World News for Students of English

16-04-2021 07:00

Between the 1960s and 1998, more than 3,000 people died in Northern Ireland.

The problems were mainly political and nationalistic, and they stopped when the UK and Ireland signed a peace deal. It was called The Good Friday Agreement.

At the end of 2020, the UK left the EU, which brought many problems. The EU has a new border, a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is 499 kilometers long and there are no checkpoints. Ireland and Northern Ireland signed a special deal which means that both countries can still do business together.

But some people are not happy and they do not agree with the new rules. Violence started in Belfast, Northern Ireland, one week ago. Protesters threw petrol bombs at police and somebody hijacked a bus. Some people worry that the situation could get worse and more violence could start.

Difficult words: nationalistic (strongly supporting your own country or its politics), peace deal (when two or more countries sign a document which ends a war or conflict), hijack (to take a plane, ship, or other vehicle illegally and take it to another place).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.