(Feature Impact) A parent’s love knows no limits. Across the globe, mothers and fathers do everything in their power to protect their children and give them the chance to grow up safe and strong. This year, celebrate that love with meaningful gifts that gives back.

Through UNICEF Market and Inspired Gifts, you can honor a mother, father or caregiver while helping the United Nations Children’s Fund deliver lifesaving support to children across 190 countries and territories – from Lebanon to Gaza, Sudan and beyond. They represent tangible interventions that help deliver safe water, strengthen education systems, provide critical services and protect children from preventable diseases.

Lifesaving Nutrition
Invented 30 years ago, Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is a low-cost, innovative option to treat child wasting. Each year, UNICEF delivers nearly 1 billion sachets of RUTF, reaching more than 9 million children across every continent: from the Pacific to the Sahel and South Asia to Latin America. Nine out of 10 children treated with RUTF make a full recovery, often within weeks. Gifting 150 Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food Packets provides a child with a two month’s supply of RUTF.

“For three decades, RUTF has helped save millions of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition around the world,” said UNICEF USA President and CEO, Michael J. Nyenhuis. “As we mark this milestone, we celebrate the lives saved and the progress made – and recommit to building a future where every child has access to the quality nutrition they need not only to survive, but to thrive.”

Maternal and Newborn Care
Support new moms with a gift that gives newborn babies a chance for a better start in life. These Newborn Kits packages contain blankets, prenatal supplements for 20 new moms and essential vaccines to protect babies against measles, polio, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. In addition, the Mom and Baby Carebundle contains essential medications to assist with a smooth and safe delivery as well as newborn antibiotics aimed at helping reduce the risk of perinatal asphyxia, neonatal infections and prematurity.

Artisan Gifts
From a Peruvian-made Adjustable Leather Sling Bag designed for versatility that also provides 112 packets of lifesaving nourishment to children around the world suffering from malnutrition to a handcrafted Talavera-Style Vase from Mexico that provides 21 doses of measles vaccine, UNICEF Market artisan goods blend craftsmanship with purpose. Each purchase delivers lifesaving nutrition, vaccines and essential services for children around the world.

Partner Gifts
Children of the world are too often at risk, exposed to conflicts, diseases and natural disasters that threaten their safety and well-being. Since 2016, Louis Vuitton has helped protect these children through its partnership with UNICEF, creating a dedicated Silver LockIt Collection in support of the organization’s work, and more than $24 million has been donated through this initiative.

In collaboration with House Ambassador and UNICEF Korea Goodwill Ambassador Felix, a new design is engraved with the word “DREAM,” representing every child’s right to grow, live and learn in a nurturing environment with access to education, health care and protection. For each piece purchased, a donation will be made to help deliver lifesaving assistance and education to children in urgent need around the world. Learn more at us.louisvuitton.com.

This year, celebrate mothers, fathers and caregivers with more than a gift. Celebrate them with an act of generosity through UNICEF Market and Inspired Gifts that transform gratitude into action and love into lifesaving impact. To dedicate a personalized gift in their honor, visit market.unicefusa.org.

SOURCE:
UNICEF

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A new partnership between two of Canada’s best-known aquariums is about to change what sea otter rescue and long-term care can look like nationwide.

On May 7, the Vancouver Aquarium announced it will transfer four rescued sea otters—Hardy, Mak, Quatse, and Taz—to the Aquarium du Québec in early June. The move supports the opening of Aquarium du Québec’s new sea otter habitat and creates much-needed capacity at the Vancouver Aquarium for future rescue cases.

Why this transfer matters

The Vancouver Aquarium works alongside the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMR) to rescue and rehabilitate hundreds of marine animals each year across the Pacific Northwest. The goal for every patient is release back into the ocean—but not every animal can return to the wild.

In this case, the aquarium says its sea otters were rescued as orphaned pups and later deemed non-releasable by Canadian and U.S. government agencies. Without the chance to develop key survival skills, many orphaned otters can’t safely hunt, avoid predators, or navigate the risks of coastal life on their own.

By expanding sea otter care to Eastern Canada, the collaboration increases the country’s overall ability to provide specialized, long-term support for rescued otters—especially those that cannot be released.

Creating space for the next rescue

The Vancouver Aquarium notes it is currently the only aquarium in Canada with a sea otter habitat, which means its capacity is limited even as rescue needs continue.

“Our aquarium’s otter habitat provides a safe and enriching home—but it also has limits,” said Mackenzie Neale, Animal Care Director at the Vancouver Aquarium. “This transfer creates much-needed space for when the next otter needs our help.”

That “next otter” is not hypothetical. VAMMR responds to more than 300 marine animal emergencies each year, including rescues of sick, injured, or orphaned animals and the disentanglement of sea lions trapped by marine debris.

A new educational opportunity in Québec

For the Aquarium du Québec, welcoming sea otters is both a conservation milestone and a major visitor experience upgrade—especially for families and students in Eastern Canada who may never have seen sea otters up close.

“The Aquarium du Quebec is thrilled to introduce sea otters to visitors in Eastern Canada,” said Nathalie Julien Boucher, director of Aquarium du Québec. She added that because the animals were rescued from the wild, the habitat will offer “a fantastic educational opportunity while continuing our conservation mission,” as part of the aquarium’s Louphoque project.

Catch them before they head east

The Vancouver Aquarium is inviting guests to visit Hardy, Mak, Quatse, and Taz before May 31. Throughout May, the four otters will be on public display during weekend (Saturday and Sunday) operating hours.

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If you can’t make it to Stanley Park, the aquarium says viewers can still follow their journey on the Sea Otter Cam.

What to watch for

• Early June transfer: Four otters move from Vancouver to Québec City.
• Expanded national capacity: More space in Vancouver for future rescues; new habitat in Québec for long-term care.
• Conservation storytelling: Two aquariums amplifying public education about sea otters and coastal ecosystems.

About the rescue work behind the scenes

The Vancouver Aquarium opened in 1956 and has connected more than 50 million people to ocean life. It is accredited by major animal care and conservation organizations, and it’s also Humane Conservation Certified by American Humane.

The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMR) operates Canada’s only dedicated marine mammal rescue facility. It is an independent registered charity that works in partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium, and donations support rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts. Learn more at www.vammr.org.

Source: Vancouver Aquarium press release via CNW (May 7, 2026).

Catch the latest in movies, TV, music, pop culture, and live events in STM Daily News’ Entertainment section.

James Dwyer, University of Tasmania

New UFO files offer no answers – but something is happening in the skies

The US Government has released a new trove of documents on various cases of “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena” (UAPs) – many of which would have been described in the past as Unidentified Flying Objects or UFOs – including photos, videos and reports of unexplained events sighted in the sky and in space.

The files detail “unresolved cases” where “the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena”.

As a researcher of military strategy, national security, and weapons and technology capabilities, I find several examples of UAPs intriguing in what they reveal and the questions they raise.

Taking this new release together with other reports from the past few years, a picture of what might be behind UAPs – and the current state of our understanding – begins to emerge.

The easy ones

Not everything in the new release seems inexplicable. Some images, like those that appear to show unidentified lights recorded by astronauts from the surface of the Moon, are most likely just visual noise or other image artefacts.

Astronauts have also reported seeing bright lights with the naked eye. These may be flashes from high-energy cosmic rays, which are more prevalent outside Earth’s protective magnetic field.

Likewise, video recordings showing bright lights zipping may be explained by insects flying by the camera at close proximity – they would be out of focus, and appear to move at high speeds.

Something is happening

Other cases are more difficult to immediately dismiss. Some recent examples demonstrate that something is occurring, even if we do not know what.

In 2020, the US Navy declassified three videos recorded by F/A-18 Super Hornets, showing mysterious “Tic Tac” objects flying in ways that defy current understanding of technology, without any obvious propulsion. The US Navy stated it did not know what the objects were.

Advanced sensors on fighter aircraft detected and tracked these phenomena, which suggests they were some kind of real objects rather than due to equipment errors or erroneous noise.

One of the most intriguing recordings was shared in a US congressional hearing in 2025. It appeared to be recorded by an MQ-9 Reaper drone, which was tracking a UAP.

The drone fired a Hellfire missile at the object and appeared to have successfully hit it. The object seemed to be deflected from its direction of travel momentarily, suggesting it was a real physical thing, but it appeared to suffer no damage and continued on its course.

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Drone swarms and mystery objects

Over the past decade, there have also been multiple reports of unidentified groups of UAPs around US and European military bases.

In several cases, US Navy Destroyers apparently met mysterious “drone swarms”. While these may have been conventional drones, there were no apparent launch vessels nearby which could have allowed these relatively small drones (with presumably short range) to be where they were.

We also know that in 2023, the US used an F-22 fighter to shoot down a Chinese high-altitude spy balloon over the continental US. Another similar incident occurred over Hawaii the same year, although the US reportedly did not consider this one to be from China.

Also in 2023, the US engaged several other objects over North America, but both the US and Canadian governments have refused to provide any information on what they were.

So what exactly are these objects?

There is no easy explanation for these incidents.

Some leap to the idea that non-human intelligences are at work. However, there is no evidence for this. It may be fun to think of aliens or interdimensional beings, but this is not really a satisfying answer to the UAP question.

Perhaps the “best” explanation we have is drones, or other known technologies. This still seems partial, as some phenomena seem to exceed current technological capabilities, and it leaves open the question of who is behind the phenomena.

New technologies could be responsible. Perhaps operated by “friendly” forces – within the US military or allied defence manufacturers – testing their products against unknowing military operators to see how they respond. Similarly, the incidents may be tests carried out by adversaries such as China.

But still, some incidents are hard to explain given what we know about physics. The object in the “Tic Tac” videos don’t seem to behave how any kind of aircraft should, showing no signs of propulsion.

Alternatively, some UAPs could be as simple as malfunctions in sensor systems. However, this too seems partial – there are multiple cases of warplanes and warships detecting these objects with multiple sensors operating on different frequencies, both actively and passively.

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Not aliens, but what?

The most recent release from the US does little to answer the questions about what UAPs are. This lack of answers is perhaps the most intriguing part.

Given the wide range of cases, there is likely no single explanation for all of them. Some seem likely to be drones and others likely image artefacts, but there is a real group of genuinely hard-to-identify phenomena.

Of the available explanations, non-human intelligence is perhaps the most entertaining – but also by far the least probable. It is far more likely that the cause of these incidents will eventually be identified much closer to home.

What does seem clear is that governments are watching closely, and with significant concern.

James Dwyer, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

For more breaking news, in-depth analysis, and updates on UFOs, technology, transportation, and world events, visit STM Daily News and stay informed with the latest stories shaping our world.

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