Ads 468x60px

Saturday 21 December 2013

BONGKAR!!! Respon Adi Putra Isu Penceraian Nooraida Abdul Mutalib


Respon Adi Putra isu penceraian Nooraida Abdul Mutalib - Selepas kita dikejutkan dengan berita Nooraida Abdul Mutalib diceraikan secara mengejut suami dengan talak satu dua hari lalu, ramai peminat mula berspekulasi tentang nasib wanita itu akan datang.

Ada yang mengandaikan, Nooraida bakal menggatal dengan Adi Putra kerana tidak lagi bersuami, namun tidak kurang juga yang menyalahkan pelakon Adi Putra sebagai antara punca utama penceraian mereka.

Bercakap kepada media hari ini, aktor filem KL Gangster itu menolak untuk memberikan apa-apa komen mengenai isu penceraian Nooraida Abdul Mutalib dan Hj Amiruddin Othman kerana enggan mahu mengaibkan sesiapa.

Katanya, dia langsung tidak mengetahui mengenai penceraian Nooraida, 30, dengan ahli perniagaan Amiruddin Osman, 56, sehingga dihubungi media semalam yang memintanya memberi komen.


Skuad Harimau Muda A pulang dengan tangan kosong


NAY PYI TAW - Skuad Harimau Muda A pulang dengan tangan kosong apabila gagal merebut pingat gangsa di temasya Sukan SEA ke-27 selepas mengalami kekalahan 1-2 kepada Singapura pada perlawanan penentuan tempat ketiga dan keempat yang berlangsung di Stadium Zayar Thiri petang ini.
Corak permainan skuad negara pada babak pertama hambar yang membuka beberapa ruang kepada Singapura melakukan beberapa serangan bagi menembusi benteng pertahanan negara yang dikawal oleh Mohd Zubir Mohd Azmi dan K.Reuben.
Kecelaruan di barisan pertahanan negara membuka ruang kepada kapten pasukan Singapura Hariss Harun menjaringan gol pertama pada minit ke-14 sebelum beliau menggandakan jaringan seminit kemudian.
Peluang keemasan Malaysia menjaringkan gol pembukaan pada minit ke-33 gagal dimanafatkan oleh penyerang negara, A. Thamil Arasu apabila sepakan penalti yang dilakukanya dinafikan oleh penjaga gawang Singapura, Muhammad Izwan Mahbud.
Bersambung pada babak kedua perlawanan Malaysia yang tertekan dengan kedudukan 2-0 memperkemaskan jentera serangan dengan menggandakan serangan bagi menembusi pertahanan Singapura, namun gagal menjaringan gol.
Gawang gol Malaysia sekali lagi diuji apabila Muhammad Hafis Abu Sijad melakukan rembatan padu pada minit ke-62 namun penjaga gawang negara Mohd Izham Tarmizi Roslan bertindak pantas menyelamatkan maruah negara.
Kesilapan pada benteng pertahanan Singapura membuka peluang kepada penyerang berbisa negara, A. Thamil Arasu membuat rembatan kencang menjaringkan gol pertama negara pada minit ke-68.
Perlawanan berakhir dengan keputusan Malaysia tewas kepada Singapura 1-2.
Sementara itu jurulatih negara, Datuk Ong Kim Swee berkata beliau dan pasukan kecewa dan sedih dengan kegagalan mereka untuk membawa pulang pingat gangsa untuk negara.
"Sudah pasti kegagalan hari ini bukan hanya menghampakan harapan saya dan juga pemain tetapi turut sama rakyat Malaysia. Namun barisan pemain kita telah bermain dengan bersungguh-sungguh malam ini,” katanya kepada pemberita pada majlis sidang akhbar hari ini.


Lebih 75 cedera siling teater runtuh


LONDON - Serpihan plaster dan habuk menghempap penonton apabila sebahagian siling sebuah teater di sini runtuh malam kelmarin.
Pihak berkuasa menyatakan, lebih 75 orang cedera dalam kejadian itu dengan tujuh daripada mereka parah.
Kemalangan di dewan Apollo Teater itu berlaku sekitar pukul 8.15 malam semasa pementasan The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time pada cuti musim Krismas.
Polis berkata, sebahagian balkoni teater turut runtuh menghempap penonton.
"Ketika kejadian, dewan itu sesak dengan lebih 700 penonton," menurut kenyataan Jabatan Bomba London.
Beberapa pegawai memberitahu, kebanyakan mangsa cedera ringan dengan kesemuanya berada dalam keadaan sedar dan bernafas.
Pihak polis dan bomba memberitahu, masih terlalu awal untuk mengenal pasti punca kejadian tetapi siasatan penuh kemalangan itu sedang dilakukan.
Seorang saksi kejadian, Dee Stephenson berkata, dia sedang duduk berdekatan pentas apabila pelakon utama pementasan berkenaan menjerit: "Awas!".
"Kemudian saya dapat merasakan serpihan-serpihan jatuh menimpa dengan sebuah ketulan besar menghempap belakang saya," katanya.
Mangsa-mangsa yang cedera dirawat oleh berpuluh-puluh petugas kecemasan di sebatang jalan di luar teater berkenaan dan di sebuah teater berdekatan di sini.



APNewsBreak: US military aircraft hit in S. Sudan


9/11 Families 'Ecstatic' They Can Finally Sue Saudi Arabia
KAMPALA, Uganda — Rebel fire hit two U.S. military aircraft responding to the outbreak in violence in South Sudan on Saturday, wounding three U.S. service members and heavily damaging at least one of the aircraft, officials said. South Sudan blamed the attack on renegade troops in control of the breakaway region.

The U.S. military aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation's worst violence over the last week. One American service member was reported to be in critical condition. Officials said after the aircraft took incoming fire, they turned around and headed to Kampala, Uganda. From there the service members were flown on to Nairobi, Kenya for medical treatment, the officials said.
Both officials demanded anonymity to share information not yet made public. Both officials work in East Africa and are in a position to know the information. It was not immediately known what the U.S. aircraft were doing in Bor. One official said it appeared the aircraft were Ospreys, the type of aircraft that can fly like a helicopter and a plane.
Officials at the U.S. military's Africa Command did not immediately answer phone calls or emails on Saturday.
South Sudan's military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said that government troops are not in control of Bor, so the attack on the U.S. aircraft has to be blamed on renegade soldiers, he said.
"Bor is under the control of the forces of Riek Machar," Aguer said.
South Sudan President Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, said this week that an attempted coup triggered the violence now pulsing through South Sudan. He blamed the former vice president, Machar, an ethnic Nuer. But officials have since said a fight between Dinka and Nuer members of the presidential guard triggered the initial violence late Sunday night. Machar's ouster from the country's No. 2 political position earlier this year had stoked ethnic tensions.
The violence has killed hundreds and has world leaders worried that a full-blown civil war could ignite in South Sudan. The south fought a decades-long war with Sudan before a 2005 peace deal resulted in a 2011 referendum that saw South Sudan break away from the north, taking most of the region's oil wealth with it.
An International Crisis Group expert on South Sudan told on Friday that rebels have taken control of at least some of South Sudan's oil fields, an issue that could bring Sudan into the conflict. South Sudan's oil flows north through Sudan's pipelines, providing Khartoum with much needed income.
The U.N. Security Council on Friday said the weeklong violence resulted from a "political dispute among the country's political leaders" that could affect not only South Sudan, but neighboring countries and the entire region.
U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this week dispatched U.S. troops to help protect the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Juba. The U.S. Embassy organized at least five emergency evacuation flights to help U.S. citizens leave the country. Other countries like Britain, Germany and Italy also helped citizens evacuate.

Friday 13 December 2013

No Grammy competition in Shelton-Lambert household



UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Blake Shelton likes his odds when it comes to this year's Grammy Awards.
Shelton's "Mine Would Be You" and Miranda Lambert's "Mama's Broken Heart" are both nominated for best country solo performance, doubling his chances of nabbing a golden gramophone in his home.
"I hope one of us wins that thing because I want one in my house for sure," Shelton said in an interview. "The thing about an actual Grammy is if you set it up high enough on the shelf people can't read that plaque, and if somebody comes in the house and they're like, 'You got a Grammy.' It's like, 'Yeah. Oh yeah I got one.' And they don't actually read that it's to Miranda."
Shelton has yet to win a Grammy; Lambert, his wife, won her first in 2011. Both of their tracks are also nominated for best country song, though the singers didn't earn nominations because they didn't write the tunes.
Shelton made the comments Tuesday while promoting "The Voice," where his three-time winning streak came to an end when his final teammate, Cole Vosbury, was eliminated.
The country star is looking ahead to the Grammys, where's he's up for best country album for his eighth album, "Based on a True Story..." He will battle Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw and newcomer Kacey Musgraves in the latter category.
"It's just awesome to be included and thought of in that group of artists," he said. "This is a window of time that will go by quickly and I know that and I want to enjoy it."
Swift and Musgraves lead among country acts with four nominations at the awards show, to no surprise. But country music Grammy snubs included Luke Bryan, who had a best-selling album with "Crash My Party," and Georgia Florida Line, who topped the charts with the multiplatinum, Nelly-assisted hit, "Cruise."
"Every year there's artists that I think should have a Grammy nomination and yeah, I'm surprised that Luke wasn't nominated. I'm surprised that I think Florida Georgia Line wasn't nominated. It's surprising, but you know, there's always next year," said Shelton. "If I wasn't in there I'd be really upset, but since I'm in there I really don't give a crap about anybody else," he joked.
The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 26. NBC's "The Voice" will crown a winner Tuesday

Wednesday 11 December 2013

NASA: Cooling pump on space station shuts down


FILE - In this frame grab from video provided by NASA, two Russian flight engineers perform maintenance on the International Space Station, Monday, June 24, 2013. NASA said Dec. 11, 2013, it is looking into a problem with a malfunctioning cooling pump on the International Space Station, but there is no immediate danger to the six crewmen on board. Agency spokesman Kelly Humphries says the problem may eventually be serious, but is not an emergency at the moment. (AP Photo/NASA)
WASHINGTON  — NASA said Wednesday it was looking into a problem with a malfunctioning cooling pump on the International Space Station, but there was no immediate danger to the six crewmen on board.
A valve on a pump on one of the station's two external cooling loops shut down because it was too cool Wednesday afternoon, NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said. He said that at no time was the crew at risk. But some non-critical equipment of the massive orbital outpost were powered down.
"It could be a serious problem, but it's not an emergency," Johnson Space Center spokesman Kelly Humphries said.
Engineers suspect a valve inside the pump was faulty and ground controllers moved electrical power supplies to the other cooling loop, Jacobs said. These loops circulate ammonia outside the station to keep equipment inside and outside cool.
"The station wasn't ever in any danger," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said the crew of two American astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut were preparing to go to bed as normal, while engineers on the ground tried to troubleshoot the problem. The faulty pump and cooling loop did start up again, he said.
Humphries said it was too early to speculate whether a spacewalk would be needed to fix the problem.
The station commander is cosmonaut Oleg Kotov. Americans Rick Mastracchio and Michael Hopkins, Russians Mikhail Tyurin and Sergey Ryazanaskiy, and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata are aboard. The orbital outpost, the size of a football field and weighing nearly 1 million pounds, has been in orbit more than 220 miles above Earth since 1998.

Nigerian survivor will never go to sea again


FILE - In this file image made available Tuesday Dec. 3, 2013, Harrison Odjegba Okene looks in awe as a rescue diver surfaces into the air pocket which has kept Okene alive for nearly three days, recorded by the diver's video headcam. Okene was working as a cook aboard a tugboat in the Atlantic Ocean off the Nigerian coast in June 2013, when a heavy swell caused the vessel to capsize and sink to the sea bed, where his 11 colleagues drowned. But Okene was able to find an air pocket inside the sunken ship, where he survived for nearly three days before being found by a group of South African rescue divers. (AP Photo/DCN Diving, File)
WARRI, Nigeria— He survived three days in a sunken tugboat at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and was hailed as a miracle survivor, but now the Nigerian faces nightmares and questions on whether he used black magic.

m

Harrison Odjegba Okene, 29, has transformed his life since a diver fished him out of the sea: He never again wants to find himself in a boat galley, and has since started working as a cook on firm ground.
Okene was the only survivor in a crew of 12 when the Jascon 4 capsized in May, and that still haunts him.
He stayed alive by breathing from an ever-dwindling supply of oxygen in an air pocket of the tugboat. A video of Okene's rescue in May was posted on the Internet more than six months later and has since gone viral.
When recounting the rescue at his local parish, even the priest asked him if he had used black magic to survive.
"I was so surprised! How could a man of God be saying this?" Okene said, his voice rising in disbelief.
Okene spoke at his modest two-bedroom apartment in the southern oil industry center of Warri, in his first interview with the international media since his ordeal.
He didn't go to the funerals of his colleagues because he feared their families' reactions — Nigerians being generally very religious but also superstitious.
"I couldn't go because I didn't know what the family will say, thinking 'Why is he the only one to survive,'" said Okene.
It's a question that has shaken his steadfast faith. "Every week I ask (God) 'Why only me? Why did my colleagues have to die?'"
His rescuers from the Dutch company DCN Diving, were looking only for bodies and already had recovered four corpses when they came upon Okene.
The chubby-faced cook by that time had almost given up hope, but then he heard the sound of a boat, a hammering on the side of the vessel and then, after a while, saw lights and the rising waters around him bubbling.
He said he knew it had to be a diver, but he was on the wrong end of the cabin.
"He came in but he was too fast, so I saw the light but before I could get to him, he was already out. I tried to follow him in the pitch darkness but I couldn't trace him, so I went back."
When the diver returned, Okene had to swim through the dark waters to reach him and still he did not see him. "So I tapped him at the back of his neck, so he was afraid." When the diver saw his hand he said "corpse, corpse, a corpse," into his microphone, reporting up to the rescue vessel.
"When he brought his hand close to me, I pulled on his hand," Okene said of the moment that finally made the truth clear to his rescuer. "He's alive! He's alive! He's alive!" he diver shouted.
Still, the diver appeared to have a hard time believing he had survived, Okene said.
"I knew when he gave me water he was observing me (to see) if I'm really human, because he was afraid."
On the video, there are expletives and exclamations of fear and shock from Okene's rescuer, and then joy as the realization set in: There was a survivor.
Until that moment, Okene believed his colleagues must have escaped. The tug was one of three towing a Chevron oil tanker in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta waters, but on May 26 there was a sudden lurch and it keeled over.
"I heard people shouting, I felt the vessel going down, going down, I heard a voice saying 'Is this vessel sinking or what?' ... I was in the WC (toilet) and the WC fell on my head, things started falling on my head ... My colleagues were shouting 'God help me, God help me, God help me. Then after a while I never heard from them (again)."
His wife Akpovona Okene, 27, said he still suffers nightmares. "When he is sleeping, he has that shock, he will just wake up in the night saying 'Honey see, the bed is sinking, we are in the sea."
Okene said he made a pact with God when he was at the bottom of the ocean: "When I was under the water I told God: If you rescue me, I will never go back to the sea again, never."

New details emerge on pilot of Asiana jet that crashed in San Francisco, killing three



In this Saturday, July 6, 2013 aerial file photo, the wreckage of the Asiana Flight 214 airplane is seen after it crashed at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Saturday, July 6, 2013. The National Transportation Safety Board says it is now planning to hold its hearing Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, into the crash-landing of the Asiana jet that left three Chinese teens dead. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
The pilot flying the Asiana Airlines jet that crashed in San Francisco, killing three people, was worried about landing successfully because a system used to guide planes down to the runway had been turned off during a construction project.
Testimony at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing Wednesday offered many new details about Lee Kang Kuk, an experienced 46-year-old pilot who was being trained on the 777 when the tail of the plane slammed into a seawall at the edge of San Francisco Bay.
— Before the flight, Lee was asked about his knowledge of the 777's autoflight system. He said he wasn't so confident and believed he needed to study it more.
— The pilot said that he was concerned about arriving without help from an instrument-landing system. Controlling the descent, he said, "is very stressful."
— Lee said he had flown into San Francisco many times as a co-pilot on Boeing 747s but landed only a couple of cargo flights because Asiana captains were reluctant to turn over the controls to a first officer at "a special airport."
— As the plane drew close to the runway, Lee told investigators, he was momentarily blinded by a light "like a beam ... right in front of me." He couldn't say what color the light was or whether it was above or below the horizon. The instructor pilot sitting next to him did not notice it.
— If an approach goes awry, pilots sometimes abort a landing, pull up and circle again before coming back to the runway. Lee told NTSB investigators that he didn't do a "go-around" because he believed that only the instructor pilot who was in the cockpit had the authority to make that emergency decision. Instructor pilot Lee Jung Min said he began a go-around just before the tail slammed into the seawall.
— The instructor told investigators that he didn't notice anything wrong with Lee's ability during the takeoff in Seoul and the high-altitude cruise across the Pacific. When the approach to San Francisco started, the pilot's response seemed late for the conditions, but the instructor thought that Lee "was okay and aware" of the landing procedure, investigators reported.

Friday 6 December 2013

PELAJAR PEREMPUAN CAMPAK KANAK-KANAK 18 BULAN DARI TINGKAT 25



BEIJING, 5 Dis -- Satu rakaman memaparkan seorang pelajar
perempuan menyerang seorang kanak-kanak lelaki di dalam lif dan mencampakkannya
ke bawah dari beranda di tingkat 25 memeranjatkan seluruh negara.
Rakaman video pengawasan itu yang menunjukkan pelajar perempuan terbabit
memukul dengan kejam kanak-kanak berkenaan selepas menghempas dan menendangnya
beberapa kali di dalam lif tersebar luas dalam laman sosial mirip Twitter China,
Sina Weibo, mencetuskan perdebatan hangat melibatkan lebih 310,000 perbincangan
dalam mikroblog.
Portal berita dalam talian BjNews melaporkan insiden itu berlaku pada 25 Nov
di bandaraya Chongqing, barat daya China, apabila nenek kanak-kanak lelaki
berusia 18 bulan itu yang digelar 'Yuanyuan' keluar dari lif dengan membawa
basikal cucunya, pintu lif tertutup dan meninggalkan Yuanyuan bersama pelajar
perempuan berumur 10 tahun itu.
Rakaman itu menunjukkan selepas menyerang anak kecil itu dengan kejam, lif
tiba di tingkat 25, pelajar perempuan mengangkat Yuanyuan dan mencampakkannya
keluar.
Setelah mendapati lif berhenti di tingkat 25, si nenek yang amat bimbang
berkata dia segera bergegas ke tingkat berkenaan dan berjumpa pelajar perempuan
itu.
Bagaimanapun, pelajar itu berkata dia tidak nampak kanak-kanak itu dan
mendakwa seseorang telah membawanya pergi, tetapi tidak ingat sama ada wanita
atau lelaki yang membawanya, kata nenek dan menambah pelajar itu malah
menawarkan diri untuk mencari cucunya.
"Dalam masa lima minit, Yuanyuan terbaring berlumuran darah di atas tanah di
luar bangunan," kata nenek itu.
Kanak-kanak itu dilaporkan mengalami pendarahan paru-paru dan retak
tempurung kepala. Keadaannya stabil dan diletakkan di bawah pemerhatian dalam
unit rawatan rapi di sebuah hospital.
Polis berkata kes itu masih disiasat.
Sungguhpun menerima 58,000 yuan (US$9,464) daripada keluarga pelajar
perempuan itu, ibu mangsa berkata pada Rabu dia akan memfailkan saman terhadap
keluarga pelajar berkenaan.


Sondheim himself sings in HBO's 'Six by Sondheim'


This photo provided by HBO shows, from left, James Lapine, Stephen Sondheim, seated, second left, Jackie Hoffman, America Ferrera, Darren Criss, Laura Osnes, and Jeremy Jordan from the HBO documentary, "Six by Sondheim." The documentary airs Monday, Dec. 9, 2013, on HBO at 9 p.m. ET. (AP Photo/HBO, Matthu Place)

NEW YORK — At age 9, America Ferrera came across a videotape that changed her life.
It was the 1993 TV movie of the musical "Gypsy" starring Bette Midler with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
"I probably played that VHS 500 times. Maybe more. I learned every lyric, every breath, every pause," the "Ugly Betty" and "The Good Wife" actress says. "It was then that I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up — I wanted to be Bette Midler."
Alas, that was not to be, but imagine Ferrera's surprise when she got an offer to audition for a singing part in a new documentary about Sondheim, whose landmark musicals include "West Side Story," ''Company" and "Sweeney Todd."
"My first thought was, 'Never! I will never go in and sing for Stephen Sondheim. That sounds like a nightmare.' And then I thought, 'You know, if I'm going to be rejected by anyone in musical theater, it should be by Stephen Sondheim.'"
Ferrera won the part, and listening to her sing is a highlight of the intriguing documentary "Six by Sondheim," which airs Monday on HBO (9 p.m. Eastern).
Directed by longtime Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, the film uses dozens of TV interviews of the revolutionary composer spanning 50 years to tell his story through six of his songs.
"We didn't really any of us want to do a very conventional autobiographical documentary on him, so this is what we hit upon," says Lapine. "I think the idea from the get-go was to try and see if we (could) make a movie with him being the only one who speaks."
The interviews are mostly appearances on TV chat shows over the years augmented by some 20 hours of conversation that Lapine recorded three years ago for Sondheim's 80th birthday.
The six songs featured — "Something's Coming," ''Opening Doors," ''Send in the Clowns," ''I'm Still Here," ''Being Alive" and "Sunday" — are presented either as archival recordings or new performances.
That's where Ferrera came in. She teamed up with Jeremy Jordan and Darren Criss to perform "Opening Doors," a touching song from "Merrily We Roll Along" about three young artists hoping for their big breaks.
One other distinguished person helped them out: Stephen Sondheim. That's right, the master himself sang the part of a skeptical musical theater producer. ("There's not a tune you can hum," he grouses in it.)
Jordan, a rising star who has appeared on TV in "Smash" and on Broadway in "Newsies," met Sondheim for the first time during the three-day shoot seven months ago and calls him "brilliant."
"It was pretty fast and furious," says Jordan. "It was over before it had even begun so I don't think I fully grasped the enormity of it while we were doing it, which is good because then I probably wouldn't be able to perform as well."
How did Lapine persuade Sondheim to sing a song he wrote? He just called up his old friend and collaborator and asked. "I think there was an enormous pause at the other end of the line and he finally said, 'OK,'" says Lapine. "He was so trusting."
Other performers who sing in the documentary include Audra McDonald, Jackie Hoffman, Laura Osnes and Jarvis Cocker. "I feel I was lucky enough to be just inside the Sondheim loop to be asked to be a part of it," says Osnes, who stars in "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella."
Viewers may learn some intimate details about Sondheim: He likes to compose lying down and sometimes enjoys a cocktail to loosen up as he writes. His rough, solitary childhood is also explored, including a shocking letter he received from his mother telling him that she regretted giving birth to him.
While some personal details make Sondheim blush, he says they lead to a fuller understanding. "You don't want to just have baby pictures of yourself and how cute you are," he says. "You have to show who you are."
One thing Sondheim noticed while watching interviews of himself over the years is his image as an angry man in the 1970s, his hair long and his resentment on full show.
"I'd forgotten how sour I was," Sondheim says with a laugh. "I truly had forgotten that period of my life where I was really down on everything. So that was interesting to see."


Mandela, anti-apartheid icon, mourned world over


Newspapers with pictures of Nelson Mandela on the front page are on sale at a newsagent in London, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. Mandela passed away Thursday night after a long illness. He was 95. As word of Mandela's death spread, current and former presidents, athletes and entertainers, and people around the world spoke about the life and legacy of the former South African leader. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
In nearly seven decades spent fighting for freedom and equality, Nelson Mandela inspired and challenged the world to stand up for others. As word of Mandela's death spread, current and former presidents, athletes and entertainers, and people around the world spoke about the life and legacy of the former South African leader

Some knew Mandela personally while many only knew him from afar, but they shared how they drew inspiration from his strength and looked to live his message of continuing the struggle against social injustice and for human rights.From Harlem to Hollywood, Paris to Beijing, people hailed Mandela's indomitable courage in the face of adversity as an inspiration for all. In a testament to his universal appeal, political leaders of various stripes joined critics and activists in paying tribute to Mandela as a heroic force for peace and reconciliation.
___
"He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages," said President Barack Obama, who shares with Mandela the distinction of being his nation's first black president.
___
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said the world had lost "a visionary leader, a courageous voice for justice and a clear moral compass." Both Annan and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were part of Mandela's group of statesmen known as The Elders.
"God was so good to us in South Africa by giving us Nelson Mandela to be our president at a crucial moment in our history," Tutu said. "He inspired us to walk the path of forgiveness and reconciliation and so South Africa did not go up in flames."
___
President Xi Jinping of China, which supported apartheid's opponents throughout the Cold War, praised Mandela's victory in the anti-apartheid struggle and his contribution to "the cause of human progress."
For Chinese rights activists, Mandela's death served as a reminder that one of their own symbols of freedom, Nobel Peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, remained imprisoned by Chinese authorities. "This moment magnifies how evil the current regime is," Beijing activist Hu Jia said.
___
" As we remember his triumphs, let us, in his memory, not just reflect on how far we've come, but on how far we have to go," said the U.S. actor Morgan Freeman, who portrayed Mandela in the 2009 film, "Invictus."
___
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose efforts to open up his country helped lead to the end of the Cold War, said Mandela "told me several times that our perestroika in the USSR had helped his country a lot to get rid of apartheid."
"He did a lot for humankind, and memory of him will live not only in his country, but across the world," Gorbachev said in comments carried by the Interfax news agency.
In Kiev, where Ukrainians have gathered for anti-government demonstrations around-the-clock for the past week, protesters took a moment to recall Mandela's legacy.
"He had many troubles in his life. He was in prison, but he was waiting and he achieved what he wanted," protester Alena Pivovar said. "We have the same situation now. We have some barriers, but we have to pass them."
___
"Nelson Mandela set the standard for all revolutionaries past, present, and future: have a righteous cause, fight with dignity, and win with grace," said actor and E Street band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who in 1985 recruited performers to record "Sun City," an anti-apartheid album.
___
The United Nation's top human rights official, Navi Pillay — a South African who was once a defense lawyer for anti-apartheid activists — said Mandela "was perhaps the greatest moral leader of our time."
Pillay recalled how Mandela's release from prison triggered a "thirst for revenge" among his supporters but that he emphasized forgiveness over vengeance. "He told us to throw our spears and guns into the sea," Pillay said. "He showed us that a better future depended on reconciliation, not revenge."
___
In Haiti, a Caribbean nation that became the world's first black republic in 1804 through a successful slave revolt, Mandela symbolized the struggle for black equality.
"Mandela is not only the father of democracy in South Africa, but is also a symbol of democracy," said Haitian President Michel Martelly. "And like any symbol, he is not dead. He is present in all of us and guides us by his lifestyle, his courage and faith in the true struggle for equality."
___
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded the 1993 peace prize to Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, called Mandela "one of the greatest names in the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize."
"His work presents a message also today to all those who bear responsibility for apparently unresolvable conflicts: Even the most bitter of conflicts can be solved by peaceful means," the committee said.
Myanmar pro-democracy leader and fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi hailed a "great human being who raised the standard of humanity ... He also made us understand that we can change the world."
___
Spiritual leaders joined the homage.
In New Delhi, the Dalai Lama urged believers to "develop determination and ... enthusiasm to carry his spirit."
From the Vatican, Pope Francis paid " tribute to the steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela in promoting the human dignity of all the nation's citizens and in forging a new South Africa built on the firm foundations of non-violence, reconciliation and truth."
___
In New York City's Harlem neighborhood, artist Franco Gaskin, 85, stood before a mural featuring Mandela he had painted on a storefront gate almost 20 years ago. He remembered a Mandela visit there in 1990. "It was dynamic, everyone was so electrified to see him in Harlem," Gaskin said. "I idolized him so much. He leaves a legacy that all of us should follow."
___
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh compared Mandela to his country's own icon for the struggle for freedom, independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi.
"A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's. He was a true Gandhian. His life and work will remain a source of eternal inspiration for generations to come."
___
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Mandela was a "builder of bridges of peace and dialogue" who changed the course of history, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his moral leadership.
"He was never haughty," Netanyahu said. "He worked to heal rifts within South African society and succeeded in preventing outbreaks of racial hatred."
___
At the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky., on display is a photograph of the U.S. boxing great with Mandela, their hands clenched into fists as if they're boxing.
"He made us realize, we are our brother's keeper and that our brothers come in all colors," Ali said. "He was a man whose heart, soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge."
___
Associated Press reporters Svetlana Kozlenko in Kiev, Ukraine, Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, Ashok Sharma in New Delhi, Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Myanmar, Julie Pace in Washington, Jake Pearson in New York, Cassandra Vinograd in London, David Koop in Mexico City, Bruce Schreiner in Lexington, Kentucky, Sara Burnett in Chicago and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana contributed to this report.

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...