Flooding Closes Panama Canal

Officials closed the Panama Canal on Wednesday due to heavy rains and flooding, marking the third closing in its 96-year history. The canal was shut down around noon, and authorities hoped to reopen it by Wednesday evening, but they were hesitant to give an exact time. The last time the canal closed was in 1989, when the U.S. invaded Panama to topple Manuel Noriega, and it closed from 1915-16 due to landslides. Forty-eight miles long, the canal remains key in shipping goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.