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January 25, 2019

Belgium: 35,000 Students Strike for Action on Climate Change
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And in Brussels, Belgium, an estimated 35,000 children held a one-day
school strike Thursday, surrounding the European Parliament building and
demanding urgent action on climate change. It was one of the largest
student protests ever in the Belgian capital. Students said they're
ready to skip classes once a week until their demands are met.

Joppe Matthys: "We think that if we skip every Thursday, so we don't go
to school, that the big people in our country and in the world will say
that it's a problem and that they will do something about it."

The students are following in the footsteps of now-16-year-old Greta
Thunberg from Sweden, who is leading the school strike movement
globally. She is now in Davos, Switzerland, addressing leaders at the
World Economic Forum.


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