The Panama Canal Authority says a ship carrying nuclear waste from France to Japan has passed through the waterway amid tight security.

The British vessel Pacific Swan went through the canal ahead of schedule to avoid protests by environmentalists.

It was the first shipment of nuclear waste to transit the canal since it was handed over to the Panamanians at the end of last year.

In 1998, members of the environmentalist group, Greenpeace, chained themselves to the ship's mast to highlight security issues surrounding the transport of nuclear waste by sea.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service