She also focused on the rights of refugees, presiding over the adoption of the Global Compact on Refugees, as well as a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Furthermore, she launched an International Year of Indigenous Languages and helped advance the international conversation on single-use plastics, supporting efforts to eliminate their use at UN headquarters in New York and Geneva.
Additionally, she used her tenure to urge greater progress on nuclear disarmament and on diseases like tuberculosis.
But her career began thousands of miles from New York. Her early focus was in the Amazon, working alongside indigenous communities in her native Ecuador. Later, she represented Ecuador as its Ambassador to the UN. She also served twice as her country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and in several other ministerial positions, including as Minister of Defense and, earlier, as Minister of Natural and Cultural Heritage.
Prior to holding these senior government positions, Espinosa was an associate professor and researcher at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences. She also served as an advisor on biodiversity, climate change, and indigenous peoples’ policies. Later, she became regional director for South America for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a position she held from 2005-2007.
Espinosa’s track record on climate change is also noteworthy, as she has served since 2009 as a key negotiator in several climate conferences, including COP21 in 2015, where the Paris Agreement was signed.
Her early academic life was as broad and eclectic as her later professional career, with degrees in social science, Amazonic studies, anthropology, political science, and linguistics. She even won a national prize in poetry.
Assessing Espinosa’s Prospects
Could Maria Fernanda Espinosa’s wide-ranging experiences qualify her to be the next UN Secretary-General? Here is our assessment of her advantages and disadvantages, should she put her name forward.
Advantages
Right Region: Like several of our other potential candidates, Espinosa’s Ecuadorian background and an apparent preference for a leader from Latin America and the Caribbean could work in her favor.
UN Experience: Espinosa has been both the President of the UN General Assembly, where she emerged with her reputation intact, and a UN Ambassador in New York. She has led the Group of 77 developing nations in UN negotiations and been a lead negotiator in key climate talks. These UN experiences should surely burnish her credentials.
Connections: Espinosa developed strong networks during her time leading the Group of 77 and as President of the UN General Assembly. She has strong connections among leading women’s groups and indigenous peoples. Could this robust set of networks among senior politicians and various important stakeholders help her become Secretary-General?
A Woman Leader: As noted previously, the UN has never had a female leader during its 80-year history. It is high time this changed. Espinosa would be another capable candidate. In addition, she has a clear track record promoting women’s leadership at the United Nations.
She is current Executive Director of the Group of Women Leaders for Change Inclusion, hosting a successful summit in Madrid early in 2024 that drew leaders from the UN system, as well as high-profile names such as Hilary Clinton.
Disadvantages
Should Only Prime Ministers Apply? The current Secretary-General, António Guterres, was previously Portugal’s Prime Minister. While earlier UN leaders did not head-up governments, it is an open question as to whether Guterres’ appointment will set a new precedent or expectation for future UN leaders. If it does, Espinosa and other candidates who cannot boast of being a former president or prime minister may have their work cut out. That said, historically the UN Secretary-General’s role often attracted former foreign ministers to apply. If that earlier precedent is restored, Espinosa’s time as Ecuador’s foreign minister (twice) could be an advantage.
An ‘Outside’ Insider? Like Alicia Bárcena and some other possible candidates, Espinosa can claim both outside experience as a government minister, and ‘inside’ UN expertise heading up the UN General Assembly and playing a leading role at major UN negotiations. However, it is worth noting that Espinosa has never actually worked within the UN as a staff member; most of her UN experience was gained while she was with the Ecuadorian government. This makes it substantively different. Espinosa will likely have less true inside working knowledge than some other possible candidates of how the UN operates internally, possibly meaning her learning curve would be steeper.
Name Recognition: While those in UN climate circles and at New York headquarters will know her, Espinosa is not a household name. Could this tell against her?
Prof. Felix Dodds and Chris Spence have participated in United Nations conferences and negotiations since the 1990s. They co-edited Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy: Profiles in Courage (Routledge, 2022), which examines the roles of individuals in inspiring change.
There has been much talk and concern in recent months about making higher-level math more accessible to high schoolers, particularly low-income students from Black and Hispanic communities. Much of this discussion dwells on what is the best curriculum to use to teach Algebra I and other higher-level math courses.
The right curriculum is important, of course. A high-quality curriculum creates the foundation for success in math. A curriculum that values culturally responsive education enables teachers both to value the many kinds of experiences that students bring to classrooms and to push them academically while engaging them personally.
But properly implementing an Algebra I curriculum is at least as important as the curriculum itself. The core of implementation, meanwhile, is coaching each teacher for the specific challenges they will face in their classrooms. The key to success is ensuring that teachers understand the vision for how to implement the curriculum and are therefore motivated and prepared to use it to help children learn in ways that are relevant to them.
In a way, it’s like photography. The key to creating art with light and time is not the equipment. Although Hasselblad and Leica cameras and a metal case of Nikkor lenses are great in the hands of those who know how to use them, a great tool to create expressive photographic art can also be found in your purse or pocket. As with teaching algebra, the key is not the specific tool, but knowing the right approach and being trained well enough to be confident in using that approach.
I’ve seen a focus on implementation pay off in my own work as director of Algebra Success for the Urban Assembly. One of our coaches at the nonprofit, Latina Khalil-Hairston, encouraged teachers at Harry S Truman High School in the Bronx to tinker with their curriculum to encourage more student involvement.
They created a new lesson structure that focused more on getting students to help each other solve problems than on getting direction from teachers. While doing so, they were mindful of adopting this new structure within the challenging constraint of having only 45 minutes for each lesson. Teachers saw more participation and better results, which has been its own motivation.
Professionals in all fields need coaching and support — why would high school math be any different? We wouldn’t give a basketball playbook to a player and expect them to be LeBron James. Even LeBron James still practices and gets coaching feedback. Even the most accomplished among us need to see a vision of excellence.
Yet I have seen many schools fall into the trap of investing in a curriculum without giving teachers the most useful ways to implement it. Unsurprisingly, these schools fail to achieve the results they hoped for and then abandon one curriculum for another.
But the curriculum is just the camera. Training and coaching, personalized to each teacher, produce the art.
And that coaching should not only help teachers understand their tools, but also help them better understand the backgrounds of their students to ensure that their perspectives are part of the learning process. Knowing the nature of the student body can dramatically enhance understanding, retention and interest in math (or any subject).
I’ve seen the results. Just last year, we saw pass rates on the Algebra I Regents for schools participating in our Algebra Success program rise 13 percent over the previous year. College-readiness math results rose 14 percent.
It is time for schools and districts to abandon the search for the one perfect curriculum — it does not exist. Instead, they should focus on how to better implement the systems they have in an engaging, effective way. They should invest in the training and support of teachers to master the instruction of that curriculum. With these changes, we know students will find success in Algebra I, putting them on the path to higher-level math courses and postsecondary success.
Shantay Mobley is the director of Algebra Success for the Urban Assembly, a nonprofit that promotes social and economic mobility by innovating in public education. She previously was a math teacher, school leader and instructional consultant.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
In 2023, the United Nations released a report revealing that extreme weather disasters had incurred economic losses totaling $4 trillion, with significant impacts felt across various sectors, notably agriculture. Credit: Miriet Abrego / IPS
Opinion by Esther Ngumbi (urbana, illinois, us)
Inter Press Service
Additionally, the report highlighted the economic losses and other impacts extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and tropical cyclones have on agriculture.
Indeed, globally, and in the United States, record-breaking, extreme weather disaster events, such as flooding, storms, and droughts, have become extremely costly and excessively too common.
In Asia, Africa, and many other continents, the agricultural sector is equally important, and further serves as a source of employment, and thus a poverty-reducing sector. According to UN FAO, agriculture accounts for over 35 percent of Africa’s GDP.
Emerging, therefore is the need for multipronged efforts to help to mitigate the impacts these climate change associated disasters have on agriculture.
First. Inform agricultural sector stakeholders including farmers about newly launched technologies and most recent science-backed climate solutions.
Researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators continue to bring to life novel technologies, climate solutions, and innovations that can be deployed to help to mitigate climate change impacts.
From artificial intelligence powered prediction models that can reliably forecast when disasters are going to happen, prompting stakeholders to act, to climate resilient crops, to regenerative agricultural practices such as cover cropping, mulching, and digging trenches that can help mitigate the impacts of drought and flooding to indoor agriculture that cushions agricultural crops from weather, pests and water and space limitations.
To make sure that this information is available, governments or innovators could keep a tab or have an inventory of all recent climate solutions. This can be a one stop database that carries the most recent info. It could be in the form of a climate solutions dashboard.
Complementing information is the need to create incentives to accelerate the adoption of these newer climate solutions, technologies, and strategies. Monetary incentives, for example, could go a long way in facilitating the rapid adoption of research backed climate solutions for agriculture. For example, in Illinois, farmers who are practicing regenerative practices such as cover cropping are eligible for a three-year contract payment of $50 per acre.
Moreover, there is a need to actively engage the next generation of farmers. Programs such as the recently launched US Department of Agriculture climate corps, a program that will mobilize over 100 young people to help advance sustainable agriculture, is a move in the right direction.
Second. Continue to invest in research, entrepreneurs, agencies, and programs dedicated to climate research.
Research continues to be central in helping to generate new solutions. As such, there is need to keep funding researchers that are actively engaged in research aimed at generating newer solutions or understanding the direct and indirect impacts of climate change associated disasters.
Third.Take good data before, during, and after climate disasters.
Good data can be leveraged to help address climate change impacts to agriculture including being used in machine learning, to help to create predictive models that are continuing to revolutionize our ability to predict disaster events and act. Moreover, data can be used to introduce real-time solutions while helping to accurately capture solutions that are working.
Certainly, data driven solutions will continue to be important now and in the future and should continue to be leveraged.
At the core of preventing direct impacts of weather events on the agricultural sector should be a respect for nature and biodiversity.
Indeed, we live in a biodiverse world, that has other creatures in our ecosystem. For example, the soil matrix is home to earthworms and microbes that underpin agricultural productivity. As such, strategies, solutions, and interventions rolled out should also protect these invisible friends.
In dealing with record-breaking extreme weather events that directly and indirectly impact the agricultural sector, we must choose to launch multipronged solutions that leverage data, incorporate newly available climate solutions and innovations, and create incentives to amplify the adoptions of these solutions. A functioning agricultural sector will continue to be important as we strive to meet our food and nutrition security needs.
Esther Ngumbi, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, African American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
BERLIN, Germany, Apr 08 (IPS) – Russia and Iran currently appear to be pulling firmly in the same direction in terms of foreign policy; ‘What has caused humanity’s suffering is unilateralism and an unjust global order, one manifestation of which can be seen in Gaza today.’ These were the words of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on 7 December.
The content of the statement, coupled with its context – an Iranian-Russian summit in Moscow – succinctly summarises how the war in Gaza has shifted Iran’s perspective toward Russia as a steadfast partner in its stance against Israel and on the war, underpinned by shared viewpoints on major international topics.
Though Putin did not explicitly endorse Raisi’s comments, he did not disappoint his visitor either, pointing out the mutual comprehension between the two states on regional issues, including the Gaza conflict, as one of the topics of bilateral negotiations.
A shared vision on Gaza
The Raisi-Putin meeting, marking the most significant diplomatic engagement between Iran and Russia concerning Gaza since the start of the war, was not an isolated event. Since shortly after the war’s outset, the issue has consistently featured in phone discussions and in-person meetings among the two countries’ officials.
Beyond this bilateral framework, the shared stance on the Gaza issue has also been articulated in multilateral settings where both Iran and Russia are present. The most notable instance was the trilateral ‘Astana format’ meeting between Iran, Russia and Turkey.
While the forum is primarily focused on Syria, the three parties emphasised the significance of preventing the expansion of the armed confrontation in Gaza and the involvement of other regional states in the conflict.
They also ‘expressed deep concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and stressed the need to end Israeli brutal onslaught against the Palestinians and send humanitarian aid to Gaza’.
The growing convergence between Iran and Russia on the Gaza issue is also evident in the official narratives promoted by each country separately; a convergence that has been apparent since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s support for it, attributing international problems and crises to the detrimental role of the West, notably the United States.
Iran and Russia have labelled Western responses to the Gaza conflict as hypocritical, juxtaposing them with Western actions in other global conflicts, especially in Ukraine. This narrative aims to spotlight perceived inconsistencies and biases in Western foreign policies.
Both governments also advocate for regional solutions to regional problems, contesting Western interventions in the Middle East.
Indeed, the alignment in narratives and perceptions between Iran and Russia transcends the immediate context of the war in Gaza. It is part of a broader strategy aimed at transforming the global order into a more multipolar structure, wherein Western dominance is contested and alternative power centres, such as Iran and Russia, assume a more pronounced role.
Concurrently, the negative impact of Western influence is blamed for the inefficacy of international institutions, including the United Nations, in ending the war in Gaza. This aspect also appears to have broader implications.
The Astana talks on Syria demonstrate the commitment of Iran and Russia, along with Turkey, which has equally criticised the Western response to the Gaza war, to establishing alternative platforms for conflict resolution and international cooperation.
In essence, the focus on Gaza in the final statement of the Astana meeting signifies that Iran, Russia and Turkey intend to extend their trilateral cooperation in Syria, which was partly also replicated in the South Caucasus after the latest war between Azerbaijan and Armenia (within the framework known as 3+3), to a wider Middle Eastern context.
Following Syria and the South Caucasus, Gaza may also emerge as a venue for the trilateral cooperation of Tehran, Moscow and Ankara – despite differences in positions – to manifest.
In any case, as many analysts anticipated from the onset of the Gaza war, Russia has sought to leverage the conflict as an opportunity to extend its outreach to the Global South, particularly to Muslim countries critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza. In this context, Russia’s relations with the Islamic Republic have been notably influenced.
On the one hand, the Islamic Republic, as a principal supporter of Hamas and Israel’s foremost adversary, seizes any opportunity to broaden international support for its ally and to weaken Israel’s position.
On the other hand, for the leaders of the Islamic Republic, Russia’s stance is an affirmation that their decision to back Moscow in the Ukraine conflict was judicious.
A nuclear-armed Iran?
The spillover of the Gaza war into other areas in the Middle East and the engagement of Iran’s proxies and non-state allies in the ‘axis of resistance’, from the Houthis in Yemen to Iraqi militias, has introduced an additional layer to the already complex Iran-West dynamics.
Western powers, particularly the United States and Britain, increasingly attribute responsibility to Iran for the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the operations of Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria. Indeed, following the expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme, Tehran’s support for Moscow in the Ukraine war and the suppression of the 2022 popular protests in Iran, the Gaza war has now added a new problem to Iran’s relations with the West.
At the same time, these developments have dimmed the prospects for reviving the Iran nuclear deal or achieving a new agreement between Iran and the US. Under these circumstances, Iran is expected to gravitate more toward its Eastern partners, namely Russia and China.
The war in Gaza has also laid bare the limitations of Iran’s asymmetric warfare strategy utilising proxies and non-state partners. American strikes in Yemen on one side and in Iraq and Syria on the other, although not having reinstated deterrence as Washington had hoped, have revealed that Iran’s network of non-state allies and proxies is quite vulnerable.
Meanwhile, the continuation of Israeli military operations against Hamas has significantly impaired the military capabilities of this Palestinian militia. Some analysts speculate that this might incline Iran toward developing nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent.
An alternative, or perhaps complementary, strategy could be forming a military alliance with friendly powers like Russia and China. Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali-Akbar Ahmadian’s visit to Moscow and the heightened emphasis from both sides on finalising a long-term strategic cooperation agreement should be viewed in this context.
Concurrently, reports have emerged suggesting that Iran has finally decided to provide Russia with ballistic missiles. Russia has also acquired a new model of Iranian drones, Shahed 238. All these indications show that both sides, driven by their practical needs as well as long-term strategic outlooks, are increasingly inclined to forge a robust military partnership.
In fact, even if Iran decides to pursue nuclear weapons, it needs to secure Russia’s support. Thus, fostering relations with Russia remains crucial. Currently, there’s no concrete evidence suggesting that Russia would endorse a nuclear-armed Iran. However, it’s not entirely implausible, depending on future Russia-West relations.
The above factors have reinforced Iran’s reliance on Russia as a strategic partner. Concurrently, it appears that Russia-Israel relations are approaching a point of no return. Indeed, it remains vital for Russia that Israel not support Ukraine.
But at least in the short term, Israel must prioritise its own security needs amid the war in Gaza and appears incapable of providing substantial security assistance abroad.
Furthermore, Russia is now relatively confident in its achievements in Ukraine. However, this does not imply that Russia desires a complete overhaul of its relations with Israel; rather, it simply perceives less necessity for Israel and believes it now has the upper hand in this relationship.
Yet, factors exist that could challenge the transformation of the Iran-Russia partnership into a steadfast alliance. Most notably, Russia’s ambition to cultivate relations with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf to attract investment and for diplomatic manoeuvring is significant enough that Russia was prepared to endorse the UAE’s stance on three islands in the Persian Gulf disputed between Iran and the UAE, eliciting unprecedented criticism of Moscow in Iran, even among top officials.
Ultimately, Russia was compelled to reaffirm its commitment to Iran’s territorial integrity. Currently, the improvement in Tehran’s relations with Arab capitals, partly facilitated by the Gaza war, may simplify Russia’s task of balancing its relations with both sides of the Persian Gulf. However, there’s no assurance that this approach will remain viable in the long term.
Dr. Hamidreza Azizi is a Visiting Fellow in the Africa and Middle East Division at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.
Source: International Politics and Society (IPS)-Journal published by the International Political Analysis Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hiroshimastrasse 28, D-10785 Berlin
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