United Nations Convention

Draganfly Reports its 2023 Results

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Saskatoon, SK., March 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) (FSE: 3U8) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is pleased to announce its fourth quarter and fiscal 2023 financial results.

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Saskatoon, SK., March 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) (FSE: 3U8) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is pleased to announce its fourth quarter and fiscal 2023 financial results.
The financial year 2023 was a transition year for Draganfly as 2023 marked new production capacity coming online along with the commercialization of its flagship Commander 3XL and Heavy Lift Drone platforms.
As a percentage of sales, gross margin increased from 10.4% in 2022 to 31.5% in 2023.
Draganfly announced record third-quarter results for 2023, recording revenue of $2,138,017, which marked a 14.0% increase from the same period the previous year.

TMC Applauds ~350 Former U.S. Political and Military Leaders Urging Senate to Ratify Law of the Sea for Deep-Sea Mine Sites "Each Containing a Trillion Dollars in Value"

Retrieved on:

Thursday, March 14, 2024

UNCLOS ratification remains a legislative uncertainty for the U.S., but the country can still potentially process and refine nodules through allied countries and contractors, and TMC’s offshore exploration and onshore processing campaigns have involved a wide array of American companies and universities.

Key Points:

UNCLOS ratification remains a legislative uncertainty for the U.S., but the country can still potentially process and refine nodules through allied countries and contractors, and TMC’s offshore exploration and onshore processing campaigns have involved a wide array of American companies and universities.
The letter , which follows this week’s introduction of the Responsible Use of Seafloor Resources Act (RUSRA) in Congress, was signed by around 189 American ambassadors, 73 generals, 50 admirals, four directors of national intelligence and scores of other distinguished supporters.
Although the U.S. has yet to ratify UNCLOS — a legislative step that would enable it to access the vast, untapped critical minerals found in seafloor nodules in international waters — it can still process and refine critical minerals extracted from polymetallic nodules collected in international waters.
In December 2023, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act, through which the House Armed Services Committee directed the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to submit a report to the Committee to assess “the processing of seabed resources of polymetallic nodules domestically.”

The world’s spectacular animal migrations are dwindling. Fishing, fences and development are fast-tracking extinctions

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 12, 2024

This fate is all too common for migratory species.

Key Points:

This fate is all too common for migratory species.
Today, we get a global glimpse of how migratory species are faring, in the first-ever stocktake produced by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.
After all, the migratory humpback whale was headed for rapid extinction – until we stopped whaling.

Why are migratory species at higher risk?

Some bar-tailed godwits fly 13,000 km without stopping – one of the longest known continuous migrations.
On land, roads and fences carve up migratory routes for animals like wildebeest.
While a few species are benefiting greatly from farming and artificial wetlands, many more are being severely harmed.

Overexploitation is the top risk

Animals often migrate in large groups, making them an appealing target for hunting or fishing.
Bycatch in commercial fisheries is a huge problem for sharks, turtles, mammals and birds, but it can be massively reduced with existing technology, if deployed across all fleets Overexploitation can be stopped.
In 1981, Australia and Japan agreed to stop hunting Latham’s Snipe, a migratory shorebird that travels between the two countries.

On fences and stepping stones

Light pollution can mess with navigation, climate change plays havoc with the timing of migration, and underwater noise pollution can confuse marine migrants.
Even simple actions like building fences, roads and dams can disrupt migrations over land and through rivers.
Many migratory species need stepping stones: resting sites linking up their whole migratory route.

What the report didn’t cover

First, it only covers species listed under the UN convention, a tiny fraction of all migratory species.
Listing unlocks stronger protections and urgently needs to be rolled out to more species.
For instance, around 60 migratory fish species are covered – but more than 1,700 others are not.

Can we save these species?

More than 90% of the world’s migratory birds aren’t adequately protected by national parks and other protected areas.
Only 8% of the world’s protected land is joined up, preventing migrating animals from moving safely across their routes.
Because of this, animals have to make daring sorties across unprotected land or sea to complete their journeys.

Richard Fuller receives funding for migratory species research from the Australian Research Council and the National Environmental Science Program.
Lily Bentley works on the Migratory Connectivity in the Ocean (MiCO; mico.eco) system, which has been previously supported by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) and UNEP-WCMC, the authors of the UN report.

Changes are coming to Ontario’s kindergarten program — what parents and caregivers need to know

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 12, 2024

OHRC, Public policy, Language, Parent, Curriculum, Literacy, Teaching, United Nations Convention, Rights, Science, Research, Reading disability, Beauty, Student, Tutoring

The Right to Read inquiry revealed Ontario’s public education system was not using evidence-based approaches to teach children with reading disabilities (and others) how to read.

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The Right to Read inquiry revealed Ontario’s public education system was not using evidence-based approaches to teach children with reading disabilities (and others) how to read.
The education minister also said curricular updates are in keeping with the Right to Read report’s recommendations.

Teaching reading isn’t basic

It is not surprising that this political strategy is being used to market updates to the kindergarten program.
It’s also important to note that the phrase “basics” is contradictory to what we know about the science of reading: teaching reading is anything but basic and involves understanding reading psychology and development, understanding language structure, applying evidence-based practices and using validated and reliable assessments to inform teaching.

Ontario’s full-day play-based kindergarten

Based on recommendations from Ontario’s special advisor on early learning, in 2010 Ontario began phasing in full-day play-based kindergarten for all four- and five-year old children.
Essential to the revised kindergarten program was the play-based structure of the full-day program.
Decisions to revise the earlier half-day kindergarten program acknowledged and leveraged research on the value of play and its role in supporting academic, social and emotional development.

The OHRC Right to Read report

Changes to the above model are now being made in response to recommendations from the Right to Read inquiry.
The inquiry’s report includes 157 recommendations directly tied to addressing systemic issues affecting children’s right to read.

Not an either/or conversation

There are many educators in Ontario who already offer meaningful play-based learning opportunities and direct and systematic instruction in their classrooms.
This research has, to date, also documented kindergarten educators using systematic instruction in combination with play-based learning.

Educators need development, resources

What’s needed is to ensure kindergarten educators are being provided with training and professional development to effectively lead classrooms utilizing both play-based learning and systematic instruction in reading, writing and math. This task is anything from basic — but is 100 per cent possible and necessary. As curricular revisions are made, we must ask:
Who are the stakeholders that are being invited to make the revisions to the curriculum?
Who is missing from the conversations?
What research is being used?
What type of training will be provided to educators?
Will this training include a focus on what it means to teach in evidence-based ways — and how to do so?
Will policymakers consider class size and sufficient resourcing for teachers so all students have the classroom supports required to ensure these changes will have real impact?
In updating a curriculum, we cannot merely add additional content for educators to cover each day. Instead, we need to consider what these changes mean and how we can best support educators in successfully supporting children’s learning — through both play-based learning and direct instruction.
Kristy Timmons received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Queen's University, an Ontario Certified Teacher, and a Registered Early Childhood Educator.

Migrating animals face collapsing numbers – major new UN report

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 12, 2024

The first ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report, released today by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, showed that the conservation status of many migratory species is getting worse.

Key Points:

The first ever State of the World’s Migratory Species report, released today by the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, showed that the conservation status of many migratory species is getting worse.
The convention maintains a list of migratory species that are already in need of protection.
More than one in five (or 22%) of the already threatened migratory species now face extinction.

Which species are listed?

There are 4,508 species in the world that are migratory, and the convention lists 1,189.
What must be done
My research has pointed out that migratory species undertake remarkable journeys that connect diverse habitats across the globe.
The report found that the threatened migratory species occurring in Africa, Asia and North America are experiencing the fastest declines.
Of the migratory species that the convention lists as needing some level of protection, 97% are under threat of extinction.

Migratory animals’ habitats are being destroyed

In Africa, 79% of new cropland over the past few decades has been established by destroying the natural vegetation where many migratory animals lived, the report says.
The report also points out that pollution and introducing alien invasive species into habitats of natural vegetation put pressure on these indigenous species.

Why migratory species are important

Migratory species consume tons of food daily.
For example, deep-sea creatures, particularly tiny zooplankton, migrate from deep waters to the surface at night to feed on phytoplankton.
Tiny marine animals are key to working out its climate impacts
Protecting migratory species goes beyond conserving biodiversity; it is crucial for ensuring a healthier future for our planet.

What to do about it

This includes expanding protected areas used by migratory species, taking down fences and making more effort to connect protected areas to each other.
Stronger laws, enhanced international collaboration to curb illegal activities, and reducing bycatch in fisheries are urgently required, says the report.
This report marks a significant step towards creating a conservation roadmap for migratory species.

He is a senior Statistician at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
He is also affilicated with the One Mara Research Hub (OMRH) and the Greater Serengeti-Mara Conservation Society; both devoted to securing the future of the magnificient Greater-Serengeti Mara Ecosystem.

Children’s high-impact sports can be abuse – experts explain why

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

CTE continues to be a serious risk associated with high impact sports, such as boxing, American football and rugby.

Key Points:

CTE continues to be a serious risk associated with high impact sports, such as boxing, American football and rugby.
The NFL has paid out almost a million pounds to former players suffering the effects of sport-induced brain trauma.
Each additional year of playing impact sports raises the risk of CTE, by as much as 30% in American football.
Academic evidence and medical professionals now agree that sport-induced brain trauma leads to degenerative brain disease.

Not suitable for under-18s

We are not calling for adult versions of impact sports to be banned and our argument does not apply to sports or activities where brain trauma might occur by accident.
For example, heading a football can result in immediate and measurable alterations to brain functioning and longer-term brain diseases, such as CTE.
The risk of CTE is far higher in sports such as American football and rugby.

Staying healthy

Teams sports can reduce isolation and help players to develop a range of social skills.
There are no health benefits of tackling – and there are no health benefits of being struck in the head.
Research has shown that incidents of contact during children’s rugby are the cause of cause of 87% of known injuries.

Inability to consent

Children are unable to make informed decisions about the long-term risks of these activities.
Our research draws on a number of legal positions that support our argument that neither children nor parents on their behalf can consent to sports that require brain trauma as a necessary component of the sport.
Some commentators have agreed that while high-impact sports are dangerous, using the term child abuse is a step too far.
Read more:
Sport-induced traumatic brain injury: families reveal the 'hell' of living with the condition

Keith Parry is affiliated with the Concussion Legacy Foundation (UK). Eric Anderson and Gary Turner do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Hage Geingob: Namibian president who played a modernising role

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 5, 2024

He was Namibia’s first prime minister from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 to 2015.

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He was Namibia’s first prime minister from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 2012 to 2015.
He joined the ranks of the national liberation movement South West African People’s Organisation (Swapo during its formation in 1960.
The Namibian nation has lost a distinguished servant of the people, a
liberation struggle icon, the chief architect of our constitution and the pillar of the Namibian house.
Nujoma, the founding president of Swapo, served as president for three terms (1990-2005).

Geingob’s career

This made him different from the mainstream Swapo leadership, which is mainly from the Oshiwambo-speaking population.
People welcomed a leader with origins in an ethnically defined minority group as a sign of multi-cultural plurality.
In 2004 he obtained a PhD at the University of Leeds for a thesis on state formation in Namibia.
His clever politically strategic mind paved the way to be elected as president of the party and state.

Geingob’s presidency

While Nujoma was termed the president for stability and Pohamba the president for continuity, Geingob campaigned as president for prosperity.
Geingob’s rhetoric disclosed a stronger contrast between what was said and what was done than that of his predecessors.
He used more populist rhetoric as his style of governance and leadership, coining the metaphor of the “Namibian House.
… Let us stand together in building this new Namibian house in which no Namibian will feel left out.
… Let us stand together in building this new Namibian house in which no Namibian will feel left out.

The moderniser

Fondly called "Auntie Patty”, Priscilla Geingos was laid to rest in Windhoek in 2014.
Before entering office, Geingob (divorced for a second time from Loini Kandume in 2008) married the businesswoman Monica Kalondo in 2015.
Strong, loyal, and independent-minded, Monica Geingos became an active and internationally recognised First Lady.

Geingob’s legacy

Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza.
The German Government is yet to fully atone for the genocide it committed on Namibian soil.
Geingob was ambitious to enter Namibian history as the president who did more to promote the welfare and advancement of citizens.
His legacy as a moderniser will live on despite all the contradictions and unfulfilled promises.

Henning Melber is a member of Swapo since 1974.

Jason Momoa's Mananalu Water Announces Partnership with World Surf League

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mananalu – actor Jason Momoa's aluminum-bottled water brand on a mission to eliminate single-use plastics – announces their new partnership as the 2024 Official Canned Water for the World Surf League (WSL), the global home of competitive surfing.

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WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mananalu – actor Jason Momoa's aluminum-bottled water brand on a mission to eliminate single-use plastics – announces their new partnership as the 2024 Official Canned Water for the World Surf League (WSL), the global home of competitive surfing.
As an Official Canned Water Partner, Mananalu will be the exclusive canned water onsite at the World Surf League's North American events including the US Open of Surfing, WSL Finals, the Lexus Pipe Pro, and more.
"We are thrilled about our partnership with the World Surf League this year," expressed Lindsey Fischer, Mananalu's Vice President of Marketing.
The World Surf League and WSL PURE are also focused on empowering the global surf community to protect our environment through its WSL One Ocean initiative.

South Africa has made its genocide case against Israel in court. Here's what both sides said and what happens next

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Last week, the South African government presented a case to the International Court of Justice.

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Last week, the South African government presented a case to the International Court of Justice.
Read more:
What enforcement power does the International Court of Justice have in South Africa's genocide case against Israel?

Defining genocide

The crime of genocide is covered in the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It is defined as acts committed with intent to destroy, either in part or in whole, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, including:
killing members of the group
causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about a groups physical destruction, in whole or in part
imposing measures to prevent births
forcibly transferring children.
The Genocide Convention is designed to not only prosecute individuals and governments who committed genocide, but to prevent it from occurring. Therefore, the Convention states that while genocidal acts are punishable, so too are attempts and incitement to commit genocide, regardless of whether they are successful or not.

The South African case

The South African government argued that Israeli forces had killed 23,210 Palestinians.
Crucially for the court, South Africa argued Israeli forces were often aware that the bombings would cause significant civilian casualties.
Beyond the death toll, South Africa argued that there were 60,000 wounded and maimed Palestinians.
The South African government also alleged the Israeli attacks and the actions of its forces were preventing the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people being met.

The Israeli response

The Israeli government rejects all of the allegations by South Africa.
It says the civilian casualties have been an unfortunate consequence of carrying out military operations in an urban environment.
The Israeli Defence Force also runs a Civilian Harm Mitigation Unit.
Instead, the court will decide whether the allegations are at the least plausible, and if so, likely order that Israel and Palestine reach an interim ceasefire, and for Israeli forces to take all necessary steps to prevent genocide.

How significant is it?

That said, the prospect of any ruling by the International Court of Justice having a meaningful impact on the conflict in Gaza is remote.
The UN and its legal institutions are powered solely by a belief the international community is respectful of international institutions and international law.
For Israel and for its most powerful supporters, a finding against it by the court would likely be something they dispute and ultimately ignore.

Where does this leave Australia?

Small to middle powers that rely on international rules to further their interests may be moved to support the cause for a ceasefire more vocally.
After all, the Australian government supported Ukraine’s case against Russia, also about genocide.

Dean Aszkielowicz has received funding from the Army Research Scheme. Paul Taucher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Pentagon to Deliver Report on Domestic Processing of Seafloor Nodules by March 1 as President Biden Signs NDAA

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Under the National Defense Authorization Act (FY24) now signed into law by President Biden, the House Armed Services Committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to submit a report assessing the domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules by March 1, 2024.

Key Points:

Under the National Defense Authorization Act (FY24) now signed into law by President Biden, the House Armed Services Committee directs the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy to submit a report assessing the domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules by March 1, 2024.
The news comes as American and allied auto and battery makers struggle to secure supplies of critical battery metals that comply with guidelines for incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.
NEW YORK, Jan. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TMC the metals company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) (“TMC” or the “Company”), an explorer of the world’s largest estimated undeveloped source of critical battery metals, today welcomed the passage of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law and the inclusion of provisions directing the Department of Defense to submit a report to the House Armed Services Committee assessing the domestic processing of seafloor polymetallic nodules by March 1, 2024.
In a letter to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, Laura D. Taylor-Kale, the Members wrote: “The applicant seems to have the ability to produce battery-grade materials at commercial facilities in North America at pilot scale.