Fatal Attraction

A woman wearing a face mask walks her pig in Testaccio neighborhood, Rome, Italy. Photo: Alberto Lingria/Reuters.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Ethiopian legend Abele Bikila won the marathon at the 17th Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, on September 10, 1960 making the achievement even more impressive by running barefoot, and setting a world record time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 16 seconds. He was the first Sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal.

One Day in September

A woman walks past murals by British street artist My Dog Sighs, in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood one day in September. Photo: AP/Alessandra Tarantino.

Seahorse

A hippopotamus eats frozen watermelon to cool off at Bioparco di Roma during a heat wave on July 25, 2018 in Rome, Italy. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi.

Moby Dick

Rome, Italy: A lifesize reproduction of two whales emerging from a sea filled with plastic waste has been erected in front of the Pantheon. Greenpeace hopes the installation will raise awareness about pollution in the Mediterranean. Photo: Simone Somekh/AP.

The Wizard and the Bear

A young bear plays in the water at the zoo (Bioparco di Roma) in Rome, Italy. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi.

More eyes see better

People walk past a mural by British artist My Dog Sighs in Rome, Italy. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi/Getty Images.

The Invisible Eye

A girl walking past an eye drawn by British street artist My Dog Sighs in Rome, Italy. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi.

The Long, Hot Summer

A couple kiss in front of the Colosseum covered by snow during a snowfall in Rome, Italy. Schools and public offices were closed and snow-removal crews were in place as Rome was on high alert for a first winter blast. Photo: Angelo Carconi/EPA.

Freestyle Skiing

Rome, Italy: A man skis past Saint Peter’s Square covered in snow. Photo: AFP/Tiziana Fabi.

I’m sure he hit Arcovazzi full in the face

Rome, Italy: A young priest throws a snowball during heavy snowfall in Saint Peter’s Square. Photo: Max Rossi/Reuters.

Subliminal stimuli

Rome, Italy: A huge sinkhole that swallowed six cars. No casualties were reported but about 22 families were evacuated by firefighters following the collapse. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images.

An audience is not a market

A jubilant Abele Bikila is hoisted shoulder high by an exultant (Italian) crowd. It happened in Rome, Italy on September 10, 1960. Photo: Mondadori via Getty Images.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Abele Bikila crossing the finish line of the marathon at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, which he run (and won) barefoot, setting a world record time of 2 hours, 15 minutes and 16 seconds. He was the first Sub-Saharan African to win an Olympic gold medal. After the race, when Bikila was asked why he had run barefoot, he replied: “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism”. Photo: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images.

The Door to the Missing Link

Police using water cannon and batons have clashed with refugees who had occupied a square in Rome, Italy in defiance of an order to leave a building where they had been occupying since 2013. Photo: Angelo Carconi/AP.

Migrants and refugees demonstrate as police continue its operation of eviction. Photo: Angelo Carconi/AP.

Vapour Trails

Rome, Italy: The Italian air force’s aerobatic demonstration team, the Frecce Tricolori, leave colourful vapour trails as they fly over the Altare della Patria monument on Republic Day. Photo: Massimo Percossi/EPA.

Jeremy, could you please ask Tony to translate Francis’s letter in Russian, so to allow Donald to read it?

Rome, Italy: Pope Francis shakes hands with Ivanka Trump during a private audience at the Vatican. Then Francis gave U.S. President Donald Trump a signed copy of his 2017 peace message whose title is “Nonviolence — A Style of Politics for Peace”, and a copy of his 2015 encyclical letter on the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change. “Well, I’ll be reading them”, Trump said. Photo: Osservatore Romano/Reuters.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

Nian Maguette, 53, a Senegalese street-seller died today in Rome, during a municipal police’s blitz against abusive vendors. According to his friends’s accounts, as he escaped the controls, motorcycles driven by municipal agents in plainclothes ran over him and he died, while other witnesses say that he fell dead to the ground on his own. Well, whatever it is, it should have not happened. No one should ever die – and nobody should ever die for such futile reasons. I understand, of course, merchants’ protests against abusive street vendors, but there are – and there should be – far more serious crimes worth our outrage.

Don’t take the Goddess’ name in vain

• Associated Press in Rome, Italy suspends Rome’s 2024 Olympic bid, The Guardian, October 11, 2016

郭晶晶 (Guō Jīngjīng) and 吴敏霞 (Wú Mǐnxiá) won gold in the women’s 3 metre synchronized springboard final at the 13rd FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy on July 24, 2009.

Le professeur Dubois, dans Rome

Above is a little poetry in rhyme dedicated by Ernest Nivernais to Italian chess (Grand)Master Serafino Dubois, included (p. 146) in Nivernais’ article “Il Puttino. – M. Staunton et La Stratégie. – Signor Dubois. – Un Congrès d’Échecs en Angleterre.”, La Stratégie, Volume 2, 1868, pp. 144-147.