Scuffles at Belgium protest against COVID rules

Thousands of peaceful protesters marched through Brussels on Sunday for a third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a spike in infections as the omicron variant sweeps across Europe.

The marchers - some with placards reading “free zone,” “I've had my fair dose” and “enough is enough” - came to protest the government’s strong advice to get vaccinated.

They also included Belgian health care workers who will have a three-month window in which to get vaccinated against the virus beginning January 1 or risk losing their jobs.