BBC News:全球哀悼曼德拉

I am Ray Furlong with a selection ofhighlights from across BBC World Service Newstoday.

Coming up, the world mourns the death of Nelson Mandela, one of the most renownedpoliticians and leaders of modern times. We hear reaction from South Africa including praysfrom one of his former opponents.

"He was a great man. He was a very special man. I think his greatest legacy to South Africa andto the world is the emphasis which he has always put on the need for reconciliation."

And we'll hear how he is being celebrated around the world for his achievements and for hispersonal qualities.

"His chrisma attracted thousands of thousands of people. And I could say from my own heartthat it was a true feeling towards people."

We'll look at key moments in Nelson Mandela's career and also how he's being remembered.

"People are really treating him a bit like a fluffy bunny frankly as if he was, you know, a saint.Now he made it absolutely clear that he didn't consider himself a saint, that he was no saint.He was a fighter."

But first, across the world, tributes are being paid to Nelson Mandela. Expressions like"profound loss" and "a moment of deepest sorrow" are being used in his own country, SouthAfrica, to describe a nation in mourning. And that sense of mourning is being sharedthroughout the world. Mr. Mandela was 95 when he died on Thursday. He'd been receivingintensive medical care at home for lung infection after spending three months in hospital.

In this edition of our podcast, we'll hear some of tributes that are being paid to him at homeand internationally. And we'll hear from some of the people who knew him including his politicalallies and his former opponents. But first, let's remember the man through some of the keystages of his life. Born in 1918, he studied at Fort Hare, then the only black university in SouthAfrica. And he went on to become a leading activist in the African National Congress. Themovement was dedicated to ending the apartheid system which imposed strict racialsegregation and relegated non-whites to inferior status. Attempts at non-violent strugglemet a violent response from the state, leading Mandela and many of his colleges to advocatearmed resistance. In 1964, he was sent into life imprisonment for organizing sabotage atwhat became known as the Rivonia Trial.