Mandela's final act of peace: Obama shakes hands with Fidel Castro's brother.

                                                President Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro today, an unprecedented gesture of friendship which occurred, fittingly, at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela.

The handshake between leaders of the two Cold War enemies took place during a ceremony which honored the former South African President's powerful legacy of reconciliation.

Obama greeted a long line of world leaders and heads of state attending the memorial service in Johannesburg after flying to South Africa with a U.S. delegation which included former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Jimmy Carter along with their families.                                                                                                             The U.S. and Cuba have recently taken small steps toward rapprochement, raising hopes the two nations could be on the verge of a breakthrough in relations. But skeptics caution that the two countries have shown signs of a thaw in the past, only to fall back into old recriminations.

Obama also shook hands with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who has clashed with the U.S. President over alleged National Security Agency spying.

He was later spotted in the VIP stands posing for a 'selfie' camera phone picture with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish PM Helle Thorning Schmidt.

Obama arrived an hour late to the memorial service on Tuesday after missing the opening speeches when his motorcade got stuck in traffic. The President was greeted with a rapturous ovation when he arrived at the FNB Stadium to pay tribute to the former South African leader. 

 Thousands of mourners huddled together in the pouring rain to pay respects to their beloved Madiba. However around a third of the 95,000-seater stadium was left empty with people apparently deterred by the inclement weather. 

Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the ruling ANC party who opened the proceedings, said: 'In our tradition, when it rains when you are buried, your gods are welcoming you to heaven.'

Mr Obama was greeted with prolonged applause by the crowd - in stark contrast to South African president Jacob Zuma, who was loudly booed whenever he appeared on the stadium's big screen.

When Mr Zuma walked up to the podium to deliver the keynote speech at the ceremony, he was met with a huge chorus of boos, forcing organizers to bring in a choir to drown out the noise of the crowd and save the president's blushes.....                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                posted by Emanto Ngaloru Nov 10, 2013.