From Washington,this is VOA News.

Friends, world leaders and family members hailed former South African president Mandela today as a man who transformed his family, his country and the world in a somber funeral service in his rural hometown. Mr Mandela died last week at the age of 95.

World leaders and international celebrities were among the thousands of people who descended on the town of Qunu. 

South African President Jacob Zuma spoke, “We wish today to express two simple words. Thank you. Thank you for being everything we needed and wanted in a leader during a difficult period in our lives.”

Mr Zuma added that Mr Mandela's legacy must continue,"Whilst your long walk to freedom has ended in the physical sense, our own journey continues.We have to continue building the type of society you worked tirelessly to construct. We have to take your legacy forward. "

Follow the latest on Mr Mandela's funeral at geilien.cn.

U.S. Senator John McCain met Saturday in the Ukrainian capital with key government and opposition leaders, ahead of a mass rally aimed at forcing the Kyiv government and its leader, President Viktor Yanukovych, from power.
 
McCain voiced support for protesters who have occupied central Kyiv for much of the past three weeks, telling reporters he is "proud of what the people of Ukraine are doing so they can restore democracy to their country."

"We reiterated our commitment to the peacefult resolution. Ukraine is a western, a European nation and of course none of us want any violence. These are peaceful demonstrations and we argue strongly that no violence should be imposed by anyone. This is their democratic right."

McCain is the latest in a string of Western dignitaries to tour the huge makeshift protest encampment since demonstrations erupted last month over a presidential decision to back away from a key trade deal with the European Union. Kyiv says it will instead focus on repairing and strengthening economic ties with Russia.

China has rejected as "slanderous" a renewed call by Japan's prime minister to rescind its air defense zone in the East China Sea.

At the end of a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Tokyo on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on China to rescind all measures that violate universal principles of freedom of overflight and aviation safety.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei posted a statement online Sunday expressing "strong dissatisfaction" with Mr. Abe's "use of an international meeting to make slanderous remarks about China."

Japan, South Korea and the United States have protested the move and say they will not abide by Beijing's declaration.

China's first lunar rover has begun a three-month scientific exploration of the moon's surface, after successfully deploying from an unmanned spacecraft Saturday.

The soft landing of the six-wheeled solar-powered rover, dubbed "Jade Rabbit" , dominated Chinese news headlines and state television Saturday, after a 13-day journey from Earth.

China is the third country to carry out a soft lunar landing, after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The last such landing occurred in 1976.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has reiterated he will not sign a security pact with the United States until the U.S. agrees to end raids on Afghan homes and to broker a peace process with the Taliban.

Karzai said the two conditions were "absolute prerequisites" for him to endorse the agreement.

The Afghan president made his comments Saturday in New Delhi, the second day of his three-day visit to India.

The security pact calls for U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014 to help train Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban.

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.