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SOLAR

Solar eclipse fails to darken Italian sunshine

Skies across Europe darkened on Friday morning as the moon eclipsed the sun, but the much-anticipated astronomical event could not block out Italy’s springtime sunshine.

Published: 20 March 2015 12:15 CET
Solar eclipse fails to darken Italian sunshine
Sun watchers gather outside Rome's presidential palace. Photo: Rosie Scammell

As crowds gathered across Europe to view the solar eclipse, with people flocking to northern Norway and elsewhere, Italians also got together to watch the sky go dark.

But when the eclipse reached its peak at around 10.30am in Rome, rays of sunshine continued to bathe the Eternal City.

A few eager sun watchers clustered around lenses to see the moon creeping across the sun, while others donned special glasses for the occasion outside Rome’s presidential palace.

Rome eclipse. Photo by Rosie Scammell

While the skies above the Italian capital were just a tad gloomy during the eclipse, close-up images of the sun published online better show the astronomical event in Italy.

The Italian with the best view was undoubtedly Samantha Cristoforetti, an astronaut watching the eclipse from the International Space Station.

Back down on earth, although the sun was eclipsed to a great extent in northern Europe, clouds across London and Paris made it difficult for people there to spot the phenomenon.

The most committed eclipse-chasers headed to the Faroe Islands, a Danish autonomous territory, and Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago.

READ MORE: Sun watchers flock to Svalbard for total eclipse

Rome eclipse. Photo by Rosie Scammell
 

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PROTESTS

Thousands protest in Rome against fascist groups after green pass riots

An estimated 200,000 people descended on Rome on Saturday to call for a ban on fascist-inspired groups, after protests over Italy's health pass system last weekend degenerated into riots.

Published: 16 October 2021 19:20 CEST
A general view shows people attending an anti-fascist rally called by Italian Labour unions CGIL, CISL and UIL at Piazza San Giovanni in Rome
People attend an anti-fascist rally called by Italian Labour unions CGIL, CISL and UIL at Piazza San Giovanni in Rome on October 16th, 2021. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Carrying placards reading “Fascism: Never Again”, the protesters in Piazza San Giovanni — a square historically associated with the left — called for a ban on openly neofascist group Forza Nuova (FN).

FN leaders were among those arrested after the Rome headquarters of the CGIL trade union — Italy’s oldest — was stormed on October 9th during clashes outside parliament and in the historic centre.

Analysis: What’s behind Italy’s anti-vax protests and neo-fascist violence?

A man holds a placard reading "yes to the vaccine" during an anti-fascist rally at Piazza San Giovanni in Rome

A man holds a placard reading “yes to the vaccine” during an anti-fascist rally at Piazza San Giovanni in Rome on October 16th, 2021. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

“This is not just a retort to fascist ‘squadrismo’,” CGIL secretary general Maurizio Landini said, using a word used to refer to the fascist militias that began operating after World War I.

IN PICTURES: Demonstrators and far right clash with police in Rome after green pass protest

“This piazza also represents all those in Italy who want to change the country, who want to close the door on political violence,” he told the gathered crowds.

Last weekend’s riots followed a peaceful protest against the extension to all workplaces of Italy’s “Green Pass”, which shows proof of vaccination, a negative Covid-19 test or recent recovery from the virus.

The violence has focused attention on the country’s fascist legacy.

Saturday’s demonstration was attended by some 200,000 people, said organisers, with 800 coaches and 10 trains laid on to bring people to the capital for the event.

Workers from the Italian Labour Union (UIL) react during an anti-fascist rally in Rome

Workers from the Italian Labour Union (UIL) react during an anti-fascist rally in Rome on October 16th, 2021. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

It coincided with the 78th anniversary of the Nazi raid on the Jewish Ghetto in Rome.

Over 1,000 Jews, including 200 children, were rounded up at dawn on October 16th, 1943, and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

General Secretary of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), Maurizio Landini (C) delivers a speech as Italian priest Don Luigi Ciotti (R) looks on

General Secretary of the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), Maurizio Landini (C) delivers a speech as Italian priest Don Luigi Ciotti (R) looks on during the anti-fascist rally in Rome. Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP

“Neofascist groups have to be shut down, right now. But that has to be just the start: we need an antifascist education in schools,” university student Margherita Sardi told AFP.

READ ALSO: Covid green pass: How are people in Italy reacting to the new law for workplaces?

The centre-left Democratic Party, which has led the calls for FN to be banned, said its petition calling on parliament to do so had gathered 100,000 signatures.

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