LIMA — The Great Canal is predicted to cost $40 billion, but supporters of the project claim it will rapidly accelerate economic development in Nicaragua, one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, although critics complain of a limited chance for the assembly to debate the bill, and a lack of transparency and public consultation.

BRUSSELS — Europe's love affair with Barack Obama is under strain. Polls showed up to 90 percent of Europeans would have voted for him in November's election, but their faith has been rocked by revelations of global cyber-snooping by US agencies under Obama's watch. "How can we speak about an EU-US special relationship, when President Obama explicitly says that they only spy on foreigners? That means us," said Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch member of the European Parliament.