Italy approves plans for world's longest suspension bridge

Italy's Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini arrives to address a press conference to announce the approval of the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, after a meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on August 6, 2025. [AFP]

Italy's government on Wednesday approved a controversial 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build what would be the world's longest suspension bridge connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition hailed the state-funded project as an economic boost for the impoverished south of Italy -- only for critics to warn that it risks turning into a financial black hole.