Nelson Mandela
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has told his country's parliament that former President Nelson Mandela began responding better to treatment this morning for a recurring lung infection following "a difficult last few days."
94-year-old international Mandela spent a fifth straight day in a Pretoria hospital, where he was visited by one of his daughters and two granddaughters.
Zuma noted that today marked the 49th anniversary of the sentencing of Mandela to life in prison in 1964. He said "our thoughts" are with Mandela and his family "on this crucial historical anniversary."
Mandela, the leader of South Africa's anti-apartheid movement, spent 27 years in prison during white racist rule. He was freed in 1990, and then embarked on peacemaking efforts during the tense transition that saw the demise of the apartheid system and his own election as South Africa's first black president in 1994.
His admission to a hospital in Pretoria, is the fourth admission since treatment last December.