canals

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Hole Swallows Boats as Canal Wall Collapses

Narrowboat residents in England got out just in time

(Newser) - Authorities in Shropshire, England, declared a "major incident" early Monday after an embankment collapsed before dawn, draining part of the Llangolen Canal and stranding boaters. The breach near Whitchurch caused the channel to drain around 4am, leaving three narrowboats marooned in a crater about 160 feet wide. Twelve people...

Greta Thunberg Banned After Venice Canal Turns Neon Green
Venice Boots
Greta Thunberg
After Iconic Canal
Turns Neon Green
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nov 29, 2025 4:14 PM CST

Venice Boots Greta Thunberg After Iconic Canal Turns Neon Green

Activist, 22, banned and fined after Extinction Rebellion's protest colors city's Grand Canal

(Newser) - Greta Thunberg has been slapped with a 48-hour ban from Venice and fined $175 after she and nearly three dozen other Extinction Rebellion activists dyed the city's Grand Canal bright green. The protest, timed to sync with the end of the COP30 United Nations climate conference in Brazil, was...

How a 200-Year-Old Ditch Reshaped America
How a 200-Year-Old
Ditch Reshaped America
OPINION
Oct 22, 2025 11:50 AM CDT

How a 200-Year-Old Ditch Reshaped America

The 363-mile Erie Canal fueled America's growth and global influence, writes George Will

(Newser) - As the Erie Canal marks its 200th anniversary on Sunday, columnist George Will suggests Americans take a moment to toast the "ditch" that transformed a nation. Dug with little more than muscle and ingenuity, the 363-mile canal was a marvel of its time, he writes in the Washington Post ...

Mystery Solved on Why Venice Canal Turned Bright Green

Authorities know nontoxic chemical fluorescein is the cause; they just don't know who put it in water

(Newser) - Venice environmental authorities have now pinned down the "what" behind the city's suddenly fluorescent green Grand Canal—they just don't have the "who" yet. Per the Guardian , an analysis of samples showed that the color shift was caused by the presence of fluorescein in the water,...

New Canal in Poland Means Fewer Ties to Russia

Waterway means ships won't need Moscow's permission to enter Vistula Lagoon ports

(Newser) - Poland’s top leaders celebrated over the weekend the opening of a new—albeit unfinished—canal that they say will mean ships no longer must secure Russia's permission to sail from the Baltic Sea to the ports of the Vistula Lagoon. The event was timed to mark 83 years...

In Nebraska, Canal Water Mysteriously Goes Missing

Someone opened a dam on an irrigation channel one night this month

(Newser) - Authorities in Nebraska are trying to determine who released 16 million gallons of water by opening a dam on an irrigation channel one night this month—and why. The puzzling water release from the Cambridge Canal reduced the flow to some 18,000 acres of crops and jeopardized expensive irrigation...

'Imbeciles' Pay for Surfing Canal
'Imbeciles' Pay
for Surfing Canal
Aug 18, 2022 6:35 PM CDT

'Imbeciles' Pay for Surfing Canal

Venice fines pair of foreigners, takes their boards after insulting them

(Newser) - A pair of foreigners who raced on motorized surfboards along the Grand Canal in Venice on Wednesday have been fined, had their boards taken, and been publicly insulted for the offense. And the Italian tourist destination isn't through with them yet, USA Today reports; the city attorney plans to...

18-Year-Old Dies Trying to Save Others From Car in Canal

3 dead, 1 missing after car plunges into Delaware canal

(Newser) - A car with five occupants plunged into a Delaware canal on Sunday and the driver helped a teenage girl to safety before dying in a bid to rescue three other passengers, two of whom were found dead after the car was hoisted from the water, authorities say. Delaware State Police...

Teens Allegedly Left Girl for Dead, Kept 'Memento'

Two 16-year-olds have been arrested after girl found in Utah ditch

(Newser) - Two teenage boys charged with shooting a 14-year-old girl in the back of the head and leaving her wounded in a ditch lured her to the spot in a small Utah town with a plan to rob and kill her, prosecutors said. The 16-year-old boys set up a meeting by...

Paris Canal Gives Up Its Secrets


 Canal Commissioned by 
 Napoleon Gives Up 
 Its Secrets 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 10, 2016 10:03 AM CST

Canal Commissioned by Napoleon Gives Up Its Secrets

So far, they've found dozens of bikes and a gun

(Newser) - It has been 15 years since Paris last cleaned the Canal Saint-Martin—long enough for the bottom of the waterway to accumulate thousands of wine and beer bottles, dozens of bikes, and at least one gun. The scenic area along the canal has become what the Telegraph calls the French...

Nicaragua Sets Path of Panama Canal Rival

A man, a plan, a canal—not Panama!

(Newser) - Nicaragua's government and Hong Kong-based HKND Group yesterday unveiled the route of a proposed $40 billion inter-ocean canal to compete with the Panama Canal that Sandinista officials hope will lift the Central American country out of poverty. While the canal has the support of President Daniel Ortega and most...

China Plots Own Panama Canal— in Nicaragua

 China Plots Own 
 Panama Canal— 
 in Nicaragua 
in case you missed it
Jun 15, 2013 8:55 AM CDT

China Plots Own Panama Canal— in Nicaragua

Chinese-aided project could double Nicaragua's GDP

(Newser) - The Panama Canal could soon have a rival to the northwest. Nicaragua is itching to get started on a new route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, one that would measure 130 miles and take as long as 11 years and $40 billion to dig. And just as the US...

China Battles Worst Drought in 60 Years

Beijing introduces emergency measures as country dries out

(Newser) - The Chinese government has released $44 million in emergency funds to battle a worsening drought that has left parts of the country drier than at any time since 1951. The drought has threatened wheat crops and livestock and portends rising food prices—at a moment when China is already facing...

McCain, Born in Canal Zone, Dismisses Citizenship Flap

He says he's a natural-born citizen, which qualifies him

(Newser) - A recent media flap about John McCain's citizenship is a non-issue, the candidate says. McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone while his father served there in the Navy, which makes him a natural-born citizen and qualifies him to run for president, the AP reports. His camp recently sought...

Angkor What?: Cambodian Dig Unearths Megacity

Ancient city was once world's largest

(Newser) - Cambodia's famed Angkor—usually penciled into guidebooks thanks to its eponymous 12th-century temple—was once the world's biggest city, new research by University of Sydney archaeologists shows. From the 10th century on, Angkor grew to nearly one million inhabitants and sprawled out to the size of modern-day Los Angeles.

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