MANDELA SPENDS 95TH BIRTHDAY IN HOSPITAL

Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th
birthday in hospital in Pretoria, as
events take place around the world
and in South Africa in his honour.
South Africans are being urged to match
the former president and anti-apartheid
leader's 67 years of public service with
67 minutes of charitable acts.
Mr Mandela, who is in critical but stable
condition with a recurring lung infection,
entered hospital on 8 June.
President Jacob Zuma said his health
was "steadily improving" .
"We are proud to call this international
icon our own as South Africans and wish
him good health," Mr Zuma said in a
statement.
"We thank all our people for supporting
Madiba throughout the hospitalisation
with undying love and compassion," he
said, referring to Mandela's clan name.
Mr Mandela's daughter, Zindzi, said on
Wednesday that he had made "dramatic
progress".
"I should think he will be going home
anytime soon,'' she told UK Sky TV.
Mr Mandela's birthday is also Nelson
Mandela International Day, a day
declared by the UN as a way to recognise
the Nobel Prize winner's contribution to
reconciliation.
The former statesman is revered across
the world for his role in ending apartheid
in South Africa. He went on to become
the first black president in the country's
first all-race elections in 1994.
The ruling African National Congress
(ANC) said that on this Mandela Day
homage was being paid to 95 years of
"life well-lived", dedicated to the
liberation of South Africans and people all
over the world.
Poster project
The day kicks off with millions of school
children across South Africa singing
Happy Birthday to Mr Mandela.
To mark the former statesman's 67 years
as a lawyer, activist, prisoner and
president, volunteers will spend 67
minutes renovating schools and
orphanages, cleaning hospitals and
distributing food to the poor.
President Zuma plans to mark the
occasion by overseeing the donation of
houses to poor white families in the
Pretoria area.
A poster project offering a global vision
of Mandela, with 700 submissions from
around the world, will be unveiled on
Wednesday and auctioned off for charity.
"He carries across this concept of
humanity and selflessness,'' said
Mohammed Jogie, co-founder of the
project.
Well-wishers have been gathering
outside Mr Mandela's hospital leaving
messages of support
Events will also be taking place
internationally, with an image of a large
Mandela painting by South African artist
Paul Blomkamp featured in New York's
Times Square.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson has
pledged 67 minutes of community
service on Thursday to "make the world a
better place, one small step at a time",
speaking in a recorded message.
Meanwhile, concerts are planned later
this week in the Australian city of
Melbourne, featuring local and African
artists.
His illness gives extra poignancy to this
year's Mandela Day, correspondents say.
For South Africans, the best birthday
present for Mandela would be to recover
and be among the people who love him
most, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani.
As the family and millions around the
country reflect the role Mr Mandela
played in South Africa, there will be a
quiet prayer that he will return home
soon, our correspondent adds.
His third wife, Graca Machel, said last
Friday that she was "less anxious" about
his health than before and that he was
continuing to respond well to treatment.
Thursday also is the 15th anniversary of
the couple's marriage.
Ahead of the anniversary, Mr Mandela's
close friend and lawyer George Bizos
described them as "a loving couple", the
AFP news agency reports.
Meanwhile, Mr Mandela's granddaughter
Ndileka told the BBC on Wednesday that
she had been hurt by a continuing family
feud over the burial place of three of Mr
Mandela's children, as well as his own
resting place.
She also described how difficult it had
been for the family to cope with his
critical illness, complaining of intrusive
media questioning.