Yekta Bahr's Blog

Title : B.C. communities see sudden spike in overdoses and an animal drug may be to blame Source  : Global news.ca  Authors: Amy Judd & Kylie Stanton Date :  November 27, 2025    Page :  N/A link  https://globalnews.ca/news/11548094/bc-sudden-spike-overdoses-animal-drug-medetomidine/   Summary : There has been a sudden and dangerous rise in drug overdoses across British Columbia. Last Friday, the Vancouver Fire Department answered 54 overdose calls in one day, which is much higher than normal. On November 18, the Cowichan Valley had one of the worst nights of the drug crisis, with more than 80 overdoses in just one night. Workers said people were passing out right after using the drugs, and staff had to act fast by giving Narcan, checking breathing, and calling 911 to save them. Health officials think this happened because a strong animal drug called medetomidine was mixed with fentanyl. This has been very hard on firefighters,...

  Title : Lower Arsenic in Drinking Water Reduces Death Risk, Even After Years of Chronic Exposure   Date: November 17, 2025 Source: Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health Authors : Ana Navas-Acien , Joseph H. Graziano   Page : N/A/ online article    Link : https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/lower-arsenic-drinking-water-reduces-death-risk-even-after-years-chronic-exposure   Summary : A new 20 year study on almost 11,000 adults in Bangladesh shows that when people stopped drinking water with arsenic, their risk disease dropped a lot. The study was done by researchers from Columbia University and other schools and it was published in JAMA. Arsenic is a toxic chemical that can be in groundwater. It has no taste at all or it even does not have any smells, so people can drink it for years without knowing. In Bangladesh, about 50 million people were exposed to unsafe arsenic levels. During the study, many families switched to safer wells,...

 Source : socialmediatoday.com Title : WhatsApp Adds Activity Notes to User Profiles Author : Andrew Hutchinson  Date : November 20 Page : N/A Online resource  Link:  https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/whatsapp-adds-activity-notes-to-user-profiles/806084/ Summary: WhatsApp is bringing back an old feature called “About.” This feature lets users write a short note on their profile to show what they are doing or how they feel. The “About” will appear on your profile photo and people can reply to it. “About will expire after one day, but you can also choose for it to disappear faster or keep it around for longer at a time of your choosing. Just go to Settings and tap ‘Set About’ to choose your timer.” although It disappears after one day, but you can change the time. Only your contacts can see it. WhatsApp hopes this will help people stay connected more easily, especially younger users.  WhatsApp said, “ About was our first feature… we made it simple for...

Source:  espn.co  Title:   Barcelona plans Lionel Messi statue at Camp Nou   Author:  Adriana Garcia    Date:  November 14                                                                                                                                        Page: N/A /online article does not include page number   Link : https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46964101/barcelona-president-plans-lionel-messi-statue-camp-nou  Summary Barcelona is planning to make a statue of Lionel Messi at Camp Nou. Barça president Joan Laporta said Messi “deserves the tribute at Can Barça” and added, “If Kubala and Cruy...

  Source: T he New York Times Title: The Dangerous Stalemate Over Iran’s Nuclear Program Author:  Steven Erlanger Date:  November 10                                                                                                                               Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-program-israel.html   Summary  This article is about the dangerous situation with Iran’s nuclear program. The 2015 nuclear deal ended last month, and strict sanctions on Iran are back. Talks between Iran and the U.S. are not happening. No one knows what happened to Iran’s highly enriched uranium. Iran says it is “bur...