Nicaragua has long attracted ambitious businessmen, politicians
and governments hoping to cut a second channel between the
Caribbean Sea and the waters of the Pacific.  Every last one of
them has failed. But now, an upstart Chinese company is hoping
to succeed where former U.S. President William McKinley and even
shipping magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt did not.  Lawmakers in
Nicaragua granted a 50-year concession Thursday to privately
held HKND Group, a Hong Kong-based company led by Chinese
telecom executive Wang Jing.  No one could accuse HKND of
lacking ambition. In addition to the canal, the group has won
rights to build a railroad, two ports, an international airport
and an oil pipeline.  "It is very early in a long process, and
we have a lot of work ahead, but we want to be clear that we
intend this to be a world-class effort," Wang said in a
statement.  Yet at this point, it would seem there are more
questions than answers about the project.  It is not clear how
the group intends to fund the canal's cons