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Straits Times
08-08-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
'They must not touch the Strait': Sicily bridge opponents vow to put up a fight
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A general view shows the Strait of Messina, Italy, August 5, 2025. The area is part of the planned site for a suspension bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi MESSINA, Italy - Italy's decision to approve the construction between Sicily and the mainland of what would be the world's longest single-span bridge has set the stage for a legal battle that could further delay a project first conceived by the ancient Romans. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government gave its final approval for the bridge over the Strait of Messina on Wednesday, earmarking 13.5 billion euros ($15.8 billion) for a project that has been under discussion for more than 50 years. "They could offer me three times the value of my house, but that doesn't matter to me. What matters is the landscape. They must not touch the Strait of Messina," said Mariolina De Francesco, a 75-year-old living in the Sicilian city of Messina. More than 440 properties will have to be expropriated on the Sicilian side and in the Calabria region on the mainland to make way for the 3.7-km (2.3-mile) bridge and connecting roads and railways. "Our lawyers will take action, and we will stop them. That's guaranteed," said De Francesco, whose house lies near the site of one of the bridge's planned 399-metre-tall land towers. Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said preliminary works should start in September-October, and has promised generous compensation to those required to surrender their property. The bridge is due for completion in 2032. The Messina Strait Company overseeing the project is bracing for a big legal fight. "(Legal appeals) certainly keep me busy because they waste a lot of our time," its CEO Pietro Ciucci told La Stampa newspaper. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Who loses the most from Trump's tariffs? Who wins? Business SGX says over 30 companies in its IPO pipeline, eyes more acquisitions World Israel security Cabinet approves plan to seize Gaza City Singapore Four Certis officers charged after allegedly receiving over $9,700 in bribes from man Opinion At 79, Liew Mun Leong has no time to be sentimental Singapore Student found with vape taken to hospital after behaving aggressively in school; HSA investigating Singapore CDC and SG60 vouchers listed on e-commerce platforms will be taken down: CDCs World Trump urges 'conflicted' Intel CEO Tan Lip-Bu to resign immediately Environmental groups this week filed a complaint with the European Union, flagging serious risks for the local ecosystem. The Torre Faro district, on the northern edge of Messina, includes a nature reserve surrounding two ponds, and Calabria appears within arm's reach when strolling along the seafront. SEISMIC RISK Committees of 'No Bridge' residents say the area's environmental value and seismic risk make it unsuitable for the infrastructure. They also fear the works will drag on, making the neighbourhood unliveable because of the noise. The Messina Strait Company says the bridge will be designed to withstand very strong earthquakes and will not be placed on active fault lines. It has also promised mitigation measures to safeguard habitats and protected species. Contractual obligations will ensure that the timing and effects of construction activity, including noise, will be kept under strict control, the company added. Supporters of the project - awarded to the Eurolink consortium led by Italy's Webuild - say it will bolster the economy of an underdeveloped region. "The bridge could create jobs for young people, and maybe it could also change something in Sicily, where we always like to keep everything as it is," said 71-year-old Giuseppe Caruso, sitting on his bike near the beach. Authorities have pledged strong safeguards against any mafia involvement. The two regions are home to the Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta mafia organizations, which have a long history of infiltrating lucrative public works projects. The government is also considering whether to categorise investment in the bridge as defence spending, which would help Italy meet new NATO targets to boost military budgets. PUBLIC INTEREST House expropriations are set to proceed gradually, in line with construction progress. Activists and lawyers estimate some 1,000 people could lose their homes, and say the increased costs since the project was first awarded may breach European Union public procurement laws. "We are a country governed by the rule of law within the EU, so even the government must respect the rules," said Antonio Saitta, a lawyer representing some Messina residents. The Messina Strait Company said the rise in costs, from 8.5 billion euros in 2011 - before the project was blocked - to the current 13.5 billion euros, was due to the sharp increase in construction material prices. Saitta said the main way of blocking the bridge was to file an appeal with an administrative court against the government's decision by the end of October. Gianluca Maria Esposito, an administrative law professor at Sapienza University of Rome, said the public interest prevails over the private in such cases and that blocking the project would be a daunting challenge. "The citizen is entitled to compensation but cannot claim further damages, nor can they oppose the realization of the project," he said. REUTERS
The Star
06-08-2025
- Business
- The Star
Italy to give final go-ahead for landmark Sicily bridge project
A woman walks with her dog along the Sicilian coast with the Calabrian shoreline visible across the Strait of Messina, Italy, August 5, 2025. The area is part of the planned site for a suspension bridge connecting Sicily to mainland Italy, with construction expected to begin in the second half of 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi ROME (Reuters) -Italy's government was set on Wednesday to give the final approval to the multi-billion-euro project to build a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, paving the way for works to begin after decades of discussions. Construction for the 3.6-km (2.2-miles) bridge, projected to be one of the longest in the world, has been talked about since the late 1960s to help develop the impoverished south of Italy. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made it a priority and has set aside 13.5 billion euros ($15.63 billion) over the next 10 years for the bridge and surrounding facilities. The Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS) is due to meet at 1230 pm (1030 GMT). Matteo Salvini, the leader of the ruling League Party and Infrastructure Minister, has announced that he will hold a press conference afterwards, before travelling to the site of the bridge's construction. The Strait of Messina Bridge Project was awarded to the Eurolink consortium following an international tender. Italy's largest construction company Webuild leads the consortium, which also has Spanish group Sacyr and Japanese group IHI as its members. According to the Messina Strait Company overseeing the project, the government committee approval would allow the start of preliminary works, including archaeological and geological surveys. Land expropriations will also be authorised. Last week, Salvini told reporters that validation by the national audit court would be required before the CIPESS resolution could take effect. A source close to the matter said this could take a few weeks. The bridge has drawn fierce criticism from those who question the wisdom of building it in an earthquake zone and those who say it would be a waste of money and harmful to the landscape, amid fears that the Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta criminal gangs based in the area could infiltrate the works to reap huge profits. Some citizens' groups are campaigning against the bridge, calling it unnecessary, and environmental associations this week filed a complaint with the European Union, flagging serious environmental damage risks. Yet, the bridge also has strong support from those who believe a fast rail and road connection as an alternative to the current ferry crossing would provide a much-needed boost to Sicily and the rest of Italy's poorer southern regions. Webuild has active construction projects worldwide including Saudi Arabia's NEOM gigaproject. Sacyr participated in the Panama Canal expansion, and IHI has been involved in the Akashi suspension bridge in Japan and the Osman Gazi suspension bridge in Turkey. Webuild has estimated that the construction could create more than 100,000 jobs. According to the Messina Strait Company, the bridge will be completed in 2032. Two years ago, Webuild appointed Gianni De Gennaro, a former head of the Italian police and undersecretary of state for intelligence and security services, as president of Eurolink. ($1 = 0.8639 euros) (Reporting by Angelo Amante; Additional reporting and writing by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
Express Tribune
14-07-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Italy's abortion taboos stirred by new Sicily legislation
People demonstrate outside the Ministry of Health to demand the right to free, safe and free abortion as Non Una di Meno (Not One Less) movement and feminist collectives take part in a protest to mark the International Safe Abortion Day, in Rome, Italy September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo Listen to article Monia, a Sicilian woman in her early forties, was overjoyed when she discovered in October 2022 she was expecting her first child. Her doctor, however, recommended a genetic test due to her age, and the result was one no parent wants to receive. The foetus had a genetic syndrome. Monia, who declined to give her surname, asked her gynaecologist what she could do. "Nothing. You don't want to terminate, do you?" the doctor asked her, she said. He was a conscientious objector, Monia said, one of hundreds on the southern Italian island. More than 80% of gynaecologists in Sicily refuse to perform abortions for moral or religious reasons, according to the latest health ministry data, which dates to 2022, even though the procedure has been a legal right for women in Italy since 1978. To address that situation, in late May Sicily's regional council - run by a centre-right coalition - passed a law in a secret ballot requiring all public hospitals to create dedicated abortion wards and to hire staff willing to provide the service. Under the national rules, abortion is permitted within the first 90 days of a pregnancy, or later if there are risks to the mother's health or foetal abnormalities. The latter circumstance applied to Monia, who went to the Sant'Antonio Abate hospital in the city of Trapani, in western Sicily, to terminate her pregnancy. "All the gynaecologists were objectors," she said. "An obstetrician gave me a bed with only a mattress cover and said they would administer a pill every three hours until I went into labour." She was told she would receive no further assistance. Her story is far from unique in southern Italy, where cultural traditions are more conservative than in the Catholic country's richer north and centre. At first, Monia's pills were ineffective, but after five days and a change of treatment she finally miscarried, attended to by a doctor and a midwife. Hospital staff referred to her as "Article 6," she said, after the provision in the law that allows abortions beyond 90 days. In response to a request for comment, the Sant'Antonio Abate hospital said it was sorry for Monia's "difficult experience". However, the hospital said it was unable to verify the facts because both the hospital manager and the head of the gynaecology department at that time had left. Read: UAE to legalise abortion in cases of rape and incest in landmark reform The hospital said it now has three non-objecting doctors and was able to provide abortion services. Abortions are only available in around half of Sicily's hospitals, health ministry data shows, a figure much lower than in central and northern Italy, where rates are around 70%. Like most of his colleagues, Fabio Guardala, a 60-year-old doctor, refuses to perform abortions. He operates at the Cannizzaro hospital in the Sicilian city of Catania, on the east coast of the island. "A doctor's job is to heal," said Guardala, who is also deputy head of a healthcare unit at his local Catholic church. "Abortion is not treatment but killing. Nobody can force a doctor to kill." Silvia Vaccari, president of the Italian federation of midwives, FNOPO, said health outcomes can be grim in areas where legal abortions are hard to access. People demonstrate outside the Ministry of Health to demand the right to free, safe and free abortion as Non Una di Meno (Not One Less) movement and feminist collectives take part in a protest to mark the International Safe Abortion Day, in Rome, Italy September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo "The absence of facilities sometimes leads people to turn to non-professionals, putting them at risk of death, or to continue with pregnancies and give birth to babies who are abandoned in places where they may never be found alive," she said. Catholic influence Most other European Union countries allow health workers to refuse to perform abortions on ethical grounds, according to a 2022 study published in the Acta Biomedica journal. But the right is generally exercised far less commonly than in southern Italy. One exception is deeply Catholic Poland, where abortion is only legal in cases of rape or incest or when a woman's health or life is at risk. The Acta study said many Polish women have been forced to travel abroad to terminate their pregnancies. Abortion has always been contentious in Italy, a Catholic country that hosts the Vatican. Right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni passed legislation last year to try to deter women from terminating pregnancies. Pro-life groups have been allowed into abortion advice clinics, in a move Meloni's party said was aimed at giving women an opportunity for reflection before making a final decision. Nationally, the number of abortions dropped to 65,000 in 2022, according to the latest health ministry data, against 110,000 in 2011. More than 60% of gynaecologists are conscientious objectors. On the island of Sardinia, the region's ruling, left-leaning 5-Star Movement last month presented a law proposal similar to the one adopted in Sicily, suggesting that other southern regions may soon follow its example. Dario Safina, a centre-left Democratic Party lawmaker in Sicily and the promoter of the new law, said many Sicilian women seeking an abortion feel forced to resort to the private sector. "Access to abortion is not a problem for those who can afford it, because they can go to a private clinic. But healthcare based on wealth is the end of democracy," he said. Read more: Indonesian police granted exclusive authority to approve abortions for rape victims Some doctors argue Sicily's high objection rates are not only due to ethics but also to staff shortages and poor working conditions that make it harder for gynaecologists to provide abortions on top of their regular duties. Data from the GIMBE Foundation, a health sector think-tank, shows Sicily had nine healthcare workers per 1,000 residents in 2022, compared with a national average of 11.6 and far below the northern and central Emilia Romagna and Tuscany regions with 15. "Hospitals always try to exploit doctors' work without paying them properly, so sometimes professionals are reluctant to perform abortions," said Salvatore Incandela, head of the Sicilian arm of AOGOI, Italy's gynaecologists' association. Italian anti-abortion group Pro-Life Together rejects this, saying non-objectors in Sicily were only required to perform 1.5 abortions a week on average in 2022 - still above a national average of 0.9. Legal challenges Six Sicilian hospital managers and health professionals contacted by Reuters said the new legislation could strengthen the service, but it was still important to ensure doctors could opt out as allowed under 1978 national law that sanctioned the right to abortion. Under the law, health workers are exempted from abortion procedures if they declare an ethical or religious objection, so long as the woman's life is not in immediate danger. Gaetano Sirna, the director general of Catania's Policlinico-San Marco hospital, one of the city's largest, said even with just six non-objecting gynaecologists out of a total of 39, he could still ensure abortions for those who needed them. "We have no problems guaranteeing the availability (of doctors) ... gynaecologists are free to declare themselves as objectors; we do not discriminate," he told Reuters. Abortion is not the only case in which conscientious objection is permitted in Italy. It used to be grounds for avoiding compulsory military service, which was abolished in the early 2000s, and an opt-out for scientists from conducting animal experiments was introduced in the early 1990s. Giorgia Landolfo, a pro-abortion activist in Catania, called the new law in Sicily a "landmark," but said she feared it would be hard to enforce. Some anti-abortion groups say it will be challenged in court on the ground that job postings reserved for non-objectors discriminate against the others. "Many measures in the past aimed at hiring non-objectors have been challenged and ultimately came to nothing," said Vito Trojano, the head of SIGO, the Italian Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society. Some Sicilian politicians who strongly oppose the new rules believe the region should instead bolster its healthcare and support facilities for pregnant women, who often feel abandoned and see no alternative to abortion. "Life is life from the moment of conception," said Margherita La Rocca, a Sicilian lawmaker from the centre-right Forza Italia party. "The foetus cannot just be considered a clump of cells when it's convenient."
Straits Times
14-07-2025
- Health
- Straits Times
Italy's abortion taboos challenged by new law in Sicily
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: People demonstrate outside the Ministry of Health to demand the right to free, safe and free abortion as Non Una di Meno (Not One Less) movement and feminist collectives take part in a protest to mark the International Safe Abortion Day, in Rome, Italy September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo CATANIA, Italy - Monia, a Sicilian woman in her early forties, was overjoyed when she discovered in October 2022 she was expecting her first child. Her doctor, however, recommended a genetic test due to her age, and the result was one no parent wants to receive. The foetus had a genetic syndrome. Monia, who declined to give her surname, asked her gynaecologist what she could do. "Nothing. You don't want to terminate, do you?" the doctor asked her, she said. He was a conscientious objector, Monia said, one of hundreds on the southern Italian island. More than 80% of gynaecologists in Sicily refuse to perform abortions for moral or religious reasons, according to the latest health ministry data, which dates to 2022, even though the procedure has been a legal right for women in Italy since 1978. To address that situation, in late May Sicily's regional council - run by a centre-right coalition - passed a law in a secret ballot requiring all public hospitals to create dedicated abortion wards and to hire staff willing to provide the service. Under the national rules, abortion is permitted within the first 90 days of a pregnancy, or later if there are risks to the mother's health or foetal abnormalities. The latter circumstance applied to Monia, who went to the Sant'Antonio Abate hospital in the city of Trapani, in western Sicily, to terminate her pregnancy. "All the gynaecologists were objectors," she said. "An obstetrician gave me a bed with only a mattress cover and said they would administer a pill every three hours until I went into labour." She was told she would receive no further assistance. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore to train more aviation and maritime officials from around the world Business Singapore's economy sees surprise expansion in Q2 despite US tariff uncertainty: Advance estimate Singapore Same person, but different S'porean Chinese names? How have such naming practices evolved? Singapore Jail for woman who opened bank accounts that received over $640m including scam proceeds Business From wellness zone to neurodivergent room: How companies are creating inviting, inclusive offices Singapore Swift action needed to stop vaping's slide from health risk to drug epidemic Singapore Govt will continue to support families, including growing group of seniors: PM Wong at PCF Family Day Singapore Art by Pathlight students to be displayed along Singapore River Her story is far from unique in southern Italy, where cultural traditions are more conservative than in the Catholic country's richer north and centre. At first, Monia's pills were ineffective, but after five days and a change of treatment she finally miscarried, attended to by a doctor and a midwife. Hospital staff referred to her as "Article 6," she said, after the provision in the law that allows abortions beyond 90 days. In response to a request for comment, the Sant'Antonio Abate hospital said it was sorry for Monia's "difficult experience". However, the hospital said it was unable to verify the facts because both the hospital manager and the head of the gynaecology department at that time had left. The hospital said it now has three non-objecting doctors and was able to provide abortion services. Abortions are only available in around half of Sicily's hospitals, health ministry data shows, a figure much lower than in central and northern Italy, where rates are around 70%. Like most of his colleagues, Fabio Guardala, a 60-year-old doctor, refuses to perform abortions. He operates at the Cannizzaro hospital in the Sicilian city of Catania, on the east coast of the island. "A doctor's job is to heal," said Guardala, who is also deputy head of a healthcare unit at his local Catholic church. "Abortion is not treatment but killing. Nobody can force a doctor to kill." Silvia Vaccari, president of the Italian federation of midwives, FNOPO, said health outcomes can be grim in areas where legal abortions are hard to access. "The absence of facilities sometimes leads people to turn to non-professionals, putting them at risk of death, or to continue with pregnancies and give birth to babies who are abandoned in places where they may never be found alive," she said. CATHOLIC INFLUENCE Most other European Union countries allow health workers to refuse to perform abortions on ethical grounds, according to a 2022 study published in the Acta Biomedica journal. But the right is generally exercised far less commonly than in southern Italy. One exception is deeply Catholic Poland, where abortion is only legal in cases of rape or incest or when a woman's health or life is at risk. The Acta study said many Polish women have been forced to travel abroad to terminate their pregnancies. Abortion has always been contentious in Italy, a Catholic country that hosts the Vatican. Right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni passed legislation last year to try to deter women from terminating pregnancies. Pro-life groups have been allowed into abortion advice clinics, in a move Meloni's party said was aimed at giving women an opportunity for reflection before making a final decision. Nationally, the number of abortions dropped to 65,000 in 2022, according to the latest health ministry data, against 110,000 in 2011. More than 60% of gynaecologists are conscientious objectors. On the island of Sardinia, the region's ruling, left-leaning 5-Star Movement last month presented a law proposal similar to the one adopted in Sicily, suggesting that other southern regions may soon follow its example. Dario Safina, a centre-left Democratic Party lawmaker in Sicily and the promoter of the new law, said many Sicilian women seeking an abortion feel forced to resort to the private sector. "Access to abortion is not a problem for those who can afford it, because they can go to a private clinic. But healthcare based on wealth is the end of democracy," he said. Some doctors argue Sicily's high objection rates are not only due to ethics but also to staff shortages and poor working conditions that make it harder for gynaecologists to provide abortions on top of their regular duties. Data from the GIMBE Foundation, a health sector think-tank, shows Sicily had nine healthcare workers per 1,000 residents in 2022, compared with a national average of 11.6 and far below the northern and central Emilia Romagna and Tuscany regions with 15. "Hospitals always try to exploit doctors' work without paying them properly, so sometimes professionals are reluctant to perform abortions," said Salvatore Incandela, head of the Sicilian arm of AOGOI, Italy's gynaecologists' association. Italian anti-abortion group Pro-Life Together rejects this, saying non-objectors in Sicily were only required to perform 1.5 abortions a week on average in 2022 - still above a national average of 0.9. LEGAL CHALLENGES? Six Sicilian hospital managers and health professionals contacted by Reuters said the new legislation could strengthen the service, but it was still important to ensure doctors could opt out as allowed under 1978 national law that sanctioned the right to abortion. Under the law, health workers are exempted from abortion procedures if they declare an ethical or religious objection, so long as the woman's life is not in immediate danger. Gaetano Sirna, the director general of Catania's Policlinico-San Marco hospital, one of the city's largest, said even with just six non-objecting gynaecologists out of a total of 39, he could still ensure abortions for those who needed them. "We have no problems guaranteeing the availability (of doctors) ... gynaecologists are free to declare themselves as objectors; we do not discriminate," he told Reuters. Abortion is not the only case in which conscientious objection is permitted in Italy. It used to be grounds for avoiding compulsory military service, which was abolished in the early 2000s, and an opt-out for scientists from conducting animal experiments was introduced in the early 1990s. Giorgia Landolfo, a pro-abortion activist in Catania, called the new law in Sicily a "landmark," but said she feared it would be hard to enforce. Some anti-abortion groups say it will be challenged in court on the ground that job postings reserved for non-objectors discriminate against the others. "Many measures in the past aimed at hiring non-objectors have been challenged and ultimately came to nothing," said Vito Trojano, the head of SIGO, the Italian Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society. Some Sicilian politicians who strongly oppose the new rules believe the region should instead bolster its healthcare and support facilities for pregnant women, who often feel abandoned and see no alternative to abortion. "Life is life from the moment of conception," said Margherita La Rocca, a Sicilian lawmaker from the centre-right Forza Italia party. "The foetus cannot just be considered a clump of cells when it's convenient." REUTERS
Straits Times
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
UK police ban Palestine Action protest outside parliament
FILE PHOTO: The Houses of Parliament are seen during a sunset in London, Britain, November 4, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/ File Photo LONDON - British police have banned campaign group Palestine Action from protesting outside parliament on Monday, a rare move that comes after two of its members broke into a military base last week and as the government considers banning the organisation. The group said in response that it had changed the location of its protest on Monday to Trafalgar Square, which lies just outside the police exclusion zone. The pro-Palestinian organisation is among groups that have regularly targeted defence firms and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza. British media have reported that the government is considering proscribing, or effectively banning, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organisation, putting it on a par with al-Qaeda or ISIS. London's Metropolitan Police said late on Sunday that it would impose an exclusion zone for a protest planned by Palestine Action outside the Houses of Parliament - a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes. "The right to protest is essential and we will always defend it, but actions in support of such a group go beyond what most would see as legitimate protest," Met Police Commissioner Mark Rowley said. "We have laid out to Government the operational basis on which to consider proscribing this group." Palestine Action's members are alleged to have caused millions of pounds of criminal damage, assaulted a police officer with a sledgehammer and, in the incident last week, damaged two military aircraft, Rowley added. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
