World prepares for first total solar eclipse in years

Tourists and scientists were gathering around the world for a solar show – the first total eclipse in years, which will sweep north-east from Brazil to Mongolia, blotting out the sun across swathes of the world’s poorest lands.

Tomorrow’s eclipse will blot out the sun in highly-populated areas, including west Africa, where governments scrambled to educate people about the dangers of looking at the eclipse without proper eye protection.