World mourns Nelson Mandela

Former South African President Nelson Mandela died peacefully at his Johannesburg home on Thursday after a prolonged lung infection, said current President Jacob Zuma. Mandela, the country’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon known in South Africa by his clan name of Madiba, emerged from 27 years in apartheid prisons to help guide South Africa through bloodshed and turmoil to democracy.

Picture: Flowers and tributes to Mandela were laid outside South Africa House in central London. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II said Friday she was “deeply saddened” by the death of Nelson Mandela, adding that he had “worked tirelessly for the good of his country”.

A statue of Mandela was surrounded by flowers outside of the South African Embassy in Washington D.C. South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela on Friday.

Flowers and tributes were laid at the foot of a statue of Mandela in Parliament Square, central London.

A picture shows the Italian newspapers with the front pages dedicated to Mandela. He was the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century.

An Indian couple placed flowers on a sand sculpture in tribute to Mandela, made by sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik, at the Golden Sea Beach in Puri. Mandela, who was elected South Africa’s first black president after spending nearly three decades in prison, had been receiving treatment for a lung infection at his Johannesburg home since September, after three months in hospital in a critical state.

Pakistani schoolchildren held lamps during a memorial tribute to Mandela in Karachi. People gathered in cities around the world to make their own personal tributes to Mandela, leaving flowers and setting up makeshift shrines in an outpouring of emotion for South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon.

Johannesburg mourners brought candles to the home of the former president to mourn his passing.

A somber South African President Jacob Zuma made a national broadcast to announce Mandela’s death.

President Barack Obama paused as he spoke in the briefing room of the White House about the death of Nelson Mandela. Obama says the world has lost an influential, courageous and ‘profoundly good’ man with the death of the anti-apartheid icon.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to the media about the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered condolences to all citizens of South Africa and the Mandela family, on behalf of the Government of Canada in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Nelson Mandela will be featured on the cover of The New Yorker on Dec. 16.

Press gathered outside the home of former president Nelson Mandela before it was announced by president Jacob Zuma that Mandela had died.

People listened to a radio as South African President Jacob Zuma announced the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela in Houghton.

Johannesburg mourners paid tribute to former South African president Nelson Mandela following his death.

Mourners sang songs outside the house of the late former president in Johannesburg.

People chanted slogans outside the house of former South African President Nelson Mandela after news of his death in Johannesburg.

A woman holding a candle and a rose cried outside the house of former South African president Nelson Mandela following his death.

Candles burned for former South African president Nelson Mandela.

People sat behind burning candles for former president Nelson Mandela on hearing of his passing outside his Johannesburg home.

South Africans gathered outside Nelson Mandela’s home in Johannesburg.

Keaton Anderson, 10, poses for a photograph for his father Dijon Anderson, of Bowie, Md., as they visited the statue of Nelson Mandela at the South African Embassy in Washington, which is currently under renovation.

People examined a painting by Brazilian muralist Eduardo Kobra that features the face of Nelson Mandela on a wall on Highland Avenue in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Television footage of Nelson Mandela is seen on a news broadcast reporting the death of Mandela as commuters pass by in Chicago.

People walked past a news ticker in Times Square that announced the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

People gathered outside Madiba Restaurant, named in honor of Nelson Mandela, in Brooklyn.

Floral tributes to the late former South African President Nelson Mandela are left outside the South African embassy in Berlin.

Flowers and tributes were left on the Nelson Mandela statue on Parliament Square in London.

A message on a floral tribute was left for Nelson Mandela outside South African High Commission in London.

A woman lit a paper lantern and released it outside Madiba, a Brooklyn restaurant named in honor of Mandela.

South Africans held pictures of Mandela as they paid tribute to the politician in Johannesburg.

An artist who goes by the name “Franco the Great” stands in front of a mural of South African leader Nelson Mandela that he painted in 1995, and later added U.S. President Barack Obama, on 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.

People stood in front of a statue of Nelson Mandela at Parliament Square in London.

A man photographed the marquee at the historic Apollo Theater, announcing the death of Mandela.

England cricketers observe a minutes silence to mark the passsing of former South African president Nelson Mandela on the second day of the second Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia in Adelaide on December 6, 2013. Nelson Mandela, the revered icon of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and a towering figure of 20th century politics, died on December 5 aged 95. AFP PHOTO / Saeed KHAN IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USESAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images