150 years of Italian unity celebrated

Italy marked the 150th anniversary of its national unity yesterday with a public holiday and joyful celebrations, but signs also emerged of how fractured the country still seems at times.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was booed at one ceremony, while politicians in the wealthy north questioned whether workers and students should have been given the day off. And some people in Italy's poor and crime-ridden south said they were tired of being regarded as second-class citizens.

Mr Berlusconi's government declared yesterday a one-time national holiday to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the day Victor Emanuel II became the first king of united Italy, following centuries of rivalry among city-states or foreign occupation along the peninsula.

The holiday saw a sprinkling of flags hanging from balconies, terraces and windows in the Italian capital. Children also waved tiny flags as Mr Berlusconi, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and other VIPs attended ceremonies in Rome, including at the Altar of the Homeland at central Piazza Venezia. The monument was erected in 1911 to mark what was then the 50th anniversary of united Italy.