Countries around the world view first total solar eclipse in years

Schoolchildren cheered Wednesday as the first total eclipse in years plunged Ghana into daytime darkness, an eagerly awaited solar show that will sweep northeast from Brazil to Mongolia. As the heavens and earth moved into rare alignment, all that could be seen of the sun were the rays of its corona - the usually invisible extended atmosphere of the sun that glowed as a dull yellow wedding-band, barely illuminating the west African country. Automatic street lamps switched on as the light faded, and authorities sounded emergency whistles in celebration. Schoolchildren and others across the capital, Accra, burst into applause. Many in Ghana, a deeply religious country of Christians and Muslims, said the phenomenon bolstered their faith. "I've never experienced this and we all need to pray to God and worship him. I believe it's a wonderful work of God," said Solomon Pomenya, a 52-year old doctor. "This tells me that God is a true engineer." From Ghana to Libya to Syria to Turkey and beyond, schools closed to watch the eclipse. The last such total solar eclipse, in November 2003, was best viewed from Antarctica. But Wednesday's eclipse blocks the sun in highly populated areas, including West Africa, where governments have scrambled to educate people about the dangers of looking directly at the sun without proper eye protection. Health authorities warned spectators not to stare at the eclipse and one expert in Lebanon advised that the safest way to see it was to stay at home and watch live coverage on television.