Nelson Mandela Returns To Homeland For Funeral

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Qunu

He is Qunu's most famous son and the return of Nelson Mandela's body to his ancestral homeland is not just for sentimental reasons.

It is part of Xhosa tradition that those who pass away are returned to the soil from where they came.

This weekend sees a stark shift in tempo, organisation and ceremony as the state funeral meshes with the centuries-old traditions of Mr Mandela's countrymen and women in the rural Eastern Cape.

"We feel very represented by Nelson Mandela," Mandisi Tshaka, a young Xhosa man, resplendent in his traditional robes and big beaded necklace told me.

"Everyone in the world knows the Xhosa tribe because of him and we're saluting him."

The South African government has announced the former president's state funeral is a "first for the country" and means full military ceremonial honours will be laid on and led by the armed forces.

There will be 21 gun salutes and a fly-over by the South African Air Force.

But there is a strong importance being put on performing the Xhosa rites as Mr Mandela is laid to rest.

There will be a ritual slaughtering of an ox in the early hours before receiving Mr Mandela's body at Mthatha airport in the Eastern Cape.

The AbaThembu king, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, is expected to lead a group of traditional leaders as well as Mandela elders in welcoming him home to the village of Qunu where he spent much of his childhood.

Xhosa custom dictates a welcome ritual is performed to ensure the ancestors are iinformed of the arrival of Mr Mandela's remains.

Mr Mandela will be called on by his clan name Dlibhunga and the AbaThembu king will shout this three times as he greets the body when he arrives home.

Mr Mandela's body lay in state for three days

Despite the pomp and ceremony of the state funeral, there will be equal, if not more, importance put on the traditional Xhosa burial rituals to ensure the man they call Madiba has an easy transition into the afterworld.

The Xhosa king, Zwelonke Sigcau, told Sky News: "The Xhosa people believe Nelson Mandela is not leaving us. It is just his body which is going into the ground. His spirit will remain."

In the African culture many believe a dead person's spirit lives on beyond death and joins other ancestors who guide, help and protect the living.

It is a belief which greatly helps alleviate the pain felt by the loss of a loved one - and Mr Mandela may assume even greater importance amongst his people because of his exalted status as a spiritual ancestor now.

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Shooting At Denver School Near Columbine

A gunman has killed himself after opening fire at a Denver high school near to the site of the Columbine High School massacre.

One 15-year-old student was injured at the Arapahoe High School in Centennial and is in a critical condition, according to authorities.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson identified the shooter as 18-year-old Karl Halverson Pierson.

Pierson entered the school with a shotgun and was looking for an individual teacher who he identified by name, said Mr Robinson.

Armed police at the school

He added: "The teacher began to understand that he was being looked at and exited the school. One student confronted the armed student and was shot."

Mr Robinson did not elaborate on any possible motive except to say Pierson had had a "confrontation or disagreement" with the teacher.

The teenager was later found with fatal self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Mr Robinson said a possible Molotov cocktail was also found at the scene.

Pupils were led out of the building with their hands in the air by police officers after the shooting, which began at 12.30pm local time. All the schools in the area are on lockdown as a result. 

One student told the Denver Post: "I was scared and shaking." She added that she heard, "bang, bang, bang" and by the third shot was on the ground.

Youngsters told the newspaper they hid in the corners of dark classrooms until police SWAT teams arrived.  

A student is reunited with her father after the shooting

The school is about eight miles (13km) east of Columbine High School in Littleton, where two teenage shooters killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves in 1999.

Tracy Monroe, who had step-siblings who attended Columbine, was standing outside the high school looking at her phone, reading text messages from her 15-year-old daughter inside.

She said she got the first text from her daughter, Jade Stanton, at 12.41pm. The text read: "There's sirens. It's real. I love you."

A few minutes later, Jade texted "shots were fired in our school".

Ms Monroe rushed to the school and was relieved when Jade texted that a police officer entered her classroom and that she was safe.

Ms Monroe was friends with a teacher killed in the Columbine shooting, Dave Carpenter.

"We didn't think it could happen in Colorado then, either," she said.

Some 2,141 students attend the school, which has 70 classrooms.

The attack comes almost one year after 20 children and six adults were killed in a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown.

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Syria Chemical Attacks Confirmed By Inspectors

Syrian Refugees Need More Help

Updated: 11:14pm UK, Thursday 12 December 2013

By Lisa Holland, Foreign Affairs Correspondent

Amnesty International is calling on Britain and the rest of Europe to do more to resettle refugees from Syria's civil war.

The campaign group says European leaders should "hang their heads with shame" over what it calls the pitifully low numbers of refugees being taken in.

It says collectively EU member states have pledged to resettle a very small proportion of Syria's refugees - just 12,000, or 0.5% of the 2.3 million who have fled the country.

The civil war between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad and rebels seeking his overthrow has raged for 33 months and killed more than 125,000 people.

Only 10 EU member states have offered resettlement places to refugees. Germany offered to take in 10,000 people, 80% of the total EU pledges.

The remaining 27 member states have offered to take 2,340 refugees.

Eighteen EU member states - including the UK and Italy - offered no places at all.

The bulk of Syria's refugees - 97% - have fled to five neighbouring countries - Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. The crisis has increased Lebanon's population by 20%.

Sherif Elsayed Ali from Amnesty International said: "There are people who because of their personal circumstances like their health or their age can't get adequate support in these countries.

"They have lost everything - their homes, their belongings, they have no savings they don't have any support networks and the only way to help them is to take them away and take them to a country that can cope."

Amnesty is calling on European member states to significantly increase the number of resettlement and humanitarian admission places for refugees from Syria and to strengthen the search and rescue capacity in the Mediterranean to help migrant boats in distress.

Fifty five thousand Syrian refugees (2.4% of the total number who have fled Syria) have managed to get through and claim asylum in the EU.

The British Government says it believes Syrian refugees are best closer to home and has offered humanitarian assistance in the camps which have sprung up over the country's borders.

But conditions remain grim with most in tents or un-heated buildings. Meanwhile the UN is predicting one of the harshest winters in the region in a century.

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North Korea Has Executed Leader's Uncle

The once-powerful uncle of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been executed for a string of alleged crimes.

State news agency KCNA announced his death early on Friday, branding the once-powerful Jang Song-Thaek a "traitor".

Jang was executed on Thursday shortly after a special military trial, the agency reported, after committing such a "hideous crime as attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state".

South Korea media say they believe he was killed by machine gunfire - a relatively common form of execution in the North.

Jang was removed from a party meeting by soldiers

The announcement comes days after Pyongyang announced that Jang had been removed from all his posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanising and generally leading a "dissolute and depraved life".

He was once considered the second most powerful official in the North.

He was seen as helping Kim Jong-Un consolidate power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, two years ago.

Jang is the latest and most significant in a series of personnel reshuffles that Kim has conducted in an apparent effort to bolster his power.

In a viciously-worded attack, the regime accused Jang of betraying the trust of both Kim Jong-Un and his father Kim Jong-Il, saying he had received "deeper trust" from the younger leader in particular.

Branding Jang "despicable human scum ... worse than a dog", the regime accused him of attempting to stand in the way of Kim Jong-Un's succession, according to KCNA.

Jang pictured with Kim Jong-Un

Jang, who was married to the sister of the late Kim Jong-Il, played a key role in cementing the leadership of the inexperienced Kim.

But analysts say the 67-year-old's power and influence had become increasingly resented by his nephew, who is aged around 30.

Jang - seen as Kim's political regent and the country's unofficial number two - had earlier been stripped of all posts and titles, with the regime accusing him of corruption and building a rival power base.

State TV this week showed photos of Jang being dragged out of his seat at a meeting by two officers, in an extremely rare public humiliation of a figure who was then demonised as a drug-taking womaniser.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Tuesday accused Kim Jong-Un of resorting to extreme violence to cement his leadership.

"North Korea is now engaged in a reign of terror while carrying out a massive purge to consolidate the power of Kim Jong-Un," she told a cabinet meeting, according to her office.

The Kim family has ruled the North for six decades with an iron fist, regularly purging those showing the slightest sign of dissent. Most are executed or sent to prison camps.

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Obama And Castro Handshake At Mandela Tribute

Barack Obama has shaken hands with Cuban President Raul Castro at a memorial service for Nelson Mandela.

The handshake between the leaders of the two Cold War enemies came during a ceremony in Johannesburg that is largely focused on Mr Mandela's legacy of reconciliation. 

Mr Castro smiled as the US leader shook his hand on the way to the podium to pay tribute to the late South African president, a global symbol of peace.

It was an extremely rare gesture between the leaders of two nations that have been at loggerheads for more than half a century. US officials often have gone to great lengths to avoid having presidents meet Cuban leaders, even in passing.

It was Mr Obama who offered the handshake in a new sign of his willingness to reach out to US enemies, a US official told the AFP news agency.

Mr Obama and First Lady Michelle upon arrival in South Africa

However, the move angered Republicans, with Senator John McCain saying it was a mistake to "shake hands with somebody who is keeping Americans in prison".

"It gives Raul some propaganda, to continue to prop up his dictatorial, brutal regime, that's all," he said.

In Havana, the government website Cubadebate.cu ran a photograph of the moment with the caption: "Obama greets Raul: May this image be the beginning of the end of the US aggressions against Cuba".

The two nations have had only limited ties for half a century, most of it under the iron fist rule of Raul's brother, Fidel Castro. 

The US maintains a five-decade-old embargo against the communist island nation, which Havana says has cost the economy $1.1tn.

Recently, the US and Cuba have taken small steps toward rapprochement.

The countries have reached agreements on cooperation on air and maritime rescue and on migratory issues. In 2011, Mr Obama eased restrictions on visas, remittances and travel.

Sky News Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall noted Mr Obama had to walk past Mr Castro on his way to podium. 

Mr Obama spoke by telephone to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R)

But he added: "The Americans will have pinpointed every single movement, every single second of Obama, from the moment he lands to the moment to he leaves.

"So they will have had the seating plan and so they did not take any steps to prevent it -  and I think that does tell us that there is the possibility of a rapprochement between the two countries."

In 2009, Mr Obama made waves when he shook hands with the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, a strident US critic, at the Summit of the Americas.

In September, the US leader spoke by telephone with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in the first such gesture since the 1979 revolution in the Islamic republic.

The ceremony in memory of Mr Mandela, who died on Thursday at age 95, gathered heads of state from around the world.

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

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Nelson Mandela's Coffin Goes On Public View

Mandela: Obama Lightens A Rainy Day

Updated: 6:58pm UK, Tuesday 10 December 2013

By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor

They came, they saw, they spoke, and spoke, and spoke, and most of them bored people, and then Barack Obama arrived.

He lifted spirits, captured the moment, and reminded us that, no matter the stadium was half full, the world was watching.

The dignitaries made speech after speech. Many of the approximately 50,000 people in the stadium, which holds 90,000, appeared not to listen. Until Mr Obama took the stage.

Most speakers were dull, some seemed unable to end their speeches, a few were inspiring, but Mr Obama showed us all how it can be done and it was no surprise that when he left halfway through the ceremony, so did thousands of other people.

In South Africa, it is an honour if it rains at an occasion such as this. So the heavens opened and poured a deluge on the crowds who sang and danced under a panoply of colourful umbrellas. The weather may explain a turnout far lower than the authorities expected.

Large sections of the FNB stadium near Soweto were empty and thus vividly displaying the orange seats not taken by South Africans. The three overflow stadiums in nearby Orlando, Dobonsville, and Rand had at best a few hundred people in total present.

The government had planned for another 90 screens to be set up around the country for people to gather and watch the first stage of the long goodbye - it seems most preferred the privacy of their own homes, television sets and thoughts.

Those who did brave the conditions at the FNB were treated to the sight of Mr Obama, who arrived to huge cheers. That was in contrast to the arrival of their own President. Jacob Zuma was soundly booed when introduced and an embarrassed Cyril Ramaphosa, deputy head of the ANC, had to ask the crowd for "discipline".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon stepped up to the podium to loud cheers, which is not something the shy but friendly South Korean is used to.

Francois Hollande, of France, was ignored, and in turn mostly ignored the man he was sitting next to, his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. They sat together but had apparently - because they dislike each other so much - flown to South Africa in different planes.

Various former British prime ministers and current EU dignitaries showed up to add to the security and traffic chaos, but no one appeared to notice them very much. 

Mr Obama shook hands with Raul Castro of Cuba, the British didn't go anywhere near Mr Mugabe, and no one recognised the Israeli delegation as it appeared to be comprised of deputy vice foreign ministers, deputy second secretaries from the ministry of agriculture, and the driver from the embassy who was dragged in on his day off. 

Former US president Bill Clinton still had star quality though and drew people to him like a magnet.

Mr Obama does the same, and there's a reason why. Like Mr Clinton before him, he knows the right thing to say, when to say it, and how to say it.

He used the Bantu word 'Ubuntu' saying Mr Mandela recognised its meaning - that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye.

There was a jab aimed at some of his fellow leaders when he said: "There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people."

He ended with what from some people could sound formulaic, but from the American president sounded like a man on form: "What a great soul it was. We will miss him deeply. May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. May God bless the people of South Africa."

The great speech maker rose to the occasion and the crowd rose to him and the memory of a great man.

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Snow Storm Brings Misery To Much Of US

Flights have been grounded and thousands of homes remain without power after a powerful storm covered parts of the United States in snow and ice.

The Arctic blast sent temperatures plunging across the country, with a record low of -42F (-41C) recorded in Jordan, Montana, on Saturday.

At least 1,600 flights were cancelled on Monday - half of them at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas, where hundreds of passengers were left stranded over the weekend.

An estimated 6,000 flights have been grounded in just three days as the storm moved east, battering the East Coast with unprecedented ferocity.

In Texas, the storm caused power outages and scrapped flights

Up to 10 inches of snow fell in some places, blanketing NFL side Philadelphia Eagles' Lincoln Financial Field ground, where it fell so heavily that yard markers were completely obscured.

It was a similar picture in Pittsburgh, where the snow intensified after kick-off.

Eagles fan Dave Hamilton said: "Twenty-seven years I've been a season-ticket holder (and) I've never seen snow at the game like this. It just kept coming down."

Some of the most difficult conditions were in northern Texas, where more than 22,000 homes and businesses were still without power on Monday.

Snow and ice led to dangerous driving conditions in several states

At one stage on Friday, more than a quarter of a million properties were without electricity.

Power outages have also been reported in West Virginia, Maryland and in Washington, DC.

Meanwhile, drivers endured treacherous conditions on roads across several states.

In Oklahoma, a five-year-old boy died when the van he was travelling in slid off an icy bridge, while a man was killed in a 50-vehicle crash in the Philadelphia area.

Between four and 10 inches of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania

A crash near New York City involved about 20 vehicles, although no one was injured.

The National Weather Service has warned of more severe weather to come, with a second storm expected to dump up to a further five inches of snow on the mid-Atlantic region.

Meteorologist Bruce Sullivan said: "I don't think things are going to warm up anytime soon."

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Nelson Mandela Memorial: World Leaders In SA

Nelson Mandela: Obituary Of An Icon

Updated: 6:30am UK, Friday 06 December 2013

Nelson Mandela's long but ultimately successful struggle to liberate South Africa's oppressed black majority made him a figure of hope and inspiration for millions of people around the world.

Feisty young lawyer, determined founder of the ANC's youth movement, militant commander, prisoner, president - his role in the fight for freedom was constantly evolving throughout his life.

Alongside mentor Walter Sisulu and great friend Oliver Tambo, he brought focus to the anti-apartheid campaign where it was needed, but became an enemy of the state in the process.

In 1963, already behind bars and facing the death penalty during a sabotage trial, Mr Mandela gave his famous "speech from the dock".

The words - combative, but measured and full of hope - signalled the emergence of the statesman who would become an icon of the 20th century.

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He said: "I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.

"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

"It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

The apartheid government jailed Mr Mandela and his comrades for life in 1964 but they could not lock away the ideas he embodied and the righteousness of his cause.

To allies of South Africa's racist regime - including some in Britain - Mr Mandela remained for many years a "terrorist".

But for campaigners Mr Mandela's 27-year ordeal behind bars, often in a cramped cell on Robben Island or in solitary confinement, represented all that was wrong with apartheid.

Pressure to free "prisoner 46664" went hand-in-hand with diplomacy and sanctions as the world set its sights on ending the injustice of South Africa's racial rule.

The beaming smile and joyful raised fist as he walked free from Paarl's Victor-Verster Prison with his wife Winnie on February 11, 1990, proved beyond doubt to most South Africans that a dark chapter in the country's history was coming to a close.

As President from 1994, Mr Mandela sought to build his "Rainbow Nation" - feted by world leaders as he crossed the globe outlining his vision of a non-racial democracy.

His campaign to unite the nation - black and white - behind the victorious Springboks rugby team during the 1995 World Cup in South Africa made many believe that vision could really be achieved.

An often troubled and traumatic personal life - including the split from Winnie following her kidnapping and assault trial - was never allowed to eclipse the greater goal of guiding South Africa into a new era.

After retiring in 1999, Mr Mandela - fondly known by his tribal name "Madiba" - settled into the role of "Father of the Nation".

Passing on the presidency to Thabo Mbeki, he was happy taking a step back from the political frontline, but always there to reassure his people  - a symbol of hope until the end.

Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 into the Madiba tribal clan, part of the Thembu people, in a small village in the eastern Cape of South Africa.

Born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga, he was given his English name by a teacher, Miss Mdingane, at his first school. It was customary for all children to be given English names.

His father, a counsellor to the Thembu royal family, died when Mr Mandela was a child, and he was placed in the care of the acting regent of the Thembu people, chief Jongintaba Dalindyebo.

He joined the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944, first as an activist, then president of the ANC Youth League.

Mr Mandela married his first wife, Walter Sisulu's cousin Evelyn Mase, in 1944 and the couple went on to have four children during a 14-year marriage.

In 1952, he and friend Oliver Tambo opened South Africa's first black law firm, using their offices to take on many civil rights cases and mount challenges to the apartheid system.

Mr Mandela was first charged with high treason in 1956 following the adoption of the Freedom Charter in Soweto - a document with demands including multi-racial, democratic government and equal rights for blacks - but was cleared when the prosecution failed to prove he was using violence.

In 1958 he divorced Evelyn and married Winnie Madikizela, who later became prominent in the ANC and the campaign to free her husband.

He was convinced to take up arms against the government following the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre - when police shot dead 69 peaceful demonstrators who were protesting against the segregationist Pass Law, which limited the freedom of the black population.

The government followed the massacre by banning the ANC, cracking down on strikers and protesters and applying apartheid restrictions even more severely as a state of emergency was declared.

As commander-in-chief of the ANC's armed wing from 1961, Mr Mandela secretly left the country to raise money and undergo military training in Morocco, Algeria and Ethiopia.

He returned in July 1962, but was arrested at a road block after briefing the ANC leadership on his trip.

Mr Mandela stood trial for incitement and leaving the country without a passport and this time there was no chance of an acquittal as he was jailed for five years and sent to Robben Island Prison for the first time.

He was behind bars when a group of his comrades were arrested in 1963. They were charged with sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial - named after the farm raided by police.

In June 1964 - following a lengthy trial condemned by the UN Security Council - Mr Mandela and seven other activists were sentenced to life in prison.

He remained imprisoned on the infamous Robben Island for 18 years before being transferred to Pollsmoor jail on the mainland in 1982.

In the space of 12 months between 1968 and 1969, his mother died and his eldest son was killed in a car crash, but he was not allowed to attend their funerals.

In 1980, Oliver Tambo, who was in exile in London, launched an international campaign to win Mr Mandela's release. International resolutions and rock concerts alike were harnessed to highlight the cause.

As the world community upped the pressure against South Africa, with the US approving tough economic sanctions in 1986, secret talks began between Mr Mandela and PW Botha's government.

In 1990, President FW de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC - paving the way for Mr Mandela's release on February 11.

The ANC and ruling National Party began talks about forming a new non-racial democracy for South Africa.

Relations between Mr Mandela and Mr de Klerk grew tense against a backdrop of violence between ANC supporters and Chief Buthelezi's Inkatha movement.

But the two leaders continued to meet and in December 1993 they were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Five months later, for the first time in South Africa's history, all races voted in democratic elections and Mr Mandela became president - having himself voted in an election for the first time in his life.

As president, Mr Mandela entrusted much day-to-day government business to his deputy Thabo Mbeki.

While his time in office was hailed as a triumph in terms of building the new South Africa, there was criticism for a failure to tackle the Aids epidemic and conditions in the country's slum townships.

Mr Mandela divorced Winnie in 1996 and married 52-year-old Graca Machel two years later, on his 80th birthday.

Mr Mandela stepped down as president after the ANC's landslide victory in the national elections in the summer of 1999, in favour of Mr Mbeki.

After his retirement he continued travelling the world, meeting leaders, attending conferences and raising money for good causes.

With thousands of requests every year, his problem was fitting everything in and not exhausting himself.

In June 2004, aged 85, Mr Mandela announced he would be retiring from public life as he wanted to enjoy more time with his family.

But he did make an exception to speak out about his son Makgatho's death from Aids in 2005 - challenging the taboo that surrounds the disease in Africa.

The 2010 World Cup closing ceremony in Johannesburg was the world's last glimpse of the iconic leader in a public role.

He may have been looking frail, wrapped up against the cold and not speaking, but the famous smile as he basked in South Africa's success underlined how far his country had come.

In recent years he battled bouts of ill health, with South Africans struggling to come to terms with the reality that he could not go on forever.

Mr Mandela had hospital treatment in early 2012 for abdominal pain and then endured another 18-day stay at the end of the year suffering from gallstones and a chest infection.

A picture taken on February 2 at his Johannesburg home - showing him holding great-grandson Zen Manaway on his lap - proved to be the last time Nelson Mandela's millions of admirers saw the world's most famous smile.

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Thai Prime Minister To Dissolve Parliament

Thailand's Prime Minister says she will dissolve parliament and hold an election following a wave of anti-government protests.

Yingluck Shinawatra said she would like to hold an election "as soon as possible".

"After consultation with many parties, I have submitted a royal decree requesting parliament be dissolved," she said in a nationally televised speech.

"At this stage, when there are many people opposed to the government from many groups, the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election. So the Thai people will decide."

The announcement came as Democratic Party politicians resigned from parliament over what it calls is "the illegitimacy" of the elected government.

The leader of the anti-government protesters, Suthep Thaugsuban, had called for a final demonstration today in an attempt to force Ms Yingluck out.

The protests have left five people dead

Mr Suthep said he would continue with the demonstration despite Ms Yingluck's dissolving of parliament and the promise of an early general election.

"Today we will continue our march to Government House. We have not yet reached our goal. The dissolving of parliament is not our aim," he said.

He has repeatedly said he does not want a new election but some form of an unelected "people's council" to run the country.

Protesters have been on the streets of the capital Bangkok for weeks, vowing to oust Ms Yingluck and eradicate the influence of her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The demonstrations are the latest eruption in nearly a decade of rivalry between forces aligned with the Bangkok-based establishment and those who support Mr Thaksin.

During recent days, tensions have been raised during street clashes where police have used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against rock-throwing demonstrators.

The unrest has left five people dead and more than 200 injured in Bangkok.

More follows...

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Mandela: South Africa Awaits World Leaders

By Emma Hurd, Sky News Correspondent

South Africa is preparing for the arrival of scores of world leaders as the official mourning continues for Nelson Mandela.

Some 60 heads of state have confirmed their attendance at this week's memorial events, including US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

They will be joined by former US Presidents George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and their wives.

Prime Minister David Cameron will attend the main memorial service on Tuesday, while Prince Charles will represent Britain at Sunday's state funeral.

The leaders of France, Australia, Germany, Canada, Spain, Brazil and a host of other nations will also fly into the country.

A large structure used for ceremonies is built at Mr Mandela's former home

Celebrities, including Bono, Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson are also expected to head to South Africa to pay their personal tributes to the man they considered a friend.

Later today, a special joint session of parliament will be held in Cape Town to allow South Africa's politicians from all political parties to mark the passing of the nation's first black president.

President Jacob Zuma has urged the country to remember the values of peace and forgiveness that Mr Mandela lived by and uphold them.

His sentiments were echoed by the anti-apartheid icon's family who released a statement calling for South Africans to "keep the dream alive".

On Tuesday, the focus will shift back to Johannesburg where a huge memorial service is due to take place at the FNB Stadium, the scene of Nelson Mandela's last public appearance ahead of the 2010 World Cup Final.

A child lays flowers in Cape Town

Some 80,000 people are expected to attend the event, including President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and other visiting dignitaries.

From Wednesday, Mr Mandela's body will "lie in state" Pretoria, at the Union Buildings where he governed as president between 1994 and 1999.

A funeral cortege carrying the icon's remains will pass through the capital daily until Friday, with South Africans being urged to line the streets to form a "guard of honour".

The state funeral will take place in Mr Mandela's ancestral homeland of Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.

It is still not clear whether President Obama will still be in the country, but many other world leaders are expected to travel to the usually sleepy rural village to join Mr Mandela's family, friends and former comrades in bidding farewell to the revered statesman as he makes his final journey home.

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Nelson Mandela: Day Of Prayer And Reflection

By Emma Hurd, Sky News Correspondent

South Africans are gathering in churches, synagogues and mosques across the country to observe a national day of "prayer and reflection" in honour of the late Nelson Mandela.

President Jacob Zuma will attend a service at the Bryanston Methodist Church in Johannesburg as part of the series of official events to mark the death of the icon.

The events will culminate in a state funeral next Sunday.

Mr Zuma has urged South Africans to head to their places of worship as well as halls and stadiums to celebrate the life of Mr Mandela. 

"We should, while mourning also sing at the top of our voices, dance and do whatever we want to do to celebrate the life of this outstanding revolutionary," President Zuma said.

Jacob Zuma has urged South Africans to celebrate the icon's life

On Saturday, Mr Mandela's family released their first public statement since the former statesman's death, expressing their deep sense of loss.

"It has not been easy for the past two days and it won't be pleasant for the days to come," the statement said.

"But with the support we are receiving from here and beyond in due time all will be well for the family."

Informal vigils are still being held outside Mr Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg, and his former home in Soweto, where hundreds of people have been dancing and singing in the streets.

An impromptu shrine in Johannesburg

On Tuesday, a memorial service will be held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, the place where Mr Mandela made his last public appearance at the World Cup final in 2010. 

At least 80,000 people are expected to attend, including several heads of state.

From Wednesday, crowds will line the streets in Pretoria as a funeral cortege carries the remains of the nation's first black president to lie in state at the Union Buildings.

People will be permitted to file past his body to pay their respects. 

The procession will be repeated for three days with the public urged to form a "guard of honour".

The focus will then switch to Mr Mandela's ancestral home of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, where the state funeral will be held on Sunday.

Mourners outside Mr Mandela's home in in Johannesburg

US President Barack Obama will be among the many world leaders who will join the Mandela family in a public tribute before a private burial service.

Mr Mandela left it to the South African people to decide how to celebrate his life and legacy.

He said once when asked how he wished to be remembered: "It would be very egotistical of me to say how I would like to be remembered. I'd leave that entirely to South Africans. I would just like a simple stone on which is written, 'Mandela'."

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Kiev Protesters In Show Of Determination

By Katie Stallard, Moscow Correspondent in Kiev

Standing by the barricades under the national flag in Independence Square, two men beat out a steady rhythm on an oil drum.

It's bitterly cold, the air thick with wood smoke from the fires all around, and they're watching every face that comes past.

They're looking for undercover police officers, members of the security services, or people they believe are working as government provocateurs.

The authorities have vowed to "act harshly, decisively" to stop the blockades - they don't know when that action will come.

For now the protesters feel they are in control here, and they are determined to stand their ground.

They've built barriers across the roads leading in to the square, rudimentary defences made from pallets, concrete posts and whatever they could find.

Sections of the barricades are lined with the branches of a huge artificial Christmas tree that had been under construction in the centre of the square - city officials tried to claim at first that protecting the tree was the reason they had to forcibly clear the square.

Protesters wave flags as they take part in an opposition rally

It has become a public symbol of dissent.

What remains of the structure has been draped with Ukrainian flags, homemade posters and caricatures of the president.

This movement started as a reaction to his refusal to sign an EU trade deal last month.

It has evolved into a concerted effort to force Victor Yanukovich and his government out, galvanised by allegations of police brutality against protesters.

The first wave of demonstrations had been dwindling last weekend, when police moved in to retake control of the square in the early hours of Saturday morning.

What happened next brought tens, then hundreds of thousands, back onto the streets in response.

Human Rights Watch accuse police of using "excessive force" against protesters and journalists, beating people, including the elderly, even after they had fallen to the ground.

The NGO said Ukraine was going through "serious civil unrest".

Protesters greet former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili

According to the Health Ministry, 248 people have been injured since the protests began, 139 needed hospital treatment.

Near the barricades we found a Ukrainian priest holding a bible and an old soviet gas mask.

He said he was one of 50 men who would join arms and form a human chain if the police came back, to give them time to get the women and children out and do their best to protect the square.

He had added an orthodox cross to the top of their defences.

An old man, sitting with his friends around a fire nearby, raised his fist and shouted: "Until victory, we'll stand until the end!"

The protesters are still occupying several administration buildings, including the mayor's office in the heart of the capital.

We were welcomed in to "Revolution HQ", formerly known as Kiev City Hall, past guards with respirators and helmets on the door.

Inside, a couple of windows have been smashed and the smell is none too fragrant, but otherwise the new system seems to be working well.

Volunteers are handing out food and hot drinks, and distributing donations of warm clothes.

Flags are left attached to a statue by protesters

Beneath the chandeliers of the grand, Stalin-era function hall, people are camped out on the floor, sleeping wherever they can on roll mats and blankets, a selection of hard hats strewn around.

They've set up a basic clinic,staffed by shifts of doctors, nurses and medical students.

A poster says a psychologist is on hand.

"If police comes back, people will stand here and protect this building, protect this idea," one young man told us.

"Before, we thought we were just a small group, but now we think we can do this. I hope we can do it," a smartly-dressed female student said.

The authorities have given protesters five days to vacate the building, but they have no intention of moving out and handing it back without a fight.

But the protesters are hoping to draw in around a million people to a demonstration today. Its size threatens to eclipse earlier rallies in Kiev and western Ukraine that brought several hundred thousand out on the streets on December 1.

Supporters of Ukrainian EU integration at an earlier protest in Kiev

In the high street immediately outside occupied City Hall, life is carrying on pretty much as normal.

The Christmas decorations are up, the shops are busy, children were taking turns to ride a fairground carousel.

This movement does not represent all of Ukraine, or even all of Kiev. The country remains deeply divided between East and West.

But the protesters here feel they are gathering momentum - the vast majority are peaceful, but they are determined and they show no sign of backing down.

The question is how long the authorities will allow this to go on.

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