From Washington,this is VOA News.

South Africans are mourning anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who died Thursday at the age of 95 after a long illness.

Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his role fighting to end white minority rule and official discrimination against blacks in South Africa.

After his release, he became a symbol of peace and reconciliation and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. The following year, he became South Africa's first black president.

South Africa will hold a period of mourning unparalleled in the nation’s history, as the world marks the death of anti-apartheid icon former South African President.

VOA's Anita Powell has more from JOHANNESBURG.

Mr Mandela, who died late Thursday at the age of 95, will be laid to rest on Sunday, December 15, in a family ceremony in his ancestral home in the rural Eastern Cape town of Qunu.
 
South African President Jacob Zuma said the nation will hold several events in the week before the burial.  

“We will spend the week mourning his passing. We will also spend it celebrating a life well-lived, a life that we must all emulate for the betterment of our country and Africa. Long live Madiba.”

The week of events begins this coming Sunday, with a national day of prayer.

Anita Powell VOA News JOHANNESBURG.

A U.S. Korean War veteran is on his way home after being released from custody and deported from North Korea.

Officials from the U.S. Embassy greeted 85-year-old Merrill Newman at the airport in Beijing Saturday.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called Newman's release a positive decision, but urged Pyongyang to also release another American, Kenneth Bae, who has been held there for over a year.

There are fresh reports of violence and lawlessness in the Central African Republic, as more French troops arrive in hopes of stopping the unrest.

Joanna Mariner works for Amnesty International in the CAR capital, Bangui.

"Groups of government forces, what are known as the ex-Seleka, who were the armed group that took power in March, mostly going door to door looking for members of the armed opposition group known as the anti-Balaka but also just really taking advantage of the situation and pillaging, going from door to door, knocking down people's doors, breaking into the house, pillaging and killing people fairly indiscriminately."

Mariner says the level of violence is not as high as it was on Thursday when heavy fighting across Bangui left about 100 people dead.

The U.S. defense secretary has reassured Middle Eastern leaders that the U.S. is not abandoning its commitment to the region, following the recently negotiated deal with Iran about its nuclear program.

Delegates to the World Trade Organization meeting in Bali, Indonesia have approved a global trade deal for the first time since the organization was founded in 1995.

WTO director-general shed tears during today's summit closing, saying, "for the first time in history, the WTO has finally delivered."

December 7 marks the anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian islands 72 years ago.
 
In the speech to the congress the following day,Mr Franklin Roosevelt called it "a date that will live in infamy."

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

Thousands of people gather at Pearl Harbor every year to commemorate the anniversary of the 1941 attack that launched the U.S. into World War Two.

The Navy and National Park Service are co-hosting Saturday's ceremonies, which are open to the public, and which will include dozens of elderly survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

For more on these stories and complete look at today's news,you should visit our website at geilien.cn.

Reporting from Washington,I'm Bill Michaels.

VOA News.