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N. Korean ship carrying weapons seized near Panama Canal

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A North Korean ship carrying weapons system parts buried under sacks of sugar was seized as it tried to cross the Panama Canal on its way from Cuba to its home country, which is barred by United Nations sanctions from importing sophisticated weapons or missiles, Panamanian officials said Tuesday.

The ship appeared to be transporting a radar-control system for a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system, according to a private defense analysis firm that examined a photograph of the find.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said the ship identified as the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang was carrying missiles and other arms “hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar.”

Martinelli tweeted a photo showing a green tube that appears to be a horizontal antenna for the SNR-75 “Fan Song” radar, which used to guide missiles fired by the SA-2 air-defense system found in former Warsaw Pact and Soviet-allied nations, said Neil Ashdown, an analyst for IHS Jane’s Intelligence.

“It is possible that this could be being sent to North Korea to update its high-altitude air-defense capabilities,” Ashdown said.

Panamanian authorities said one container buried under sugar sacks contained radar equipment that appears to be designed for use with air-to-air or surface-to-air missiles, said Belsio Gonzalez, director of Panama’s National Aeronautics and Ocean Administration. He said Panamanian authorities expected to find the missiles themselves in containers that must still be searched. An Associated Press journalist who gained access to the rusting ship saw green shipping containers that had been covered by hundreds, perhaps thousands, of white sacks marked “Cuban Raw Sugar.”

Later Tuesday, Cuba acknowledged that the military equipment belonged to the Caribbean nation, saying it had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said the vessel was bound for North Korea mostly loaded with sugar but added that the cargo also included 240 metric tons of “obsolete defensive weapons”: two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles “in parts and spares,” two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.

“The agreements subscribed by Cuba in this field are supported by the need to maintain our defensive capacity in order to preserve national sovereignty,” the statement read.

The U.N. Security Council has imposed four rounds of increasingly tougher sanctions against North Korea since its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, 2006.

Under current sanctions, all U.N. member states are prohibited from directly or indirectly supplying, selling or transferring all arms, missiles or missile systems and the equipment and technology to make them to North Korea, with the exception of small arms and light weapons.

The most recent resolution, approved in March after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test, authorizes all countries to inspect cargo in or transiting through their territory that originated in North Korea, or is destined to North Korea if a state has credible information the cargo could violate Security Council resolutions.

“Panama obviously has an important responsibility to ensure that the Panama Canal is utilized for safe and legal commerce,” said Acting U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, who is the current Security Council president. …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Defense rests case in Jodi Arias murder trial

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Defense attorneys in Jodi Arias‘ murder trial rested their case Tuesday after about 2 1/2 months of testimony aimed at portraying the defendant as a victim of domestic violence who was forced to fight for her life on the day she killed her one-time boyfriend.

The trial is expected to continue at least several more weeks before jurors begin deliberations. Testimony in the trial began in early January with opening statements, followed by the prosecutor making quick work of the state’s case, concluding in less than two weeks. Defense attorneys began calling witnesses on Jan. 29.

“At this point, the defense rests,” attorney Kirk Nurmi told the judge as the day began Tuesday.

The move came a day after Arias’ attorneys sought to admit as evidence a photograph of the victim taken by Arias in the final minutes of his life. A defense expert was prepared to testify that when digitally enhanced, a figure, presumably Arias, can be seen reflected in the victim’s eyeball holding a camera, not any weapons.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez vigorously fought to keep the jury from hearing the testimony, but after several hours of arguments, he merely stipulated that the figure in the reflection is, indeed, holding a camera, not a gun or a knife.

Arias faces a possible death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Authorities say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Arias initially denied involvement then blamed it on two masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Arias testified that she was taking provocative pictures of Alexander in the shower when she dropped his camera and he became enraged, forcing her to defend herself.

Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds, was shot in the head and had his throat slit. Arias’ palm print was found in blood at the scene, along with nude photos of her and the victim from the day of the killing.

Arias said she recalls Alexander attacking her in a fury. She said she ran into his closet to retrieve a gun he kept on a shelf and fired in self-defense but has no memory of stabbing him.

She acknowledged trying to clean the scene, dumping the gun in the desert and working on an alibi to avoid suspicion.

Arias’ grandparents reported a .25-caliber handgun stolen from their Northern California home about a week before Alexander’s death — the same caliber used to shoot him — but Arias said she didn’t take it. Authorities believe she brought it with her to kill the victim.

Later Tuesday, Martinez began calling rebuttal witnesses starting with a state-hired clinical psychologist who evaluated Arias, as the prosecutor works to discredit two key defense witnesses — one who diagnosed Arias with post-traumatic stress disorder and amnesia and another who said the defendant suffers from battered woman’s syndrome.

Martinez accused both defense witnesses of shoddy work, and of basing their opinions on biased findings after forming relationships with Arias.

Arizona clinical psychologist Janeen DeMarte first addressed the more than

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/WTVxpaQzVKU/

News, Politics, Government

Arias returns to witness stand in murder trial

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Testimony in the case of a woman accused of killing her lover turned into a one-sided shouting match Tuesday between Jodi Arias and a prosecutor grilling her over memory problems, with Arias saying his aggressive demeanor and posture was causing her to forget crucial details or provide concise answers.

“I’m not having a problem telling the truth,” Arias softly told prosecutor Juan Martinez, who stammered with his response, his voice growing louder.

“But you are having a problem answering my questions, right?” Martinez snapped back.

In stark contrast to her testimony under questioning by her own lawyers, during which she alternated between poise and tears and recalled precise details of practically her entire life dating back years, Arias recalls virtually nothing under questioning by Martinez.

She often responds to his questions by saying, “Sure,” to which Martinez loudly snaps backs that he is merely looking for a yes or no answer.

The barbs have led to numerous private conferences between attorneys and the judge as defense lawyers repeatedly object to Martinez’s aggressiveness, accusing him of badgering the witness.

Later Tuesday, Martinez focused on how Arias had broken up with previous boyfriends who she learned had cheated on her, as she says she did with Travis Alexander, yet has testified during the trial how Alexander had complete control over her.

“So when you decide something, you can do it right?” Martinez asked.

“Yes,” Arias replied.

Arias is charged in the June 2008 death of her lover in his suburban Phoenix home. She says she dated Alexander for about five months before breaking up with him but continued to see him for sex up until the day she killed him. She says she was forced to fight for her life after Alexander attacked her, but police say she planned the attack in a jealous rage. Testimony began in early January.

Arias spent Monday calmly trying to explain away her lies as the prosecutor hammered her about not being honest with authorities, friends or family, even sending the victim’s grandmother flowers after she killed him, all in an attempt to throw off suspicion and avoid being charged.

Arias says she …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News