🌏 Hundreds Of Iranian Girls Poisoned, Canadian Singer Changes National Anthem To Acknowledge Indigenous History And More

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Iran’s government has admitted that hundreds of girls from across the country have been poisoned since November in an attempt to prevent them from going to school.

Around 700 girls have been exposed to toxic gas, with some being hospitalized as a result, according to BBC.

The case come as widespread unrest continues in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after she was detained by “morality” police over allegedly breaking the hijab law.

Girls have reported “inhaling a smell similar to the smell of fruit” before feeling nauseous and falling ill.

On Sunday, February 26, the Iranian health minister deputy, Younes Panahi, finally acknowledged the case.

“After several poisonings of students in Qom schools, it was found that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed,” Pahani said, according to local media.

However, the government has made no comments indicating a chemical attack, and some officials have even denied it.

Some parents have speculated their daughters are being targeted for participating in recent protests.

Also Happening Around The World

🇨🇴 Viva Air, a budget Colombian airline, has caused major chaos and confusion in Colombian airports after canceling all flights and then announcing it was suspending all operations.

🇺🇦 After her own cat, Masik, turned feral when Russia invaded Ukraine, 11-year-old Veronika Krasevych started feeding Masik and other feral cats in the ruins of her family home.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong police have arrested the ex-husband of a missing influencer, 28-year-old Abby Choi, whose parts of her dismembered body was discovered at a house.

🇯🇵 A mysterious giant metal sphere has washed up on a beach in Japan, perplexing locals and authorities, who still don’t know what it is.

A Canadian singer performing her country’s national anthem at an NBA All Stars game made a subtle but powerful change to the song’s lyrics in a nod to Canada’s Indigenous history.

R&B singer Jully Black changed the lyrics of “O Canada” from “our home and native land” to “our home in native land” while she was performing the song at the 2023 NBA All-Star Game at Salt Lake City, Utah, on Feb. 19.

The 45-year-old, who was born in Canada to Jamaican immigrants parents, said she had stopped singing the national anthem a few years ago after hundreds of mass, unmarked graves were discovered at multiple former schools to assimilate Indigenous children in Canada.

The schools, established in the 1890s under the leadership of the Roman Catholic church, were part of a Canada-wide network of residential schools set up to forcibly separate Indigenous children from their families and assimilate them, according to Reuters.

“That really woke everything up,” Black told the BBC.

She said that she took a closer look at the anthem’s lyrics after she was asked to sing it at the game and decided to make the change.

“Our home and native land is a lie,” she said. “Our home on native land is the truth.”

More Women You Should Know About

🇦🇪 Dubai’s first all-women SWAT team are dismantling stereotypes and making it look cool while they’re at it.

Turkish football fans threw thousands of teddy bears and soft toys onto the field during a game on Sunday Feb. 26 to pay tribute to the children affected by the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

Organized by fans of the Turkish Beşiktaş team, the event called “This toy is my friend”, happened during a match between Beşiktaş and Antalyaspor at Vodafone Park in Istanbul.

The goal of the event was to provide morale for the children affected by the devastating earthquake, which killed more than 50,000 people, according to the club.

The match was stopped at four minutes 17 seconds to represent the time of the earthquake, which happened at 4:17 am on Feb. 6.

“There are more important things than football. We are going through difficult times as a country. Together we will heal the wounds,” Beşiktaş defender, Tayyib Sanuç, said.

The team also warmed up wearing shirts with the names of the southern cities in Turkey that were affected.

It was followed by a pre-match ceremony when fans thanked the search and rescue teams for their efforts.

The items, which also include scarves and berets, will be donated to children affected by the earthquake.

Turkish authorities said more than 44,000 people have died in Turkey alone due to the earthquake.

More Good News For Your Week

🇹🇷 After the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, a Turkish firefighter saved a cat trapped for 10 days under rubble and the two are now inseparable.

🇹🇼 Taiwanese American former NBA player Jeremy Lin and his younger brother, Joseph Lin, faced off in a basketball match for the first time and their mom showed her support in the best way.

🇮🇹 Italian fashion brand, Diesel, kicked off Milan Fashion Week with a giant “condom mountain” to celebrate sex positivity.

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