Having exhausted the fruit and berry crops of their Nordic homelands, waxwings are heading southwards, writes Richard Collins.

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Nelson Mandela was buried yesterday in the African ground that he loved after a funeral ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, fly-overs by military aircraft, and a eulogy by a traditional leader wearing an animal skin.

Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice globally.

The obituary of the late former president as taken from the state funeral programme:

The president of South Africa has led tributes to Nelson Mandela, describing him as a “beacon of hope”, as the anti-apartheid hero was laid to rest in a family plot.

Anti-apartheid struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada’s voice wavered yesterday as he paid a moving final tribute to his fellow freedom fighter and close friend Nelson Mandela.

Nelson Mandela has been buried in the African ground he loved after a funeral ceremony that included a 21-gun salute and fly-overs by military aircraft as well as a eulogy by a traditional leader wearing an animal skin.

South African military jets and helicopters have flown over after pallbearers placed Nelson Mandela’s casket over the grave following his funeral ceremony.

Big guns have fired a salute in the rural village where Nelson Mandela grew up and military servicemen marched stiffly behind his casket on a winding dirt road as South Africa said goodbye for the last time to the man who reconciled the country in its most vulnerable period.

South Africans were praised for the “dignified” way in which they have commemorated the death of Nelson Mandela as the memorial service for the anti-apartheid hero got under way.

INCARCERATION is said to leave you with a feeling of helplessness and vulnerability. But the truth of life for a political prisoner, even for one on a hunger strike, is the opposite.

From political posters to bottles of wine and kitchen aprons, the face and name of Nelson Mandela are a potent commercial and political brand in South Africa. Little wonder it’s so sought after — and the source of occasional squabbles.

Anti-apartheid campaigner and IOC member Sam Ramsamy wants to bring the Olympics to South Africa so that he can fulfil one of Nelson Mandela’s last wishes.

Bono yesterday praised Nelson Mandela’s “life without sanctimony” — and his ability to prise donations for his foundation from the unlikeliest of sources.

South Africans called it the “Madiba magic” after his clan name — Nelson Mandela’s quirky mix of grandeur and simplicity, his ready quips, his ability to relate to the poor, his colourful custom-made shirts and his dancing prowess.

South Africans united in mourning for Nelson Mandela yesterday, but while some celebrated his remarkable life with dance and song, others fretted that the anti-apartheid hero’s death would make the nation vulnerable again to racial and social tensions.

Preparations are well underway for the state funeral of Nelson Mandela which will take place on Saturday week.

NELSON MANDELA was the glowing beacon of hope, shining across South Africa and the world, whose 27 years in jail left him without a trace of bitterness or hatred against those who practiced the evil of apartheid.

Down the centuries, each era of human development has shown an extraordinary capacity to produce leaders of great stature. The passing of Nelson Mandela has taken from the South African people, and the world at large, one of the greatest figures of this or any age.

Nelson Mandela, the pioneering president who helped to end apartheid in South Africa, has died at the age of 95.

U2 have released new material for the first time since 2009.

FIFA is to be urged by its new anti-discrimination task force to pressure World Cup hosts Qatar and Russia to relax their anti-gay laws.

THE first move of a totalitarian regime is to lock up the writers and intellectuals. They came for John Waters in the dead of night. Well, they didn’t, but they might as well have.

In what can best be described as an act of political cowardice, Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has performed an astonishing volte-face by withdrawing support for a peace-and-reconciliation centre at the former Maze prison, outside Belfast.

Prison officers have called for a former jail which held some of the North's most notorious paramilitaries to be bulldozed after proposals to build a peace centre there stalled.

Nelson Mandela has made “dramatic progress” and may be going home “any time soon” his daughter said as the former South African president celebrates his 95th birthday today.

President Barack Obama is to announce a new initiative to double access to electric power in sub-Saharan Africa, part of his effort to build on the legacy of equality and opportunity forged by his personal hero, Nelson Mandela.

President Barack Obama is paying tribute to the man who inspired his political activism by taking his family on a tour of the island prison where anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela spent 18 years.

Nelson Mandela’s health is continuing to improve but the anti-apartheid hero remains in a serious condition, South Africa’s president said today.

Nelson Mandela is responding better to treatment after several days in hospital, says South African president Jacob Zuma.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela remains in hospital for a fifth day after being admitted on Sunday for a recurring lung infection.

Nelson Mandela remains in a serious but stable condition in a Pretoria hospital with a recurring lung infection.

Nelson Mandela remains serious but stable on his third day in a Pretoria hospital. “His condition is unchanged,” the office of president Jacob Zuma said, urging South Africans to pray for the former president and his family.

At the London Olympics last year I could see that John Joe Nevin didn’t want to do an interview after losing his gold medal bout.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela has spent a day with family in the Johannesburg hospital where he is being treated for a fifth day for a recurring lung infection that developed into pneumonia.

Nelson Mandela is celebrating his 94th birthday. He is not expected to make a public appearance.

England may find themselves in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 tomorrow night or they may be boarding a plane back to London; but whatever the result against Italy in Kiev it appears Roy Hodgson’s side may finally have learned the lesson the world has been waiting for them to grasp for so long; the art of humility.

England’s pampered players luxuriated in a fairy-tale castle at the top of a German mountain during the World Cup of 2006 as WAGs sashayed below in the spa town of Baden Baden; but they still went home in despair.

Kieran O’Leary talks Kerry, Crokes, tactics and travelling with Fintan O’Toole

EMBATTLED FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday appeared to stand by his suggestion that racism on the pitch should be settled by a handshake.