Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski branded title challenger Brian Ortega a “f*cking drug cheat” in a heated staredown before the pair meet in their main event at UFC 266 in Las Vegas.
Volkanovski makes the second defense of his 135lbs belt against his American rival at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night, and ahead of the bout the Australian claimed he had only just found out about Ortega’s past ban for taking a prohibited substance.
A young MMA hopeful has passed away aged just 22 after he took part in a fight earlier this month and was then hospitalized amid complaints about headaches in the hours that followed the bout in southern Brazil.
Lucas Gabriel Peres hailed from Peabiru in South America’s largest country with his scrap in a K-1 competition taking place two hours away in Marina, Parana state.
Just hours after his match, when already arriving back in Peabiru, Peres complained of suffering from a headache and was taken to a local hospital in Campo Mourao.
His condition gradually worsening, he was then sent to the Metropolitan Hospital in Sarandi and eventually pronounced dead last Saturday on September 18.
El luchador brasileño, Lucas Gabriel Peres de artes marciales mixtas (MMA), murió a sus 22 años a causa de las lesiones sufridas durante una pelea que disputó hace semanas, según diagnósticos. Se dedicaba a las MMA como aficionado y era tan solo su segunda pelea.#IG pic.twitter.com/2X0d2sK0jX
— Pio Noticias (@pionoticias) September 23, 2021
A report from a local branch of domestic media giant Globo has said that the organizers of the event have been in direct contact with Peres’ family and do not plan to make any comment on the development.
The Medical Legal Institute is looking into the cause of the youngster’s passing, with his death certificate detailing that he suffered from head trauma.
His career barely able to get off the ground, Pires competed just once at amateur level and lost a May bout to compatriot Leandro Pires.
The September outing was meant to be his return to competition, but concluded in the most tragic of fashions.
Also on rt.com
US boxer Patrick Day dies aged 27 after suffering brain trauma in title fight
Head trauma is fast becoming one of MMA’s hottest topics of discussion alongside fighter pay, with the president of its most elite championship, the UFC, admitting that more could be done to aid those such as Spencer Fisher and others who have shown signs of the condition.
“Listen, we’re all learning every day about the brain injury stuff,” Dana White admitted to MMA Junkie earlie this year.
“We’ve been invested in this [Lou] Ruvo Center [at the Cleveland Clinic] to try and figure out more.”
“But listen, he’s not the first and he’s definitely not going to be the last,” White said of Fisher.
“This is a contact sport and anybody who’s done this younger, myself included, is dealing with brain issues. It’s part of the gig,” he claimed.
Also on rt.com
‘It went horribly wrong’: UFC fighter HOSPITALIZED by weight cut while on anti-depressants for head trauma from previous fight
Parrii Srohi didn’t impress the judges at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk but the Indian figure-skater has no regrets about competing as she paid tribute to the Russian greats from whom she gained inspiration.
The 17-year-old Srohi failed to impress the judges with her showing at the event in the Siberian city, scoring just 27.56 points in total – including a tally of just 0.84 for the technical elements in her short program, which is reportedly the lowest ever recorded.
Her result saw her rooted to last place in the standings, some 17 points behind the figure-skater in second-last position.
However, the Indian who took up the sport just three years ago says that the defeat is just part of her continuing journey through the sport.
Srohi explained afterwards that the event was her first international tournament, and that coming to skate in Russia held particular significance for her as she valued the chance to work with Russian trainers.
Pointing to some of her inspirations, Srohi named some famous Russians on the ice from down the years, including Sochi 2014 sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya – whose performance at the Winter Olympics seven years ago Srohi described as “legendary.”
Parri Srohi(IND)skating out of pure joy at her first JGP in Russia a week ago. Parri grew up&trained almost entirely in India where there is dearth of ice& artificial ice rinks.Her coach since she started has been @NishchayLuthra of Luthra International Figure Skating Academy. pic.twitter.com/8Mn6TP6QQn
— SouthAsianFigureSkaters (@SouthAsianFS) September 22, 2021
Summer is here and the Youth Council and Youth Circle for Mother Earth members are busy planning for the annual Youth Summit in the fall. As a graduating high school student who has experienced both an in-person and a virtual Youth Summit, I will share some of my highlights from both:
Since my first summit, Ontario Nature has made it extremely accessible to attend, both financially and transportation-wise. The first time I applied to the Youth Summit in 2019, I had no experience writing applications, nor did I need it. Both years, I simply reached out to Ontario Nature, filled out the 10-minute form and they matched me with sponsors! From there, you can take the (free) Youth Summit school bus to the in-person location, or if it is online, just hop onto your computer and enjoy learning from the comfort of your own bed.
My first year taking part in the Youth Summit was in-person for the summit’s tenth year! Every day was so exciting and jam-packed full of activities that often went into the night! Many of my favourite memories occurred in the evening, from stargazing to night-hiking to campfire stories. Despite not knowing anybody when I first stepped off the bus, by the end of the weekend, I made so many incredible friends.
The next year in 2020, the entire summit was virtual, but that didn’t stop me from learning! Workshops about Indigenous knowledge, youth climate action and mental health all kept me excited and ready for the next session. My favourite workshop was one about the sport of lacrosse and its significance for Indigenous communities. In between online sessions, I took part in nature challenges through exploring nature near home, ate wild rice and planted pollinator-friendly wildflower seeds that was sent to participants in the mail!
If you are a nature enthusiast between 14 and 20 years old, I hope reading about some of my highlights from previous Youth Summits encourages you to apply, and if you don’t qualify, please share this blog with someone who might be interested!
This year’s Youth Summit coming up soon. I look forward to connecting with like-minded youth across the province.
Follow us on @on_youthcouncil and @youthcircleformotherearth on Instagram for updates.
The 2021 Youth Summit for Mother Earth will be held as a series of online and offline events, with key events happening on September 25 and 26, 2021, and a follow-up virtual event in October. Four partners (Ontario Nature, the Indigenous Environmental Institute at Trent University, Plenty Canada and Walpole Island Land Trust) are working alongside the Youth Council and Youth Circle for Mother Earth to offer a unique cross-cultural virtual event planned with an ambitious goal of engaging 200 young people aged 14 – 20.
The summit will feature workshops, speakers, and plenty of virtual group activities and “challenges” to get participants outdoors in their own communities like nature scavenger hunts and connecting with the land through art. Youth will receive a package in the mail containing resources and tools to develop their cross-cultural literacy and take meaningful environmental action in their community.
Register Now
You can also visit our Youth Summit webpage for more information. Sponsorships are available. If you have any questions about the Youth Summit or interested in supporting the event, please reach out to Christine at christinea@ontarionature.org or 1-800-440-2366 ext. 244.
The post My Youth Summit Experience appeared first on Ontario Nature.
In Ottawa, municipal politicians are backing a project that would build a multi-lane artery across a section of the city’s Greenbelt, fragmenting habitat and impacting the edge of a wetland complex known as Mer Bleue. Alternatives exist, but city officials favour this one due to a purportedly lower construction cost.
The landowner is the federal National Capital Commission (NCC), and thankfully they are opposed to the project – but Ottawa has a history of pressuring the NCC to give up Greenbelt lands.
Within Mer Bleue is the second largest bog in Southern Ontario. The bog has intact margins – a rarity as bogs of this size are often mined for peat or drained for farmland. Given its size (over 3,300 hectares) and integrity, Mer Bleue is listed as an internationally significant wetland under the Ramsar Convention. Even this designation, however, does not ensure protection.
The proposed road would require drainage, inevitably disturbing the shallow water table of the area. It would also separate Mer Bleue from an adjacent creek, disrupting wildlife movement in that corridor. Associated runoff with silt and road salt and noise and light pollution would further threaten wildlife such as breeding amphibians and birds. Resident moose and several species of turtles, which are already suffering high mortality on existing roads, would be increasingly vulnerable.
Wetlands provide a myriad of ecological and societal benefits. They store water, mitigating both floods and droughts, while filtering out contaminants. As greenspace and wildlife habitat, they contribute immensely to mental health and quality of life – something that the pandemic made readily apparent. Yet the immense value of these benefits is seldom quantified against the cost of a road project. In reality, no amount of money can buy back habitat like Mer Bleue if it is lost.
Bogs provide one benefit that merits particular attention: they sequester dramatically more carbon than other wetlands. Mer Bleue is home to the longest-running studies on carbon sequestration anywhere. This research has revealed that bogs and related peatlands occupy only three percent of the surface of the planet, yet contain a third of all of the soil-stored carbon in the entire world. In Mer Bleue, the layers of peat can be a much as six metres deep.
Leaders at all levels of government need to understand and consider the irreplaceable value of natural habitats, especially internationally significant, carbon-sucking wetlands like the Mer Bleue bog.
If you share our concern about this proposal, it is important that you make your voice heard. Please sign and share this CPAWS-Ottawa Valley Action.
Sign Now
Resources
Roadway extension threatens bog, ON Nature magazine, Fall 2020
CTV Ottawa, Road Proposal Threatens Mer Bleue Wetland, July 2021
Mer Bleue wetland threatened by road proposal, field naturalists say, Ottawa Citizen, July 16 2021
Un projet routier menace la zone humide d’importance internationale Mer Bleue
Les politiciens municipaux d’Ottawa soutiennent un projet de construction d’une artère à plusieurs voies qui traverserait une section de la Ceinture de verdure de la ville, entraînant ainsi la fragmentation de l’habitat et ayant un impact en bordure du carrefour de zones humides connu sous le nom de Mer Bleue (en anglais seulement). Il existe d’autres solutions, mais les responsables de la ville privilégient celle-ci en raison de son coût de construction supposément inférieur. Le propriétaire du terrain est la Commission de la capitale nationale (CCN), qui s’oppose heureusement au projet, mais Ottawa a l’habitude de faire pression sur la CCN afin qu’elle cède des terrains de la Ceinture de verdure.
Read the English Version
La Mer Bleue est la deuxième plus grande tourbière du sud de l’Ontario. Les marges de la tourbière sont intactes – une rareté puisque les tourbières de cette taille sont souvent exploitées pour la tourbe ou drainées pour des terres agricoles. Compte tenu de sa taille (plus de 3 300 hectares) et de son intégrité, la Mer Bleue est inscrite sur la liste des zones humides d’importance internationale de la Convention de Ramsar (en anglais seulement). Toutefois, même cette désignation ne garantit pas sa protection.
La route proposée nécessiterait un drainage, ce qui perturberait inévitablement la nappe phréatique peu profonde de la zone. Elle séparerait également la Mer Bleue d’un ruisseau adjacent, perturbant ainsi les déplacements de la faune dans ce corridor. Les eaux de ruissellement associées, chargées de limon et de sel de voirie, ainsi que la pollution sonore et lumineuse, menaceraient davantage la faune, notamment les amphibiens et les oiseaux reproducteurs. Les orignaux résidents et plusieurs espèces de tortues, qui subissent déjà une forte mortalité sur les routes existantes, deviendraient de plus en plus vulnérables.
Les zones humides offrent une myriade d’avantages écologiques et sociétaux (en anglais seulement). Elles stockent l’eau, atténuant ainsi les inondations et les sécheresses, tout en filtrant les contaminants. En tant qu’espaces verts et habitats sauvages, elles contribuent grandement à la santé mentale et à la qualité de vie – ce que la pandémie a mis en évidence. Pourtant, l’immense valeur de ces avantages est rarement considérée relativement aux coûts d’un projet routier. En réalité, aucune somme d’argent n’équivaut à la valeur d’un habitat comme la Mer Bleue s’il est perdu.
Les tourbières présentent un avantage qui mérite une attention particulière : elles séquestrent beaucoup plus de carbone que les autres zones humides. La Mer Bleue fait l’objet des études les plus longues sur la séquestration du carbone. Ces recherches (en anglais seulement) ont révélé que les tourbières n’occupent que trois pour cent de la surface de la planète, mais qu’elles contiennent un tiers du carbone stocké dans le sol du monde entier. Dans la Mer Bleue, les couches de tourbe peuvent atteindre jusqu’à six mètres de profondeur.
Les dirigeants à tous les niveaux de gouvernement doivent comprendre et prendre en compte la valeur irremplaçable des habitats naturels, en particulier les zones humides d’importance internationale qui absorbent le carbone, comme la tourbière de la Mer Bleue.
Si vous partagez notre inquiétude concernant cette proposition de projet routier, il est important que vous fassiez entendre votre voix. Veuillez signer et partager cette action de la SNAP-Vallée de l’Outaouais (en anglais seulement).
Signez maintenant
Resources
Roadway extension Threatens Bog : article du magazine On Nature (en anglais seulement), ON Nature magazine, Fall 2020
Road proposal threatens Mer Bleue wetland : CTV News, 20 juillet 2021 (en anglais seulement)
Mer bleue wetland threatened by road proposal, field naturalists say : Ottawa Citizen, 16 juillet 2021 (en anglais seulement)
The post Road Proposal Threatens Mer Bleue Internationally Significant Wetland appeared first on Ontario Nature.
