Venice Mayor Orsoni held in Italy corruption inquiry

Giorgio Orsoni and dozens of officials and businessmen are being held over claims of bribery during the public tender process of the Moses project. Almost 80 mobile barriers will be used to shut off the Venice lagoon in the event of rising sea levels and storms, BBC News reports. The city is hit by flooding on a yearly basis. Construction on the barriers began 11 years ago but has been hampered by delays in funding due to Italy's economic crisis. Once finished, the floodgates will extend more than a mile, blocking the three inlets to the lagoon. Investigators are looking into allegations that 20m euros ($27m, £16m) in public funds was sent to foreign bank accounts and used to finance political parties, according to reports. Prosecutors have requested the arrest of a former governor of the Venice region, Giancarlo Galan, who is an MP in Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right Forza Italia party. Mr Galan launched the Moses project in 2003 with Berlusconi. Among those detained as part of the corruption inquiry are the regional head of the ruling Democratic Party, Giampiero Marquis, and the president of a co-operative involved in the long-running project, reports say. Some 100 other people are also said to be under investigation.