TOP HEADLINES 

• Tens of thousands of union members, alongside other Italian left-wing groups, gathered in Rome to stand up against rising fascism. A week after, right-wing extremists forced their way into the headquarters of Italy's largest union, protesting against a COVID-19 certification requirement for workplaces.

The head of the CGIL union confederation, Maurizio Landini, led the protest with other labor leaders under the slogan: "Never again fascism." Organizers assembled the 100,000-strong crowd in front of St. John Lateran basilica to show their condemnation.

Some participants waved flags reading "Si Vax," a direct retort to the protesters armed with sticks and metal bars who trashed CGIL's Rome headquarters on October 9. They were protesting a government requirement, which took effect Friday, mandating proof of vaccination, a negative test within 48 hours, or proof of having recovered from COVID-19 to access places of employment.

• Rival protests for and against anti-COVID-19 measures took place in Switzerland. The Swiss government has brought in a 'Covid certificate,' required to enter indoor areas, like restaurants.

• Over 40,000 people took part in nationwide protests in France against the Pass Sanitaire on Saturday. According to the French Interior Ministry, 171 rallies took place across the country, with the rally in Paris gathering 5,000 people alone.

• Russia reported 34,303 cases of new infections in the past 24 hours. A record-high number since the pandemic's start, data from the state coronavirus task force showed on Sunday. It also reported 997 deaths from the disease, five fewer than the daily record-high of 1,002 reported the previous day.

The latest deaths brought the official national death toll to 223,312, with a total of almost 8 million cases. Russian authorities blame a slow vaccination campaign for the sharp rise of infections and deaths, which forced the health ministry to ask retired, vaccinated medics to return to hospitals.

• Britain reported 43,423 new cases on Saturday, government statistics showed, with the total number of cases recorded between October 10 and October 16 up 12.8 percent from the previous seven days.

The rise follows decisions to end compulsory mask-wearing and pause plans for vaccine passports, policies that make Britain an outlier in Western Europe. The daily data showed 148 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, with the seven-day total up 5.4 percent from the previous week.