Once Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943‚ the Germans moved into the vacuum. Rome was declared an “open city” by the Italian government‚ meaning it was unoccupied and off limits to attack‚ but Germany rushed in troops for an occupation that lasted for nine months and subjected the citizens to the brutality of Nazi rule for the first time in the war. The Nazis rounded up Jews and sent them to their deaths in concentration camps‚ violently enforced curfews‚ and attempted to crush any opposition. A story about Italian resistance to German occupation‚ Roberto Rossellini’s 1945 film Roma città aperta (Rome‚ Open City) is recognized as the first classic film of what has become known as the neorealist movement. Shot in the city after the Germans had left but before the war was over‚ the stark black-and-white film remains powerful even as it nears  its 80th anniversary. Wrote novelist Virginia Baily for The Guardian newspaper in 2015‚ “It was one of the most visceral‚ gut-wrenching cinematic experiences of my life and I have carried images and sounds from it—the old ladies stalling the Gestapo while the resistance hero escapes across the roofs‚ the martial music playing as the German regiment marches down a deserted street‚ the tortured hero slumped in a chair‚ the priest in his black robes—with me ever since.”  The film opens as those German soldiers march through Rome to make a nighttime raid on a downtrodden apartment building. They seek Giorgio Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero)‚ a communist and a central figure in the resistance. The apartment dwellers do what they can to divert the soldiers‚ and Manfredi escapes across the rooftops. While the Germans search‚ they intercept a call on the communal telephone from Manfredi’s sometime mistress‚ Marina (Maria Michi)‚ an actress who quickly hangs up when she realizes something is amiss. One of the building’s residents is Pina (Anna Magnani)‚ a plain-speaking widow with a son‚ Marcello. She is pregnant‚ and on the night the Germans arrive she is planning to get married the next day to Francesco (Francesco Grandjacquet)‚ a soft-spoken printer. Her spiritual adviser is the priest Don Pietro Pellegrini (Aldo Fabrizi)‚ who also serves as a central figure in the resistance. The scene of Pina’s shooting in the street has become so iconic that Italy has even used it for a postage stamp that commemorated neorealism. In the meantime‚ the German Major Bergmann (Harry Feist) plots with the manipulative Ingrid (Giovanna Galletti) to stamp out the resistance and capture Manfredi. On Bergmann’s orders the Germans conduct another raid on the apartment building. This time they herd all the residents outside. When Don Pietro hears that one of the children from the building has a hidden stash of bombs and guns‚ he bluffs his way inside under the guise of giving last rites to a bedridden old man. He manages to hide the weapons before the Germans find them.  Outside‚ Pina sees the Germans taking away Francesco. Frantic‚ she breaks free‚ and dashes down the street in pursuit of the truck carrying away her fiancé. The merciless Germans gun her down as her son watches. She dies in the street‚ cradled by Don Pietro. Partisans attack the truck convoy with the prisoners and Francesco manages to escape. Bergmann and Ingrid have another tool they can use to find Manfredi: Marina. The cynical actress‚ angry with Manfredi and addicted to her creature comforts—which include drugs that Ingrid provides her—tells the Germans where they can find the resistance leader. The Germans descend as Manfredi and Don Pietro are bringing an Austrian deserter to safety and arrest the three men on the street. Bergmann forces the priest to watch as he has Manfredi brutally tortured‚ but neither the communist nor the Catholic priest divulge any information. Manfredi dies during his ordeal and Bergmann has the priest executed. Tied to a chair and praying for God to forgive his executioners‚ Don Pietro is murdered while the children from the apartment look on‚ horrified‚ before they trudge back into town‚ damaged in ways we can only imagine. Rome‚ Open City was something of a change of direction for director Rossellini‚ who earlier in the war had made films for producer Vittorio Mussolini‚ the son of Il Duce. Even before the Germans had been forced out of Rome‚ Rossellini had begun thinking about making a movie about the resistance. He wanted “to show things exactly as they were‚” he said. One of his collaborators on the story was another up-and-coming Italian filmmaker named Federico Fellini. Rossellini shot the film with little money‚ on location‚ and with film stock he scrounged—or even stole—from whatever sources were at hand‚ including cast-off snippets from other photographers. (The director said he stole stock from the offices of the U.S. Army’s Stars and Stripes news organization.) Most of the actors he used (with the notable exceptions of Magnani and Fabrizi) were nonprofessionals. He even used German prisoners-of-war as extras‚ including the soldier Pina slaps before making her ill-fated break. The result was a fiction film that looked and felt more like a documentary—in fact‚ the distributor Rossellini had obtained reneged on the deal‚ saying Rome‚ Open City wasn’t a “real movie.” But the film found a distributor in the United States and became a success‚ launching Rossellini’s international career and putting Italian neorealism—a genre embraced by other directors like Luchino Visconti and Vittorio de Sica—on the cinematic map.  Roberto Rossellini’s film was the first major release of what became known as neorealism.

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Archaeologists in Panama have uncovered the spectacular tomb of a pre-Hispanic chieftain whose funerary offerings include lavish gold items and earrings made of whale teeth‚ among other treasures. Dated to around 750 CE‚ the adult male buried within the grave is likely to have been a high-status member of the ancient Gran Coclé culture‚ which was famous for its gold artisanry in pre-Columbian times.The burial was discovered within a necropolis known as the El Caño archaeological park‚ where other tombs as well as stone monoliths and wooden ceremonial structures have previously been found. According to the Panamanian Ministry of Culture‚ the site was in use between roughly 700 and 1000 CE and has already yielded a number of “multiple burials”‚ each of which contains between eight and 32 bodies belonging to elites and lower-ranking individuals who were sacrificed in order to accompany their superiors in the afterlife.The ancient nobleman was buried alongside staggering amounts of gold.Image courtesy of Ministry of Culture of PanamaIt’s currently unclear how many people were interred within the newly discovered grave‚ although archaeologists have confirmed that the Coclé lord was buried facedown on top of the body of a woman‚ as was customary for this society. Alongside the remains‚ researchers discovered large numbers of ceramic artifacts as well as gold pieces with enormous monetary and historical value.Among these funerary items were five gold chest-plates‚ two belts of golden beads‚ two human-shaped earrings (one man and one woman)‚ another earring in the form of a “double crocodile”‚ and a series of circular gold plates. A further five earrings decorated with gold-capped sperm whale teeth were also found in the tomb‚ as were bracelets and clothing elaborated with dog teeth.Earrings in the shape of people and crocodiles were found within the tomb.Image courtesy of Ministry of Culture of PanamaOther objects buried with the chieftain include a series of bone flutes‚ two rattles‚ and a beaded necklace. Archaeologists are still in the process of excavating the tomb in order to learn more about its ancient inhabitants and their elaborate possessions.Archaeologists are now continuing their excavations at the bling-filled site.Image courtesy of Ministry of Culture of PanamaThought to have existed from roughly 200 BCE to 1550 CE in what is now Panama‚ the Gran Coclé culture is known for its skillfully created gold artifacts. Spectacular examples of these expertly crafted items have been found at numerous ancient burial sites across the country.

If someone says “Galápagos Islands”‚ it often conjures up thoughts of giant tortoises or Charles Darwin – but there’s something important missing from that list. The islands are volcanic‚ and they’ve just dished up a steaming hot reminder of that with the eruption of La Cumbre volcano late on Saturday night.La Cumbre‚ a shield volcano found on Fernandina Island‚ began erupting on March 2 at around 11:50 pm local time. Lava began to flow from the fissure in the volcano’s southeastern flank‚ lighting up the night sky‚ whilst a gas cloud shot up an estimated 2 to 3 kilometers above the summit. Though the eruption is yet to conclude‚ Ecuador’s Geophysical Institute has reported that it’s likely to be larger than the eruptions of La Cumbre observed in 2017‚ 2018‚ and the most recent eruption in 2020. Seismic activity in the area gradually increased since then‚ indicating a build-up of magma that eventually escaped in the current eruption.    However‚ the island of Fernandina is no stranger to eruptions. In fact‚ its resident lava spout gives off pretty strong toddler vibes; though it’s the youngest of the Galápagos volcanoes‚ La Cumbre has recorded between 28 to 30 eruptions since 1800‚ giving it the highest temper tantrum eruption recurrence rate in the archipelago.Thankfully the island is uninhabited – at least by humans. “But what about the animals?!” we hear you cry‚ which is understandable considering the island is home to a whole host of unique creatures. Whilst we imagine at least some of them got unwittingly killed (RIP)‚ according to the charity Galápagos Conservancy‚ the current eruption doesn’t pose “a significant immediate threat to any Galápagos wildlife”.However‚ eruptions aren’t precisely predictable‚ meaning there is potential for the situation to change. One resident in particular on some people’s minds is a giant Galápagos tortoise by the name of Fernanda‚ a member of a species thought to have gone extinct due to volcanic activity. She was the first to be seen in 113 years.La Cumbre’s youthful level of activity presents a problem for tortoise survival‚ as Adalgisa Caccone‚ a senior research scientist and lecturer in Yale’s Department of Ecology &; Evolutionary Biology‚ told IFLScience in 2022. "What that has done is constantly create new lava fields that are very difficult to pass‚” said Caccone. “Even for humans to explore properly is really difficult‚ but for the tortoises it’s created isolated patches of suitable habitats so they can’t go from one place to the other.”Let’s hope the elusive giant is tucked away safe and sound from this latest eruption.