John Glenn, First US Astronaut to Orbit the Earth, Dies at 95

John Glenn, the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth, has died at age 95, officials said Thursday.

Glenn had been admitted more than a week ago to Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital, according to the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

He was the last surviving member of a group known as "the Mercury Seven" -- seven military test pilots selected in 1959 to become America's first astronauts.

After serving as a military pilot in World War II and the Korean conflict, Glenn was a test pilot on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps jet fighters and won a place in the first class of U.S. astronauts assembled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, in 1958.

Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth, flying a ship called the Friendship 7 around the world in a nearly 5-hour flight on February 20, 1962.

Much later, he became the oldest man to fly in space in 1998, as a crew member on the U.S. space shuttle Discovery.

Glenn also had political aspirations, running as a Democrat for a U.S. Senate seat for Ohio in 1964. He was unsuccessful, but won a seat 10 years later, defending attacks on his military record in comments that came to be known as the "Gold Star Mothers" speech.

During the Democratic primary race for the Senate in 1974, opponent Howard Metzenbaum accused Glenn, a career military man, of never holding a real job. Glenn retorted, "You go with me to any Gold Star mother (a mother whose child has died in active U.S. military service) and you look her in the eye and tell her that her son did not hold a job."

The speech is credited with giving Glenn the edge over his competitor in the primary, and he went on to win the Senate seat. He remained a member of the U.S. Senate until 1999, and was the oldest living former member of the Senate until his death.

Glenn made his final trip into space in 1998, while still a senator, after persuading NASA to send him on a space shuttle flight. He was 77 at the time and became the oldest man ever to fly in space. His participation in the 9-day mission was criticized by some as folly, but supporters said it provided valuable data on the effects of space flight on an elderly person, as well as providing data that could be compared with Glenn's space flights from three decades earlier.

After leaving the Senate, Glenn helped to found a public service school at The Ohio State University, which later became the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

Catapulted into the spotlight by the 1962 space flight, Glenn went on to win numerous accolades, including honorary degrees at a number of universities, the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, a U.S. Senate public service award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Thousands Cheer as Mandela Goes Home for Last Time

by Scott Bobb

The body of South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela has been returned to his ancestral home Saturday where it is to be buried Sunday at his family compound in Qunu. Thousands of people cheered the funeral procession as it traveled Saturday from Mthatha to Qunu. 

Throngs of people sang and danced along the roads as they waited many hours for the funeral procession.

As the convoy passed with its coffin draped with the South African flag, police struggled to keep the crowd from surging onto the highway.

It was the beloved leader’s last public appearance.

Sizwe -- he goes by only one name -- was eight years old when Mandela was freed from prison 20 years ago. He says his generation will never forget South Africa’s first black president. 

“Especially us, the youth, because we are looking up to him, a lot of things that he has done for us. Even here in this area there is a lot of changes through him," said Sizwe. "If he didn’t fight for this country like he did I don’t think we’d be standing where we are today.

Luyanda Liberty Gcaza agrees. He is graduating with a university degree in biology. 

“In the olden days it was rare to find a man like me in South Africa, completing his degree," said Gcaza. "I think this is special because education was the first [most] important thing for him because he said that in order for South Africa to be free we need to be educated.”

Nano Binase, a mother of two, also waited for hours to pay her last respects. She says she wants her children to learn Mandela’s humility and his ability to forgive despite many injustices.

“He has lived an exemplary life. We can [should] follow his example," said Gcaza.

Mandela, before his body was returned to his home region, was eulogized by leaders of his ANC party at a memorial service near Johannesburg.

His grandson and designated family heir, Mandla Mandela, said his 95-year-old grandfather worked tirelessly even after his retirement to improve people’s lives. He focused on social issues such as HIV/AIDS and improving the well-being of South Africa’s children.

Authorities say more than 100,000 people paid their respects over three days while Mandela lay in state in Pretoria.

He was eulogized Tuesday at a memorial in Johannesburg that was attended by more than 60,000 people and more than 80 heads of state and government.

The anti-apartheid icon is to be buried in Qunu Sunday following ceremonies to be attended by several thousand people - family members, close friends and a handful of leaders, mostly from Africa.

Venezuelans Mourn Chavez

Crowds of grieving Venezuelans sobbed and threw flowers as his coffin made its way through the streets of Caracas Wednesday. A somber Vice President Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's hand-picked successor, walked next to the hearse.

Chavez died Tuesday of cancer. He was 58-years-old.

Several close Chavez allies, including the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, already are in Venezuela for Friday's funeral.

The United Nations Security Council held a moment of silence Wednesday for Chavez. Cuba, home of Chavez's mentor Fidel Castro, is observing two days of official mourning. Chinese and Iranian leaders also expressed their sorrow.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas is closed until after the funeral. The U.S. delegation to the funeral has not yet been announced. President Barack Obama said he reaffirms his support for the Venezuelan people and is committed to polices promoting democracy and human rights.

Chavez, a staunch socialist, was elected president in 1998. He earned the enmity of the United States and others for such policies as nationalizing major companies and courting world leaders such as Fidel Castro, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

The country's opposition accused him of being a dictator. But millions of poor Venezuelans revered him for using the country's vast oil wealth to give them access to low-cost food, free medical care and other social programs. However, experts say Chavez failed to control crime or use oil wealth to enrich the overall economy.

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan VP:

"We now have to be united more than ever with major discipline and collaboration," he said. "We are going to grow. We are going to be dignified, inheritors and children of a great man. He was and will always be Comandante Hugo Chavez. Glory and honor Comandante Hugo Chavez. Long live Chavez!''

Latin America analyst Sean Burges, Australian Center for Latin American Studies:

"It’s definitely going to be the economy. Nobody knows what’s going on with the oil company and how much it’s producing," he said. "There are balance payments problems. There are production problems. There are supply problems. And these are all things that even if Chavez had stayed in power, he was going to have to deal with in the next four years. So it’s going to be a really titanic exercise in economic management and rationalization."

"Irrespective of what happens, I think some of the social policies and the political, dynamic changes Chavez brought in, those are going to be around forever."

World Leaders Express Sorrow Over Chavez Death

The death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has inspired many tributes and expressions of hope for the Venezuelan people.

Some of the late president's closest allies -- Bolivian President Evo Morales, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica -- arrived in Venezuela Wednesday, several days ahead of the leftist leader's state funeral set for Friday.

After learning of Chavez's death, a tearful President Morales had said that the late president would continue to be an inspiration for people who fight for their liberation.

Meanwhile at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the U.N. Security Council held a moment of silence to honor Chavez's memory.  Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had offered his condolences to the Venezuelan people.

Another close ally of the Chavez government, Cuba, is observing two days of mourning with flags flown at half-staff.  A statement from the government said the Cuban people considered him one of their "most outstanding sons."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also offered his condolences and said he may attend Friday's funeral.  China called Chavez "a great leader and great friend of the Chinese people."

The U.S. Obama administration, often the target of Chavez's criticism, was cautious in its response, releasing a statement expressing support for the Venezuelan people and interest in "developing a constructive relationship with the Venezuelan government."

In the largely Venezuelan community of Doral in the Florida city of Miami, many people who left Venezuela while Chavez was in power took to the streets to celebrate his passing. Some expressed hope that the problems they left behind -- crime, corruption, and a poor economy -- would finally begin to improve.

Former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro Dead at 93

Former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, who helped rewrite Italian politics after a devastating corruption scandal in the 1990s, has died at age 93.

No cause of death was given.

After working as a lawyer to help anti-Fascists jailed in World War II, Mr. Scalfaro entered politics and helped cobble together Italy's first constitution as a republic.

He was elected president in 1992 just as news of a widespread corruption scandal involving bribery and illegal political party funding emerged. The scandal wiped out the traditional two-party system in favor of today's multi-party coalitions.

Current Italian President Giorgio Napolitano praised Mr. Scalfaro as a leader of moral integrity who confronted one of the most difficult periods in Italian history.

Photo of Oscar Luigi Scalfaro courtesy of Presidenza della Repubblica.

Former Macedonian President Gligorov Dies

The first democratically elected president of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, has died in Skopje. He was 94 years old.

Mr. Gligorov died in his sleep Sunday night, surrounded by his family.

Once a top communist official, he became president of Macedonia in 1991 when it was still part of Yugoslavia. He peacefully led the country to independence, avoiding the wars that raged in other Yugoslav republics.

Under Mr. Gligorov's guidance, Macedonia joined the United Nations as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — a concession to neighboring Greece, which sees the use of the name Macedonia as laying future territorial claims to its own northern province of Macedonia. The dispute continues to this day.

Mr. Gligorov was seriously injured in a 1995 assassination attempt, suffering head injuries and losing an eye in a car bomb explosion. No suspects were ever arrested, but he continued his presidency until his term ended in 1999, becoming the world's oldest head of state. He later became a respected author.

A private family funeral will take place in Skopje on Tuesday. Mr. Gligorov is survived by a son and two daughters.