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PANAMA CITY Black Cory Spangenberg Jersey , Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Panama Canal expansion will complete by April 2016, the agency that operated the waterway said Monday.


The Panama Canal Authority (known by its Spanish acronym ACP) said it had fulfilled its payments for the expansion in keeping its contract with United for the Canal Group (GUPC), the multinational consortium in charge of building the third set of locks designed to accommodate today's much larger cargo ships.


In a press release, the ACP said Panama Canal administrator Jorge Quijano told a business council on Friday that the plan was to begin to carry tests on the Atlantic floodgates in April with a chartered ship.


"But, in essence Black Brad Hand Jersey , at that time the floodgates should be working -- that is sometime in April," said Quijano.


"After that, we would have to choose the date for the inauguration and later, very close to the inauguration date, it would begin operating commercially. Our plan is to keep within the second quarter of 2016 Black Andrew Cashner Jersey ," added Quijano.


The work on the additional locks is reportedly 96 percent complete now.


The expansion project began in September 2007 with an initial investment of 5.25 billion U.S. dollars and the new locks had been expected to begin operating in August 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary of the historic waterway.


However, the work was slowed by a strike and differences over cost overruns between the ACP and the consortium.


ANKARA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkey and the Unites States continue to work out their differences on training and equipping moderate Syrian opposition forces despite recent reports that an agreement has already been hammered out between the two allies.


"I do not think we are quite there yet considering the political differences over the final goal of such a program and what would happen to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the end," political analyst Idris Gursoy told Xinhua in the Turkish capital of Ankara.


Turkey insists the ultimate goal should be to oust Assad from power while the U.S. says the priority is to degrade the Islamic State (IS) and finally eliminate the group.


The differences were highlighted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday in his speech in Ankara in which he criticized the U.S. and Western powers for not conducting land operations against the IS.


"They (Western powers) say we won't enter in a land war. Then we told them, if you do not enter yourselves Black Will Middlebrooks Jersey , let's support the Free Syrian Army (FSA). They did not support the FSA," he said.


Erdogan also criticized the U.S. for airlifting weapons to the Kurdish-populated Syrian city of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobane, near the Turkish border, saying that some of the weapons ended up in the hands of the IS Black Alexei Ramirez Jersey , and others went to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).


The PKK is listed as terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.


Gursoy, the analyst, said Turkey and the U.S. have already agreed on the program to host the training and equipping program for moderate Syrian opposition forces but details have yet to be worked out.


That goes against Turkish media reports which Black Yangervis Solarte Jersey , citing anonymous official sources, claimed the training is expected to start in March, simultaneously with similar programs in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The aim is to train 15,000 Syrian rebels over three years.


However, U.S. officials reacted cautiously to those reports.


"I don't have any prediction on the timing of final details Black Rickey Henderson Jersey ," said U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Jen Psaki.


On Thursday, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, based on an unidentified official account by the U.S. Defense Department, said Turkey and the U.S. agree on the final goals of the program but are working to finalize it.


Turkey has declared since the Syrian crisis started in 2011 that its priority is to remove Assad from power.


However, Washington made it clear that the real goal is to fight with the IS rather than toppling Assad.