World News for Students of English

10-03-2023 15:00

Hundreds of girls in schools across Iran have fallen ill in suspected poisoning attacks.

The attacks occurred in more than 50 schools across the country, and more than 1,000 girls have fallen ill since November with symptoms associated with poison attacks. Many girls reported that before falling ill, they smelled something like perfume in the air. Students had coughs, their eyes burned and some went numb and couldn’t move.

Many people believe that the attacks are an extremist response to the protests led by women and girls. The country has been convulsed by unrest since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September, and the suspected poisonings have sparked even more protests.

In Iran, girls’ education is an accepted and ordinary part of life. The country’s supreme leader said that if deliberate poisoning was proved, then the culprits should be sentenced to death for committing an unforgivable crime.

Difficult words: numb (unable to feel anything), convulse (to suffer violent social or political troubles), culprit (a person who is responsible for a crime or other offense).

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