Students march during demonstration in Rome Dec 22, 2010. Thousands of students gathered in Rome to protest a new university law on Wednesday as police blocked off large parts of the city centre to prevent a repeat of the violent clash at a similar march week ago. The new education law, which the government says will strengthen Italy's crumbling university system but which critics say will merely cut funding, was due for final approval in the Senate on Wednesday though a vote may be delayed until Thursday. [China Daily/Agencies]