Engineers prepare to test canal locks
AGUA CLARA, Panama – Engineers began flooding a newly enlarged section of the Panama Canal as authorities prepare to test a series of new locks that will allow the waterway to accommodate much bigger ships.
“Today, we start seeing light at the end of the tunnel,” Panama Canal Authority head Jorge Quijano said minutes after 10 valves were opened to allow a rush of water into a set of locks. “It’s the beginning of the end. In less than a year, Panama will be enjoying the benefits of the expansion.”
Workers will spend the next several months filling the new locks on the Atlantic side of the canal and later those on the Pacific side as they perform stress tests.
The expansion will allow the canal to handle vessels capable of carrying 2.5 times the number of containers held by ships currently using the canal.
Militia group takes Tunisian hostages
TUNIS, Tunisia – An armed militia stormed into the Tunisian general consulate in Libya’s capital on Friday, taking 10 employees hostage, officials said.
Mokhtar Chaouachi, a spokesman for the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, said it was not clear whether the attackers were holding the hostages on site or had taken them elsewhere. He also said he did not know whether the attackers had opened fire or had made any demands in exchange for the captives.
Khalifa Ghwell, who holds the post of prime minister for the Islamist-led, militias-backed government in Tripoli, said that authorities were working to win the release of the employees. He declined to comment on circumstances of their abduction, saying: “Everything will be fine, God willing.”
Associated Press
