Belgian cats take over Twitter
The hunt for terrorism suspects in Brussels locked down Belgium’s largest city over the weekend.
Local police asked residents not to post news of police action they might seen in their neighborhood on social media.
After Belgium’s defense minister advised people to stay off social media, the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown began trending.
But not for the reason you might think.
He told people to “retweet” or forward his message to their followers.
And they obliged.
But many people attached funny photos of cats to the hashtag #BrusselsLockdown.
This, dear outsiders, is how we fight terrorism here. They haven't got a chance! We haz kittens! #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/sdq1MbrKsz
— Gilles Bordelais (@Gilles_EU) November 22, 2015
Even the Belgian police got in on the fun, posting a photo of a bowl of cat food and the comment “For the cats who helped us last night … Help yourself!”
Pour les chats qui nous ont aidé hier soir... Servez-vous! #BrusselsLockdown pic.twitter.com/7O5ENF6nXa
— Police Fédérale (@policefederale) November 23, 2015
One commenter on the web called the cat photos a “purrfect” response to the police request.
#BrusselsLockdown is purrfect! pic.twitter.com/RL2D1YX8tW
— Julio Axel Ponce🇵🇷 (@tweetsbyjulio) November 22, 2015
As the lockdown continued into Monday morning, the hashtag remained relevant.
Prince Charles
Prince Charles says he has been talking about climate change at global conventions and conferences for 20 years.
But Twitter just caught on.
After previews of an interview he gave recently were released Monday, Charles trended on Twitter for hours. That was because of his theory that the migration out of Syria is because of drought.
In the interview, Prince Charles said he believes that climate change led to conflict between hundreds of thousands of people. And that led to the war.
Prince Charles is going to be in Paris next week for a United Nations conference on climate change.
A Big Kiss
American pop singer and songwriter Meghan Trainor found fame last year with her songs “All About that Bass” and “My Lips are Movin’.”
Trainor attended Sunday night’s American Music Awards. She performed a duet with collaborator Charlie Puth. Trainor and Puth sang Puth’s song “Marvin Gaye” during the television broadcast.
The two ended the romantic song with a big kiss that lasted for at least 15 seconds.
One writer from the Los Angeles Times called it “the most talked-about awards show kiss since Madonna smooched Britney Spears" in 2003.
After the on-screen kiss, everyone wanted to know if they were a couple. But their publicists say they are not a couple. They say the kiss was just a part of the act.
Just after the show, Trainor posted a photo on her Instagram with the hashtag #imsingle.
Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English. Kathleen Struck was the editor.
Words in This Story
bass – n. low and deep sound : the lowest range of sounds used in music
collaborator – n. a person who works with another person or group in order to achieve or do something
fame – n. the condition of being known or recognized by many people
lockdown – n. the condition of being forced to stay in your home or inside due to a government or police action
obliged – v. to do something that someone has asked you to do : to do a favor for (someone)
preview – n. a description of something that will happen or be available in the future
What do you think about the funny cat pictures posted by Brussels residents? Do you think they made a good point? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page.
