Italy OKs $15.5 billion project to build world's longest suspension bridge
The Strait of Messina Bridge will be 'the biggest infrastructure project in the West,' Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome, after an interministerial committee with oversight of strategic public investments approved the project.
Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the bridge "will be an engineering symbol of global significance.''
Salvini cited studies showing the project will create 120,000 jobs a year and accelerate growth in economically lagging southern Italy, as billions more in investments are made in roads and other infrastructure projects accompanying the bridge.
Preliminary work could begin between late September and early October, once Italy's court of audit signs off, with construction expected to start next year. Despite bureaucratic delays, the bridge is expected to be completed between 2032-2033, Salvini said.
Bridge could count toward NATO spending target
The Strait of Messina Bridge has been approved and canceled multiple times since the Italian government first solicited proposals in 1969. Premier Giorgia Meloni's administration revived the project in 2023, and this marks the furthest stage the ambitious project— first envisioned by the Romans — has ever reached.
'From a technical standpoint, it's an absolutely fascinating engineering project,'' Salvini said.
The Strait of Messina Bridge would measure nearly 3.7 kilometers (2.2 miles), with the suspended span reaching 3.3 kilometers (more than 2 miles), surpassing Turkey's Canakkale Bridge, currently the longest, by 1,277 meters (4,189 feet).
With three car lanes in each direction flanked by a double-track railway, the bridge would have the capacity to carry 6,000 cars an hour and 200 trains a day — reducing the time to cross the strait by ferry from up to 100 minutes to 10 minutes by car. Trains will save 2/12 hours in transit time, Salvini said.
The project could provide a boost to Italy's commitment to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP targeted by NATO, as the government has indicated it would classify the bridge as defense-related, helping it to meet a 1.5% security component. Italy argues that the bridge would form a strategic corridor for rapid troop movements and equipment deployment to NATO's southern flanks, qualifying it as a 'security-enhancing infrastructure.'
Salvini confirmed the intention to classify the project as dual use, but said that was up to Italy's defense and economic ministers.
A group of more than 600 professors and researchers signed a letter earlier this summer opposing the military classification, noting that such a move would require additional assessments to see if it could withstand military use. Opponents also say the designation would potentially make the bridge a target.
Concerns over organized crime
Environmental groups have lodged complaints with the EU, citing concerns that the project will impact migratory birds, noting that environmental studies had not demonstrated that the project is a public imperative and that any environmental damage would be offset.
The original government decree reactivating the bridge project included language giving the Interior Ministry control over anti-mafia measures. But Italy's president insisted that the project remain subject to anti-mafia legislation that applies to all large-scale infrastructure projects in Italy out of concerns that the ad-hoc arrangement would weaken controls.
Salvini pledged that keeping organized crime out of the project was top priority, saying it would adhere to the same protocols used for the Expo 2015 World's Fair and the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. 'We need to pay attention so that the entire supply chain is impermeable to bad actors,'' he said.
The project has been awarded to a consortium led by Webuild, an Italian infrastructure group that initially won the bid to build the bridge in 2006 before it was later canceled. The Canakkale Bridge, which opened in 2022, was built using an engineering design similar to the one devised for the Messina bridge, including a wing profile and a deck shape that resembles a fighter jet fuselage with openings to allow wind to pass through the structure, according to Webuild.
Addressing concerns about building the bridge over the Messina fault, which triggered a deadly quake in 1908, Webuild has emphasized that suspension bridges are structurally less vulnerable to seismic forces. It noted that such bridges have been built in seismically active areas, including Japan, Turkey and California.
Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said in a statement that the Strait of Messina Bridge 'will be transformative for the whole country.'
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Japan Times
3 hours ago
- Japan Times
The hottest new credit deals in Europe are anything to do with defense
As NATO leaders huddled in The Hague in late June to iron out a plan to radically boost military spending, bankers in London were busy adding up the investor orders for a bond being offered by a little-known Czech maker of armored vehicles and ammunition. The final tally: More than $10 billion for a sale that wasn't even supposed to total $1 billion. Thrilled, they quickly doubled the size to more than $2 billion and slashed the interest rates they were offering. Just a few days earlier, the description "explosives maker' next to one Spanish company lining up to sell junk bonds caused a mini-frenzy. The company, Maxam Prill, markets itself as a supplier to the mining industry but investors locked in on the possible military uses for the devices as they piled into the $1.4 billion sale. There are few investing booms in the world right now that are bigger than the rush to tap into Europe's military buildup. And while the stock market, with its wild 100% and 200% rallies in defense companies, may get the headlines, it is the credit markets that will provide most of the cash that Europe's manufacturers need to ramp up production and fulfill the trillions of euros worth of orders that pour in from governments for tanks, bombs and guns. Even companies that are struggling and those that are only tangentially linked to the defense industry are attracting credit investors. The bonds of Eutelsat Communications, which fits both those descriptions, have soared in recent months due to the satellite company's new strategic importance, removing it from the ranks of those deemed to be sinking into financial distress. And even companies that are far too small to tap the bond market — a list that includes thousands of businesses across the continent — have scores of potential suitors in the private-credit market looking to cut them checks. Everyone from blue-chip funds such as Carlyle Group and Ares Management to boutique shops like Pemberton Asset Management are seeing more opportunities with defense-related companies. The sense in investing circles is that Europe's leaders, shocked into action by U.S. President Donald Trump, are so determined to reduce their reliance on U.S. might that the military buildup here will last for years, if not decades. "This is going to be an irreversible trend,' Stefan Hoops, the chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank's investment arm, DWS Group, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. The firm is "very focused' on stepping up financing to defense companies, Hoops said. "European countries are clearly committing to spend a lot more on defense, so this train has left the station.' The excitement surrounding the sector, to be sure, may take some time to translate to private credit deals. Direct lenders typically take a while to deploy cash, particularly when venturing into new industries, and funds that were raised a few years ago may have environmental, social and governance restrictions around investing in some types of defense companies. One fund manager said he'd expect a meaningful increase in defense-related investments to take years — perhaps a couple — rather than months. "We would tend to be cautious — we need to listen to what our LPs' appetite for those types of businesses are,' Mike Dennis, the co-head of European credit at Ares, said on Bloomberg's Credit Edge podcast, referring to the firm's limited partners. This explains, in part, why demand has been so torrid for the bonds brought to market in recent weeks: They provide credit investors with an opportunity to tap into the defense trade now. Czechoslovak, a supplier to Ukraine in its war against Russia, drew a whopping €5.6 billion ($6.5 billion) of demand for the euro tranche of its deal and $4.1 billion for the dollar tranche, according to a person familiar with the transaction. It's "a deal that would not have been possible two years ago,' said Daniel Rudnicki Schlumberger, head of leveraged finance for the EMEA region at JPMorgan Chase & Co., which was one of the banks that managed the sale. "The needs in defense are just huge,' he said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. A representative for Czechoslovak confirmed the high demand in the bond sale, without giving any further details. The Prague-based company is now also considering an initial public offering, seeking a valuation of €30 billion or more, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Maxam, meanwhile, was asked repeatedly by investors about the military applications for its explosives while selling its notes, according to people familiar with the matter. A representative for Maxam said the company sold its defense business two years ago and that it marketed itself as a company exclusively dedicated to civil explosives when courting bond investors. Last month, German radar maker Hensoldt tapped into the frenzy, too. It raised double its target amount of at least €150 million in a Schuldschein transaction after the deal was significantly oversubscribed. But there are only so many European defense companies large enough to tap public bond markets, and thousands of small businesses that are key to supply chains. That's why much of the financing will ultimately come from private-credit markets. "Small companies need financing too and some of these are mom-and-pop shops that will want to expand,' said Morningstar DBRS analyst Andrea Petroczi-Urban. "That's why private credit can gain momentum because they can sit down with direct lenders, which are more flexible than traditional banks.' Historically, private-credit funds never paid much attention to the defense sector, with ESG considerations making it all the more complex for lenders to get involved. But attitudes and rules have been changing throughout financial markets, as Europe seeks to rearm itself, and several private lenders told Bloomberg that interest inside their firms has picked up markedly. For some of the firms, so-called defense-adjacent companies are particularly attractive, given the way ESG rules still limit what they can invest in. Several leading lenders such as Ares and Blackstone see an increasing opportunity in areas like cybersecurity, defense-related software, electronic components and sensors, protective equipment and training solutions, people with knowledge of the matter said. Others such as Sixth Street have not yet reached a formal view about European defense but are spending time on it. Taj Sidhu, head of European and Asian private credit at Carlyle, said he sees "compelling opportunities' in mid-market defense supply-chain companies, "where there is clear demand for the certainty of execution and flexibility that private credit solutions can provide.' Pemberton co-founder and managing partner Symon Drake-Brockman said his firm has also seen increased demand for investment in defense and defense-linked companies, and he anticipates long-term growth for the sector. Spokespeople for Ares and Blackstone said they had nothing further to add to their public comments on defense, while Sixth Street did not respond to a request for comment. The overall potential in the sector is huge, with Carlyle estimating European spending of as much as €14 trillion on defense and related infrastructure over the next decade after NATO members raised spending targets to the equivalent of 5% of gross domestic product. And governments are also pushing for private lenders to get involved: A White Paper from the European Commission earlier this year included suggestions for mobilizing private money to fund the continent's rearmament. Among the few funds already launched is a new vehicle from Tikehau Capital SCA, along with three insurers, which is focused on defense, cybersecurity and European security. The fund, with an initial commitment of €150 million, is similar to a previous Tikehau private equity fund dedicated to aerospace and defense, but includes a 30% allocation to private debt, according to Raphael Thuin, head of capital market strategies at the French asset manager. As others follow, they'll need to figure out how to make the most of newfound interest from clients — and put in the legwork to vet obscure companies that have often never tapped public or private debt markets before. Risks abound. "While the current geopolitical situation is driving a re-assessment of the defence sector, ESG risks and socioeconomic impacts are material for investors,' Nikolaj Halkjaer Pedersen, a senior researcher at Principles for Responsible Investment, wrote recently. The Alternative Credit Council, which lobbies for private credit firms, is trying to bridge that gap between lenders and small defense firms in Europe. "Links between private credit and defense are more established in the U.S.,' said Jiri Krol, global head of the ACC. So he and his team are working with industry groups, he said, "to give private credit firms a better understanding of the needs and specificities of defense companies.' Hoops, the CEO at DWS, said it's only a matter of time before those smaller companies need capital. "As the number of orders for the big companies go up,' he said, "all of the smaller, non-publicly traded companies also need to increase capacity.'
The Diplomat
12 hours ago
- The Diplomat
South Korea's Special Counsels Delve Into the Supernatural Side of Yoon's Presidency
The NATO summit in June 2022 was former President Yoon Suk-yeol's debut abroad; he had just taken the oath of office the previous month. Amid reports of Yoon's schmoozing and talk of aligning South Korea more firmly with the West, the then first lady, Kim Keon-hee, also made headlines with her outfit choice. She appeared at a banquet with Korean expats, wearing a French designer pendant worth about $44,000. At the time, someone at the presidential office advised against wearing it, to which Kim replied 'I know what I'm doing.' Clearly, she didn't know – or didn't care – about the legal requirement for elected officials to disclose ownership of pricey jewelry, which Kim had not done. As public opprobrium mounted, Kim said she borrowed the necklace from her acquaintance. The public eventually lost interest amid the subsequent vortex of other more momentous scandals. But the real story began when the Unification Church (UC), an affluent South Korean cult, heard of Kim's excuse that the necklace belonged to someone else. Prosecutors suspect the UC then offered Kim a British luxury diamond necklace also worth about $44,000 and two Chanel bags, saying the first lady wouldn't have to borrow jewelry anymore. In return, the UC hoped to gain support for its pet projects. Prosecutors stumbled upon this deal while investigating a shaman, a pseudo-Buddhist monk worshipping a Japanese sun goddess. The shaman, practicing under the alias Gunjin, was a failed businessman, scraping by with commissions received from people for praying to deities on their behalf. His fortune changed when he allegedly cured a government minister more than a decade ago and gained prominence among political hotshots. He had spun an extensive web of political connections and quid-pro-quo relations with himself as a broker. His spiritual wiles coupled with practical political benefits also ensnared Kim and Yoon. An exorcism convocation staged by the shaman in 2018 – which involved skinning a bull alive and slaughtering a dozen hogs – featured lanterns bearing the names of patrons and objects to benefit from the ritual. Some of the lanterns bore Kim and Yoon's names and their occupations. The shaman had advised Kim on her art business and managed Yoon's 2022 presidential campaign staff, even escorting and introducing Yoon to local bigwigs during barnstorming. Prosecutors now allege that the former head of the UC's international outreach division – the de facto second-in-command within the UC hierarchy – paid the shaman tens of thousands of dollars so that the UC could befriend Yoon. That's in addition to the allegations that the group gifted Kim the diamond necklace and designer bags. In return, the UC's requests included state aid for its development project around the Mekong River in Cambodia and Yoon's support for its plan to acquire a major South Korean broadcaster. The former UC second-in-command admitted to handing over the money and designer goods to the shaman and then securing approval for the UC's Mekong project from Yoon. From 2022 to 2024, the Yoon administration quadrupled South Korea's Official Development Assistance (ODA) cap for Cambodia. In the meantime, the UC reps met up with Cambodia's then-prime minister while Kim went on a humanitarian aid trip to Cambodia for some staged photo ops. Three special counsels set sail in July to explore the true extent of the Yoon administration's graft, especially those involving spiritual figures and religious outfits due to Yoon's and Kim's fondness for the occult. The saga linking the Unification Church, the then-first lady, the shaman Gunjin, and Cambodia is merely one of many instances where the Yoon administration and the then-ruling People Power Party (PPP) allowed non-secular influences to meddle in national affairs. The Kim Keon-hee special counsel has also found evidence that Kwon Sung-dong, former head of the PPP, pocketed cash from the UC to advance the cult's wishlist, including tipping off the group ahead of police investigations. (According to one witness statement, he once literally kowtowed to the UC leader in exchange for unknown gifts in two shopping bags.) Notably, it was Kwon who introduced Yoon to the PPP and groomed him to run for the presidency in 2022. Recently, Hong Joon-pyo, a former mayor of Daegu, the most conservative city in South Korea, revealed how Shincheonji, another cult, enrolled tens of thousands of its members as PPP members to help Yoon win the PPP national convention to run for the presidency back then. In August 2025, whistleblowing accounts surfaced that the cult leader had communicated with Kwon and Yoon at the time. The special counsel has also placed another mystic in its crosshairs. Myung Tae-kyun is a businessman running an election polling service, calling himself a clairvoyant mystic. He is accused of rigging polling results to beef up Yoon's candidacy in the PPP national convention in 2021 – allegedly at Kim's behest. Myung described Yoon as 'a blind warrior controlled by Kim sitting on his shoulders and exercising sorcery.' He fed Kim with spiritual and political advice and relied on Yoon and Kim to determine who gets the PPP election tickets. Myung excelled at rigging polls, eventually earning himself the nickname 'the kingmaker' for his ability to tip hotly contested elections in his patrons' favor. With the special counsel's probe into Myung, Pandora's box would open up for not only Yoon and Kim but also other PPP dignitaries who commissioned Myung and peddled political favors. Meanwhile, other issues of more national import depended on the teachings of an ascetic. The ascetic, lanky with a long grizzled beard and a sleek ponytail, spent 17 years ensconced in a mountain, during which he purports to have cracked the secret workings of the universe. He presented himself as 'Yoon's mentor,' who provided advice each time Yoon found himself in a predicament. Yoon admitted that he enjoyed watching the ascetic's online lectures and that he and his wife used to meet up with him. The ascetic also trailed Yoon on the latter's official schedule. Yoon's decisions to relocate the presidential office to Yongsan (a logistical nightmare), to skip attending Queen Elizabeth II's funeral (a diplomatic impropriety), and to drill the country's seabed for oil and gas (a budgetary disaster) all materialized following the ascetic's lectures – which matched Yoon's subsequent rationale. Clearly, the Yoon administration had shown abnormal susceptibility to those claiming otherworldly qualities and let them commandeer some crucial decision-making. But this wasn't limited to esoteric, fringe characters. Another special counsel has recently uncovered trails of how Protestant pastors interfered with the Marine Corps' investigation into the death of a marine back in July 2023. Lim Sung-geun, then commander of the Marine Corps' 1st Division, ordered a reckless rescue mission, during which Private Chae (posthumously promoted to Corporal Chae following his death on duty) drowned in a torrential rapid without having been provided with adequate swimming training and safety kits. The Marine Corps' investigation unit charged Lim with gross negligence and manslaughter for having rammed through a rescue operation that entailed an obvious risk of death without taking reasonable steps to mitigate the risk or prevent such deaths. However, Yoon called up the then-defense minister to cover for Lim. The defense ministry expunged Lim's name from the charge sheet. The Corporal Chae special counsel secured a web of call logs spanning Lim, pastors, Yoon's friends and aides, and Yoon himself. One of the pastors held particular sway over Yoon, having arranged a meeting between Yoon and former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. Additionally, Yoon used to heed this megachurch pastor's advice on state affairs over dinner. The insurrection special counsel is looking into the role a far-right Protestant pastor played in justifying Yoon's attempt at a self-coup, inciting mobs, and rousing his congregants to storm and ransack a court in January, as well as his close ties to the PPP legislators. The pastor used to scream, 'Yoon is God-sent!' and his followers flocked to protect his presidency. It's chilling to face the extent to which the occult, various religious outfits, and spiritual figures allegedly fiddled with the government, and to realize that it was the former president and first lady who ushered such unauthorized elements to hidden positions of power. While there's no doubt these allegations deal with egregious wrongs, it's worthwhile to ask if Yoon and Kim were so out of the ordinary for believing in the supernatural. South Korean society is very much entwined with shamans and superstition. As of 2017, there were more than a million shamans and fortunetellers in the country. Considering the proportional relationship between the number of these figures and socio-economic turbulence, the number might even be larger today. Cultural content revolving around shamans, exorcism, fortunetelling, and physiognomy dominates the public psyche. People rely on these professionals to find their partners and determine the timing of marriages and moves. Geomancy exerts a disproportionate impact on people's choice of location for their home, enterprise, or agricultural cultivation. As former President Park Geun-hye and the Yoon administration illustrate, powerful, educated segments of the population are hardly immune. Rather, they owe their success to advice from their favorite shamans, which generates a positive feedback loop whereby they gradually entrust spiritual figures with more crucial matters. For instance, Yoon quit as chief prosecutor following a shaman's advice. He then became the president and apparently felt compelled to seek more advice from them. Religious figures carry enormous weight in influencing the outcomes of elections. Many voters believe in the potency of those supposedly chosen by some higher beings. The first port of call for many candidates are megachurches, because endorsements from pastors and spiritual leaders sway tens of thousands of votes. Yoon himself visited megachurches whenever his popularity took a drubbing, while Kwon reportedly enlisted the UC to enhance his party grip and buttress the Yoon administration. Everyone is entitled to their own belief systems and religious comfort. A liberal state actively works to ensure religious freedom and safe space for disparate religions to prosper in their own spheres. Yet, the Yoon administration's conduct has indicated the need to invert this type of state-religion relationship, adopted by most developed democracies, to something akin to France's practice of laïcité. Laïcité strives to ensure not only the separation of state and religion but also the protection of state and republican values from religious influences – rather than the protection of religion by the state. There's an easily blurred line between personal beliefs in geomancy, shamans, and sorcery, and officials' thought process. Time and again, South Korean decision-makers have allowed their spiritual convictions to encroach upon what should be the rational realm of policy deliberation and utilitarian analysis. Hopefully, the results of the special counsels' investigation provide lessons into what internal controls are necessary to prevent supernatural elements from seeping into the secular workings of the government.
Japan Today
13 hours ago
- Japan Today
Canada's PM announces billions in defense spending to hit NATO target
Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday announced a multi-billion-dollar military spending package, affirming his government's plan to hit NATO's two percent defense spending target this year. Since taking office in April, Carney has repeatedly warned that Canada's military is not equipped to confront the growing threats facing the country. He has cited the prospect of Russian aggression undermining Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic and the United States' increasingly uncertain role in shaping global security, among other risks. "The international order built after the Second World War, and reshaped following the Cold War, is under pressure," Carney said Friday in a speech at a military base. "We have taken our security for granted for too long," he added. Carney announced CAN$2 billion ($1.5 billion) to boost soldiers' pay, including a substantial 20 percent salary raise for the military's lowest ranking personnel. Those funds are part of CAN$9 billion in new military investments planned for this year, Carney said, vowing to invest in combat vehicles, drones and other hardware. President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies commit to spending five percent of their GDP on defense, and warned the United States could refuse to protect countries that do not devote what he considers to be adequate funds towards their military. Carney affirmed Friday that Canada would hit NATO's two percent target this year and would plan to meet "the new defense investment pledge of five percent of annual GDP over the next decade, by 2035." © 2025 AFP
