Italy: Unprofitable Sardinian plant workers occupy ferries
last update: September 11, 13:14
Olbia, 11 Sept. (AKI) - Hundreds of workers from a loss-making aluminium plant in Sardinia on Tuesday occupied ferries from the Italian mainland when they docked in Olbia, in protest at the smelter's planned shuttering.
After the two-hour occupation, the workers disembarked from the ferries, aboard which they had returned overnight to Sardinia after a tense protest march in the Italian capital, Rome.
Defiant trade union representatives said they were planning further protests aimed at averting the closure of the plant, where 1,500 jobs are at risk.
"We've recharged our batteries and are ready to launch fresh initiatives," the local secretary of Italy's Fiom-Cgil union, Franco Bardi, told Adnkronos.
"We occupied the ferry to send a signal to the government so that it knows that we will hold a protest every day until the situation is settled."
Fifteen workers were injured Monday in violent clashes in Rome between the workers and baton-wielding police outside the industry ministry.
Government officials, labour unions and executives from the plant's owner, US aluminium giant Alcoa were meeting inside the ministry in a last-ditch effort avert the plant's closure and find a buyer.
Junior infrastructure and transport minister Mario Ciaccia said Tuesday he was "optimistic" over the future of the smelter in Portovesme, southwestern Sardinia.
The Italian government is under intense pressure from labour unions to save the smelter, which employs 500 people directly with a further 1,000 directly depending on the plant.
Its closure would be a heavy blow for an island where joblessness is already 15 percent.
"The government is paying very close attention to employment - people's jobs and the welfare of their families need to be taken very seriously...I am optimistic there will be a positive turn of events," Ciaccia stated.
Swiss industrial group Klesch offered a possible lifeline by expressing interest in the plant, but Alcoa later on Monday said in a statement it had "not received any expressions of interest that are viable or different to those previously considered".
Alcoa said in the statement it would go ahead with the gradual shutdown of the smelter which began on 1 September.
Industry minister Corrado Passera has described the challenge of keeping the factory open as "almost impossible".
France: Berlusconi tabloid publishes topless photos of Kate Middleton
last update: September 14, 11:49
Roma, 14 Sept (AKI) - A French weekly owned by Italian media magnate and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi has published photos of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing topless poolside during a recent holiday.
Prince William and his wife are reported to be furious at the series of photos published in the Closer magazine, taken during a private holiday last week at William's cousin Viscount Linley's secluded chateau in Provence, in the south of France.
In a statement the couple said they did not rule out legal action against the tabloidover the pictures, said to show the couple smearing sun cream over their bodies in between taking a dip in plus 30 degree temperatures.
"Their Royal Highnesses have been hugely saddened to learn that a French publication and a photographer have invaded their privacy in such a grotesque and totally unjustifiable manner,' the couple said in a strongly worded statement today.
"It is unthinkable that anyone should take such photographs, let alone publish them.
"Officials acting on behalf of Their Royal Highnesses are consulting with lawyers to consider what options may be available to The Duke and Duchess."
Closer, with a readership of close to 3.5 million is run by Italian publisher Mondadori, owned by former Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest.
It is not the first tabloid to publish risque pictures of members of the royal family.
Photographs taken of Prince Harry partying naked with a girl in his Las Vegas hotel room caused an Internet sensation last month after were sold to a US website last month.
Earlier this year, an Australian tabloid published pictures of the Duchess wearing a skimpy bikini and the latest photos are likely to reignite debate over the royal family's privacy.
__._,_.___
Posts
