Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Under rainy sky, South Africans mourn, celebrate Madiba

Under rainy sky, South Africans mourn, celebrate Madiba: JOHANNESBURG — Tens of thousands of South Africans, joyously cheering and singing despite a cold rain, mourned the passing and celebrated the life of Nelson Mandela at an outdoor memorial service Tuesday.

They arrived by train and bus at a soccer stadium at the edge of the black township of Soweto to join President Obama and other leaders from around the world in honoring the father of the modern nation and a global symbol of human rights, racial equality and political liberation.

Extreme levels of security were in place at FNB Stadium for the memorial for the nation's first black president, Nobel Prize winner and leader of his nation's struggle to establish democracy.