From Washington,this is VOA News.

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's anti-apartheid leader and first black president, died Thursday at the age of 95.

South African President Jacob Zuma said in a nationally televised address Mr. Mandela had "passed on peacefully" in the company of his family.

"Our thoughts are with the millions of people across the world who embraced Madiba as their own and who saw his cause as their cause."

Mr. Zuma said Mr. Mandela will be given a state funeral and national flags will be flown at half staff.

World leaders, past and present, are remembering anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

At the White House, a solemn President Barack Obama called Mr. Mandela an influential, courageous, and profoundly good human being.

"He achieved more than could be expected of any man. Today he has gone home. We have lost one of most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth. "

Former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush also praised Mr. Mandela as a champion of freedom, human dignity, and equality.

Another former U.S. president, George H. W. Bush, called Mr. Mandela, "a man of tremendous moral courage, who changed the course of history in his country."

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon,"Mr. Mandela was a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration. Many around the world were greatly influenced by his selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom. He touched our lives in deeply personal ways. At the same time, no one did more in our time to advance the values and aspirations of the United Nations. "

Traveling in South Korea,Vice President Joe Biden commented on Mr Mandela's character,"He lifted a nation to freedom. He had wisdom, compassion, and courage. And maybe the hardest thing to possess, forgiveness."

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has met with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on the lastest stop of an Asian tour dominated by tensions over China's new Air Defense Identification Zone.

Biden said today in Seoul that there should be no doubt about Washington's commitment to preserving balance in the region.

At a working lunch, President Park alluded to regional issues,including territorial disputes with China, the threat from North Korea and diplomatic tensions with Japan.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea have all rejected the new zone in the East China Sea.

Secretary of State John Kerry says says Israel's security is a key element of both peace talks with the Palestinians and international negotiations about Iran's nuclear program.

Kerry said Thursday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem that the United States will do everything in its power to ensure Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons is "terminated."  He said both the U.S. and Israel agree on the goal of a long-term, comprehensive agreement with Iran.

The French defense minister says troop reinforcements have begun arriving in the Central African Republic, after reports that around 100 people were killed there Thursday in renewed sectarian violence.

Defense chief Jean-Yves Le Drian told Radio France Internationale on Friday that troops have begun moving into the capital, Bangui, where the streets are now quiet after a day of bloodshed between Christian militias and Muslim rebels.

A movement allied to former CAR president Francois Bozize has claimed responsibility for attacks around the capital.

France sent the troops after a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday authorized France and the African Union to strengthen their forces in hopes of returning calm to the area.
 
French President Francois Hollande said France is doubling its forces to 1,200 troops.

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