Search of North Korean ship is slow process

Four days have passed since Panamanian authorities discovered undeclared military weapons hidden aboard a North Korean ship, and the painstaking process of examining the entire vessel is crawling at a snail's pace.
The ship has five cargo holds, only
one of which has been emptied as of Thursday. "The technicians on board have told us that this cargo was loaded in a way that makes it difficult to unload,"
Panamanian Security Minister Jose
Raul Mulino said. The North Korean crew had resisted the Panamanian authorities and cut the cables to the onboard cranes.
Panamanian investigators brought
their own cranes, but removing the containers inside the cargo holds has been an "odyssey," Mulino said.
The ship originated in Cuba, and the Cubans have admitted to owning the military equipment, claiming it was being sent to North Korea to be repaired and returned.
But many questions remain. If the weapons were not a secret, why were they hidden under sacks of sugar? Why the did the captain attempt to commit suicide? A public prosecutor is charging the captain and 35 North Korean crew members with illegal possession of weapons and international arms trafficking,
Panamanian government l spokesman Eduardo Camacho said.
North Korean officials, meanwhile, asked for Panama to release the cargo ship and let the crew go.
Panama has formally asked the United Nations for guidance on how to handle the case. "For us, it is important to finish this operation, wait for the United Nations to come, and they will decide" how to proceed, Mulino said. "Panama is completely transparent in this; we have no experience in dealing with
this type of problem." Because it is pursuing nuclear weapons, North Korea is banned by the United Nations from importing and exporting most weapons.
Scene at the port At the port of Manzanillo, inspectors opened shipping containers in front of reporters. Heavily armed troops stand guard.
In the first cargo hold, six shipping containers were found underneath sacks of brown sugar, in two stacks of three. The tops of some of th containers were caved in because of the weight of the sugar.
Inside the containers lies the military equipment. Inspectors walked inside the containers, taking pictures.
Cuban officials have described the
materiel as "240 metric tons of
obsolete defensive weapons" sent to North Korea "to be repaired and returned to Cuba."
The equipment was manufactured in the mid-20th century and included two anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles in parts and spares, two MiG-21 jets and 15 motors for this type of airplane, the Cuban foreign ministry said.
    U.S. involved in investigation
The United States and Panama had
been tracking the ship as it crossed the Panama Canal to Cuba and then back, two U.S. officials said. And a U.S. State Department
spokeswoman said Wednesday that the United States would help in the investigation.
The Panamanians asked the United States for imaging equipment and technicians to fully examine the boat and determine what is on board, according to a U.S. official who declined to be identified because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.
Speculation has surged since Panama announced its find, with some warning that it was a troubling sign of weapons deals between North Korea and Cuba, and others disputing whether any dangers lay within the antiquated haul.
Cuba says the weapons are
"obsolete." And experts who identified early Cold War relics such as the Soviet-designed SA-2 air defense system among the ship's cargo say that's not far from the truth.
"Today there is no reason for any
Western pilot to be hit by an SA-2. If you get caught by one of them, you've done something bloody stupid, or you've got very bad luck," said James O'Halloran, editor of Jane's Land Based Air Defence and Jane's Strategic Weapon Systems. "No modern country wants to be seen with those." But others saw the weapons haul as a more ominous sign. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a frequent critic of the Cuban government, described the weapons shipment as a "flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions."

Grief and despair in India's poisoned village

In Masrakh, an impoverished village in India's northeastern Bihar state -- scenes of trauma, confusion, intense grief. Here, at the site of the school meal poisoning incident that has claimed 23 young lives and imperiled 25 others, thousands of people mill around, stunned, hungry for information. They listen to the procession of politicians that streams into the village to pay respects and make promises. But they cannot offer what these people want most: answers as to how the government-mandated free meals, meant to nourish the community's children, could instead have cost them their lives. India's school program: Ambitious, but far from perfect Four burnt out police vehicles fringe the side of the road, a sign of the simmering anger felt towards authorities over the tragedy. Investigators had previously flagged issues with food safety at schools in the state, with one report in April from India's Ministry of Human Resource Development noting that school food "was kept in open and dirty ground." A fresh grave has been dug in front of the ramshackle, solitary classroom where 120 of the village's children were enrolled -- an unambiguous sign of protest over the incident. There are many others buried nearby. Above all this, the wails of grieving families pierce the air. Sarita Devi is inconsolable as she mourns the loss of her five- year-old daughter, Dipu. The wife of a migrant worker, Devi says her daughter had not wanted to go to school that day, and laments the fact she had even given her a paisa -- a sub-unit of India's rupee -- to attend. "Why isn't anyone bringing Dipu back?" she cries. Mom anguishes over child poisoned by lunch: Why aren't you coming back? Like many here, she has words of anger for the school's principal, who authorities say has absconded together with her husband, and whom they are seeking to interview. Devi's grief eventually overpowers her, and her body goes limp. This is a poor village, in one of India's poorest states. Locals live in simple dwellings made of clay. The school is the heart of the community, meaning that scarcely a family here has not been affected. Even the school's cook, Manju Devi, lost children to the tragedy; her husband, Lal Babu Rai, told a reporter from CNN- IBN, CNN's sister network, that two had died after eating the tainted food, while another remains in hospital. The settlement's solitary water pump is where locals say they were first alerted to the commotion following Tuesday's regular midday school meal. School children had congregated there to wash their plates after the regular daily meal of rice and potatoes. On this occasion, however, they began vomiting and collapsing.

'Improving' Mandela turns 95 in hospital

Millions of people around the world marked Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday Thursday, heartened by news that the hospitalised icon was now able to smile and nod to visitors.
After six weeks of intensive hospital treatment, Ndileka Mandela told AFP her grandfather was "steadily improving" and "using his eyes, nodding." That message was echoed by President Jacob Zuma who visited his predecessor's Pretoria bedside "found him really stable and I was able to say 'happy birthday' and he was able to smile." That is a dramatic turnaround for the ailing peace icon, who just weeks ago was thought to be close to death.
Mandela was rushed to hospital on June 8 with a recurring lung infection that had already put him in hospital three times in less than a year. Outside the Pretoria facility which has been the focal point of a national vigil for the last 41 days, there were joyous scenes.
Revellers sang anti-apartheid struggle songs, school children read poems dedicated to a man nearing the end of his long walk that took him from political prisoner to South Africa's first black president. "Tata (father) Mandela has once again proved that he is a fighter," said well- wisher Agnes Shilowane, a local university student.
Thursday's news was a relief
elsewhere in the country to South
Africans who marked Mandela Day
with a panoply of good deeds.
Biker gangs cleaned streets,
volunteers painted schools and
politicians spent 67 minutes on
worthy projects -- all to mark
Mandela's 67 years of public service.
Near Pretoria, Zuma tried to channel Mandela's cross-community appeal by delivering government housing to poor whites.Messages of support also poured in from around the world -- and even from astronauts on the International Space Station -- to mark the anniversary, which many feared Mandela would not live to see.
US President Barack Obama -- who was unable to visit Mandela during a trip to South Africa last month -- led tributes to the peace icon, calling on people to honour him through volunteer work. "Our family was deeply moved by our visit to Madiba's former cell on Robben Island during our recent trip," Obama said in a statement.
"We will forever draw strength and inspiration from his extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness, and humility."Other well-wishers included the Dalai Lama, former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, US actor Morgan Freeman and Mandela's former jailer FW de Klerk, who went on to share the Nobel Peace Prize with him.
"Mandela's place in South Africa's
history is assured," former president De Klerk said in a statement. "His legacy of courage,perseverance and magnanimity will continue to inspire us -- and people throughout the world -- for generations to come."
The Mandela family also did their bit, with his grandchildren volunteering at a children's home.
They were then expected to gather at the hospital for lunch, along with Mandela's third wife Graca Machel, who also celebrates 15 years of marriage to her husband today.
"We're doing our 67 minutes and
bringing our old clothes that we're
not using anymore. Then we'll
converge at the hospital to have lunch with granddad," said Mandela's granddaughter Ndileka said. She said the birthday meal would include Mandela's favourite food, including "oxtail, prawns,dumplings and vegetables" Another granddaughter, Zaziwe Dlamini-Manaway, distributed food at a school. "I think it's important for us to give back," she said. "We are a family, we hope for him to come home, and we know the whole nation would hope the same thing, and the whole world."
The United Nations declared the
Nobel Peace laureate's birthday
Mandela Day in 2010, but for many this year it takes on extra poignancy. In central Lisbon the Don Pedro IV Square was to be renamed Nelson Mandela Square, and an open-air Mandela-themed opera concert was planned in Paris.
On Saturday, the Australian city of
Melbourne will hold a concert
featuring local and African artists.
Born on July 18, 1918, Mandela fought against white rule in South Africa as a young lawyer and was convicted of treason in 1964. He spent the next 27 years in jail. It was in part through his willingness to forgive his white jailers that Mandela made his indelible mark on history.
After negotiating an end to apartheid, he became South Africa's first black president, drawing a line under centuries of colonial and racist suppression.
He then led reconciliation in the
deeply divided country.
But the sunset of Mandela's life has been somewhat eclipsed by bitter infighting among his relatives.
A row over his final resting place has seen three of his children's graves dug up and their remains moved amid public brawling and legal action among his children and grandchildren.

Farrah Abraham 'Wait, Who's Trayvon Martin?'

Farrah Abraham has NO IDEA who
Trayvon Martin is -- but she thinks
Trayvon is a woman she may have
met ... because Farrah Abraham is an idiot. "Backdoor Teen Mom" made the unbelievably stupid comments on the "Matty P's Radio Happy Hour" show ... when the host asked how she felt about the Trayvon situation. "I feel like I've met her or something," Farrah blurted out of her stupid mouth ... adding, "It sounds so familiar ... I don't know what she is so I can't picture the person with the name right now."Farrah Abrahamladies and gentlemen ...she's a moron.

Jay-Z I'm Just as Big as The Real Magna Carta

Who's bigger ... Jay-Z or the MagnaCarta -- the historic document that eventually gave Americans "certain inalienable rights" -- not his new album?It's a toss up, but yeah ... Jigga paid his respects during a Sunday visit with the real-life Magna Carta -- the 13th Century document written in England, and forced upon King John in order to provide liberties and justice for all ... and stuff.
Jay-Z posed next to the MC in the Salisbury, England cathedral where it's kept under lock and key.  Now, if he can just find the Holy Grail.
FUN FACT: The Magna Carta is the basis for the U.S. Constitution, and therefore most of our laws. But here's the thing -- do you remember what year the Magna Carta was signed?Click here to make your history teacher proud. Or to embarrass yourself.

Rolling Stone 'Bomber' Cover Banned at 7-Eleven

Rolling Stone's cover story about the Boston Marathon bomber just got the magazine yanked out of nearly 2,000 7-Eleven stores, and more could follow ... TMZ has learned. 

The omnipresent convenient store is joining the national outrage over the mag's upcoming issue with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover, and an investigation into his life leading up to the bombing.A rep for 7-Eleven, Inc. tells TMZ it "will not sell the Aug. 1 issue of the Rolling Stone magazine in its company-operated stores."There are 1,700 company operated stores -- and another 5,900 franchised stores. The rep says they'll also urge those franchise owners to pull the issue.Yesterday, CVS, Walgreens, and Stop & Shop all said they will not sell the issue either.

Prince Jackson -- I FEEL THE NEED FOR SPEED!

Prince Jackson picked up something in his pickup Wednesday -- a speeding ticket.TMZ has learned ..Michael Jackson's eldest son was nabbed by cops near his Calabasas home for going around 40 mph in a 25 zone.
FUN FACT:  Prince was stopped in the area where Justin Bieber and his Lil friends race his Ferrari -- at much higher speeds. FYI -- Justin and the Lils have never gotten a speeding ticket in that area.As for Prince -- well, the 16-year-old must now dig deep, because the fine is around $250.Already blowing the $10 billion nest egg he's after ... kids.