Italy has given the green light to build a series of moveable dams to keep the slowly-sinking lagoon city of Venice afloat as part of a controversial project dubbed "Moses". An inter-ministerial commission headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi approved the initial $2.3 billion proposal and now the details will be drawn up in an executive project, a spokeswoman at the Environment Ministry said.
"The government said yes to Moses today, so construction will start as soon as possible," she said.
The idea is to build a series of mobile floodgates that would part the sea to protect Venice, just as Moses ploughed a passage through the Red Sea for the Israelites to flee Egypt.

More prosaically, the Italian "Mose" is also an acronym for "electro-mechanical experimental model".
The flood barriers would be submerged at the three entrances to the lagoon that surrounds Venice. During very high tides, the gates would rise to protect the world-famous city.
The project has been a topic of heated debate since it was introduced in 1966 after a devastating flood hit Venice. The proposal won renewed support last year when an independent panel of experts concluded that it was the best way to keep Venice from permanently slipping under water. Bureau Report