Members of Nelson Mandela’s family and tribal elders gathered today at the former president’s rural hometown in eastern South Africa, as concern grew for the 94-year-old leader who spent a third day in critical condition in a hospita.

South Africa’s president has urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honour the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader.

CLIMATE negotiators agreed a pact yesterday that would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to take action on greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the action plan was not aggressive enough to slow the pace of global warming.

Tanks opened fire at rebels trying to storm Muammar Gaddafi’s main compound in Tripoli today, although he appeared to have vanished a day after the lightning advance by his opponents into the city.

THE US and South Africa pledged joint action yesterday to induce reforms in Zimbabwe as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed a new spirit of co-operation between the two democracies.