The inauguration of a long-awaited Panama Canal expansion is underway.
The colorful ceremony celebrating the culmination of this $5 billion project has featured dancing flowers, dragons and a marching band. The first large cargo ship is making its way through the new portion of the waterway.
Tune into the action on this live stream:
The project has the potential to double the Panama Canal's current cargo, as NPR's Carrie Kahn reported. But it has also "weathered cost disputes, serious questions regarding its design and a global slump in international shipping." The project took more than a decade to complete and is opening more than two years behind schedule.
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