World News for Students of English

07-04-2021 15:00

Police used teargas and water cannons to disperse about 2,000 of young people who gathered in a Brussels park for a fake concert that was announced on Facebook as an April Fool’s Day joke.

Organizers said that the invitation was a hoax; however, many people still showed up.

Under coronavirus restrictions in Belgium, outdoor gatherings are limited to four people. The Brussels mayor, Philippe Close, said that he could understand people wanting to go outside in the spring weather; however, such gatherings wouldn’t be tolerated. According to officials, three police officers and at least two other people were injured, and prosecutors have started an investigation to find out who was behind the Facebook post.

Belgium, with a population of 11.5 million, has recorded more than 882,000 COVID-19 cases, and 23,000 people have died.

Difficult words: disperse (to make people leave), April Fool’s Day (in many Western countries, April 1is traditionally an occasion for playing tricks), hoax (a trick in which someone deliberately tells people a lie), prosecutor (a lawyer in a court of law who tries to prove that someone is guilty of a crime).

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