OTTAWA — The federal government and the provinces must examine “monstrous” allegations of modern-day forced sterilizations of Indigenous women, NDP reconciliation critic Romeo Saganash said Monday before he pressed for answers in the House of Commons.

Coerced sterilization clearly breaches human-rights standards that Canada must fight to uphold, Saganash in an interview Monday, and said that authorities should very carefully read Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN in 1948.

That international agreement says that “genocide” includes any acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as by “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”

‘They have to take this seriously’

Canadians should not tolerate allegations of forced sterilization in their country, Saganash said, and Ottawa must address the issue as victims share their stories.

“I think they have to take this seriously,” said the Cree lawyer and MP from northern Quebec. “Just the fact that it is happening and people are coming out makes it serious enough to look for a solution.”

The issue of forced sterilizations will also be raised at the UN Committee Against Torture this week, when Amnesty International Canada and a national law firm call for accountability for the practice.

Class-action lawsuit proposed

Maurice Law is leading a proposed class-action lawsuit against the federal government, the government of Saskatchewan, all its health authorities, and individual medical professionals.

The lawsuit was launched in 2017 by two affected women in the Saskatoon Health Region who each claimed $7 million in damages. Now about 60 women are part of the lawsuit.

An additional 32 women have come forward to report they were sterilized without consent since The Canadian Press first published a story last Sunday, associate Alisa Lombard said Monday, noting the women are mostly from Saskatchewan but elsewhere as well.

Earlier: Romeo Saganash says Trudeau doesn’t give ‘f–k’ about Indigenous rights

In its submission to the UN committee, Maurice Law said there has been no effort at a comprehensive review to understand the scale of the problem or the conditions that make forced sterilizations possible.

It also listed a number of solutions, including a proposal to specifically criminalize forced sterilization as the “single most effective, immediate and enduring measure that could be taken” to protect women from this practice.

The Liberal government has not indicated it is looking at this step.

During question period on Monday, Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott said the Liberal government knows coerced sterilization is a gross violation of human rights and of reproductive rights.

The federal government is actively working with provinces and faculties of medicine to ensure safe and culturally appropriate health care is available across the country, she added.

“This is not something that any one order of government can address alone,” Philpott said. “All Canadians have a responsibility to ensure that these practices never happen again.”

For its part, Amnesty International Canada has recommended the federal government appoint a special representative to examine the prevalence of the practice.

Yvonne Boyer, a Metis senator for Ontario, has welcomed this recommendation. She’s said that tubal ligations carried out on unwilling Indigenous women constitute one of the “most heinous” practices in health care in Canada.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde also wants to see the scope of forced sterilization examined and called the practice wrong, immoral and a gross human-rights violation.

SURREY, CANADA — The World Baseball Softball Confederation announced that a record 31 nations will be competing at the 15th WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship in Surrey, Canada, from July 15-24.

The 15th Women’s Softball World Championship in Surrey will bring together the world’s top softball athletes from all five regions, representing the largest global footprint in the event’s history, as eleven nations will be making their women’s world championship debuts.

Stepping onto the women’s softball world stage for the first time are: Brazil, Ecuador, India, Ireland, Israel, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru, Serbia, Switzerland, and Uganda.

• Africa (2): Kenya, Uganda
• Americas (10): Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Peru, United States, Venezuela, and host Canada;
• Asia (6): China, Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines;
• Europe (11): Austria, Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Switzerland;
• Oceania (2): Australia, New Zealand.

WBSC Softball President, Dale McMann said: “The worldwide interest and development of our sport globally is reflected in the widest field of nations participating in the pinnacle women’s softball event, while new nations continue to enrich and emerge upon our sport’s global stage.”

Round Robin sections announced

The 31 nations of the 2016 WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship have been delegated to their respective sections and will open the event with a group round robin:

• Section 1: Japan, Venezuela, France;
• Section 2: USA, Brazil, Austria, Israel;
• Section 3: Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Serbia;
• Section 4: Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Uganda;
• Section 5: Chinese Taipei, Puerto Rico, India, Ecuador;
• Section 6: Netherlands, Czech Republic, Philippines, Pakistan;
• Section 7: China, Cuba, Guatemala, Greece;
• Section 8: New Zealand, Italy, Kenya, Peru.

The Women’s National Team of Japan will head to Surrey as the two-time defending world champions, capturing gold medals in Haarlem (NED) in 2014 and Whitehorse (CAN) in 2012.

The United States — the Eagles — have won nine total women’s world championships and took home the silver medal in 2012 and 2014. Oceania’s Australia — the Aussie Spirit — claimed the bronze medal in Whitehorse and Haarlem. Host Canada is expected to perform well after their gold-medal win at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto.

International selection of Umpires

WBSC has appointed 30 umpires from 18 countries from all corners of the world to officiate in the 15th WBSC Women’s Softball World Championship 2016.

Officials uniting in Surry will be arriving from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain, USA, and Venezuela.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.surrey2016.com.

— Courtesy of the World Baseball Softball Confederation

Netflix has released the official trailer for Season 2 of Marvel’s The Punisher.

In Season 2, Jon Bernthal returns as Frank Castle, who up until now has been living a quiet life out on the road. He ends up becoming involved in an attempted murder of a young girl, played by Giorgia Whigham.

New and old enemies come into his life and he is pressured to make the decision on whether or not to fully accept himself as the Punisher.

Netflix revealed the premiere date for Season 2 of Jan. 18 in a teaser trailer last week, which featured Jigsaw – Castle’s old best friend, Billy Russo, who is now embracing his villainous self.

The Punisher is one of only two Marvel shows left on Netflix, as Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and most recently, Daredevil were all canceled.

The cancellations are speculated to be due to Disney launching their own streaming service, Disney+ in late 2019.

For more on the newest season of The Punisher, check out everything we learned on our set visit for Season 2 and read our review of Season 1 where we said, “The Punisher sets itself apart from the rest of the Marvel Netflix series with a great first season.”

Jessie Wade is a news writer at IGN and will probably be bingeing Season 2 the day it comes out. Chat with her on Twitter @jessieannwade if you so please.

When we talk about royal fashion — which we do pretty often — the conversation is generally centred around Meghan Markle or Kate Middleton. And for good reason: the two duchesses are known for being impeccably fashion-forward. (We still have trouble not taking Kate’s gorgeous coat collection as a personal insult. How is it fair that she has so many custom-made Catherine Walker originals and we don’t?!)

But there’s one figure who’s rarely included in these discussions, even though she absolutely deserves to be: Queen Elizabeth herself. It can’t be easy being stylish at age 92, but she pulls it off.

Everyone knows her fashion sense as clean, elegant and monochromatic: she almost always wears one solid colour, often with a matching hat, pearl necklaces, and clean white gloves. And she’s carried the same black leather handbag by Launer for more than 50 years, as Today reported. (She even uses it to send messages to her staff, apparently: royal historian Hugo Vickers once told People that the Queen’s handlers will come rescue her from a boring conversation if she places her bag on the floor.)

Maybe some of the more critical onlookers out there would call the Queen’s style boring, but as it turns out, she has been experimental —in her own, very narrowly-defined context, of course.

After she was crowned in the early 1950s, Queen Elizabeth generally wore modest and elegant versions of clothing that was popular at the time, which often included full and high-waisted skirts.

But you might be shocked to learn that in the ’60s, she sometimes wore sleeveless dresses. Scandalous!

She always liked hats, but the accessory really took off in the 1970s. Several were turban-like, as was the fashion at the time, but she also likes Bretons, pillbox hats, and wide-brimmed top hats. Beyond their aesthetic purpose, hats were attention-getting for a reason, fashion curator Caroline de Guitaut told The New York Times two years ago, when she and her colleagues at the Royal Collection Trust organized a restrospective on royal fashion at Buckingham Palace.

Hats “enable people who want to catch a glimpse of her to spot her immediately,” de Guitaut told the paper. “Almost every hat she wears is strategic, ensuring her face is fully visible but also framed in a range of styles over the years that were often considered very avant-garde for their day.”

She continued to wear royalty-appropriate fashionable clothes through the 1970s and ’80s, such as a caftan dress when she met Pierre Trudeau in 1977 and shoulder pads during a trip to Australia in 1986, Insider points out.

(Quick refresher in the Canadian history of admirably petty photobombing: that was the same year when then-prime minister Trudeau did a pirouette in a photo behind the Queen to “show his disdain for the monarchy.”)

Of course, her choices often have diplomatic codes — just like Meghan Markle wore a “Fiji blue” gown while in the islands during last fall’s royal tour, Queen Elizabeth often connects her wardrobe to the conditions of the place where she’s visiting. For instance, on her delicate first post-WWII visit to Germany, the Queen wore a turquoise organza silk gown by another frequently collaborator of hers, the tailor Hardy Amies. According to the New York Times, Amies used silver thread and beading on the gown, meant to evoke to interiors of the palaces she visited.

And that same year, the Queen wore a green dress with the insignia of the Order of Ethiopia when she visited the east African country.

But her monochromatic coat-and-hat look is without a doubt the Queen’s most iconic at this point in her life — it’s largely all she’s been seen wearing since the 1990s. The looks are tasteful and simple, often with details that add a dash of whimsy.

And it’s not a brand-new look, either: the Queen, practical as she is, has long embraced the simple look.

Despite this impressive display, the Queen was never overly concerned with fashion, according to her longtime collaborator, the British couturier Sir Norman Hartnell, who designed many state gowns for her (including her coronation dress.)

“The queen and queen mother do not want to be fashion setters,” Hartnell once said. “That’s left to other people with less important work to do.”

Could have fooled us.

WICHITA, Kan. – Oklahoma City University softball coach and NFCA Hall of Famer Phil McSpadden became the first four-year college coach to reach 1,500 career victories after the Stars’ 7-4 eight-inning win over Baker (Kan.) and a 6-1 triumph over Kansas Wesleyan at Two Rivers Youth Club in the Friends Tournament on Friday.

McSpadden, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, moved his coaching record to 1,500-361 in his 29th year at OCU. The Stars, ranked sixth in the NAIA, improved to 22-0 on the season.

On April 10, 2015, McSpadden took the lead in wins against four-year schools among college softball coaches with OCU’s 8-0 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in Oklahoma City. McSpadden passed Margie Wright (NFCA ’00), who had 1,457.

In college softball, Mike Candrea (NFCA ’96) can claim more victories than McSpadden. Candrea has 1,625 college softball wins – 1,440 at Arizona and 185 at the junior-college level with Central Arizona.

— Courtesy of Oklahoma City Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Rich Tortorelli

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While a lot of the 2015 NFCA National Convention program, held Dec. 2-5 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, is dedicated to education, another focal point is the recognition of coaching achievements. These accomplishments range from earning a 100th victory to being inducted into the prestigious NFCA Hall of Fame.

Over the course of four days, coaches will be recognized for victory milestones, on the field success, off the field success and perseverance and illustrious careers.

2015 NFCA CONVENTION WEBSITE | REGISTER HERE | SCHEDULE

Highlighting the convention is the 2015 Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Dec. 4. This year’s class of Jo Evans (Texas A&M), Anita Kubicka (Montclair State) and Clint Myers (Auburn) has generated over 2,800 victories and guided their programs to 44 NCAA tournaments and 17 Women’s College World Series / National Championship appearances. The NFCA has been inducting members into its Hall of Fame since 1991 with the current total standing at 65.

At the Easton Victory Club Luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 3, head and associate head coaches receive recognition for milestone victories obtained during the 2015 season, while enjoying friendly conversation over lunch. In 2015, honorees range from 100 wins to this year’s high mark of 1,400 triumphs.

The Coaching Staff of the Year brunch on Saturday, Dec. 5 highlights 2015 and showcases the coaching staffs that guided their teams to successful seasons, including national championships, with regional and national accolades. Along with entire staffs, individuals garner awards in the Assistant Coach of the Year category.

In addition, the Donna Newberry “Perseverance” Award and the Mary Nutter Scholarship recipients are honored. The late John Keyes of North Fort Myers (Fla.) HS, who recently passed away in October, is this year’s Donna Newberry recipient and will be recognized at the Softball Summit on Friday. The award, named for the longtime Muskingum College and 2008 NFCA Hall of Fame coach who died in November 2010 after amassing a 906-419-1 mark over 36 seasons, recognizes an NFCA member coach who has demonstrated extraordinary strength of will and character in the fight to overcome a physical, mental or social adversity that presented an additional challenge to the already demanding job of a coach.

Sheffield (Ala.) head coach Bradley Kimbrough, Bishop Blanchet (Wash.) High School head coach Lisa Olsen and Amherst College assistant coach Taylor Cournoyer were selected as this year’s Mary Nutter winners and will be recognized at the “First Pitch” Opening Welcome on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The educational grant, named for the former Pittsburg State (Kan.) head coach and 1997 NFCA Hall of Fame inductee who founded National Sports Clinics, seeks to continue Nutter’s effort to provide softball coaches at all levels access to the best minds in the sport to help them become better coaches themselves. Recipients receive funding to attend the NFCA National Convention, where they can improve their skills at educational seminars and through interaction with their fellow convention attendees.

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN’s weekly video game talk show. This week we’re discussing Apex Legends, Metroidvanias, and more. Watch the video above or download the podcast below.

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