Obama not to attend new South African president’s inauguration

May 9th, 2009 ON BOARD/ JOHANNESBURG - Vice-President Hamid Ansari who arrived on a three-day visit to South Africa, will attend the inauguration ceremony of new South African President Jacob Zuma today. Zuma will be sworn in as independent South Africa's third president today, whose African National Congress (ANC) swept the general elections in the country held on April 22.

May 9th, 2009 PRETORIA - A Hindu prayer started off the inauguration of South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings here Saturday. As Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari joined heads of state of 28 other countries, South African Hindu Maha Sabha president Ashwin Trikamjee recited a few lines in Sanskrit before translating them into English and making a plea for divine guidance to assist Zuma in resolving a range of challenges facing the country under his leadership.

May 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Vice President Hamid Ansari will represent India at the inauguration ceremony of new South African President Jacob Zuma on May 9, reflecting the importance New Delhi attaches to its ties with South Africa. Ansari will pay a three-day visit to South Africa from Friday to attend the inauguration of Zuma, whose African National Congress (ANC) swept the general elections in the country held on April 22.

May 1st, 2009 Correction: Carter on South AmericaBOGOTA — In an April 28 story, The Associated Press reported that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said he was exploring bringing together the presidents of five South American with U.S.

May 1st, 2009 PRETORIA - Heads of state from 18 countries will attend the inauguration ceremony of South Africa's president-elect Jacob Zuma May 9. More than 5,000 high-profile guests are expected to join in the celebrations at the Union Buildings here.

January 29th, 2009 LONDON - Actress Rene Zellweger was desperate to attend US President Barack Obama's inauguration and at the last minute went to Washington DC alone. According to contactmusic.com, Zellweger went unrecognised at the capital joining millions of others to watch the swearing-in ceremony.

January 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Following his inauguration Tuesday, President Barack Obama walked into the Capitol and signed his Cabinet nominations and signed a proclamation of national renewal and reconciliation. 'I'm a lefty.

January 20th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Former South African president Nelson Mandela has said that US President Barack Obama would bring a new voice of hope to the world, South African news agency BuaNews reported Wednesday. In a letter handed to Obama shortly before his inauguration Tuesday, Mandela said: 'Mr President, you have brought a new voice of hope that these problems can be addressed and that we can in fact change the world and make it a better place.' The former president said that he believed that the entire nation had witnessed something truly historic, not only in the political records of the US, but of the world.

January 20th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Former South African president Nelson Mandela congratulated Barack Obama on his inauguration as the first black president of the US and said the historic event reminded him of the excitement that surrounded his own election as his country's first democratically-elected president. In a letter handed to Obama shortly before his inauguration Tuesday, the 90-year-old iconic leader of Africa said: 'There is a special excitement on our continent today, Mister President, in the knowledge that you have such strong personal ties with Africa, we share in that excitement and pride.' 'You will always be in our affection as a young man who dared to dream and to pursue that dream,' the anti-apartheid hero said.

January 20th, 2009 LONDON - Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Gordon Brown Tuesday sent messages of support to US President Barack Obama as parties were held across Britain to mark the handover of power in the US. The queen, 82, who has during her reign since 1952 met all US presidents with the exception of Lyndon B.

January 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US president-elect Barack Obama paid tribute to the late African-American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Monday, a day before his inauguration as the 44th president of the US.

January 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush and his wife Laura will leave Washington, D.C.

January 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - As Barack Obama Tuesday became America's first African-American president in a line of 44 US chief executives, inauguration watchers offered firsts and facts about ceremonies over the last two centuries. Obama's inauguration was the 56th formal one.

January 16th, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - Amid global media frenzy over the inauguration of Obama Barack, award-winning South African Indian filmmaker Anant Singh said Saturday that he would produce a documentary feature on the first black president of the United States of America. The film, titled 'Barack Obama: People's President', is written, produced and directed by Danny Schechter, who was involved in 'Weapons of Mass Deception' and 'Viva Madiba: A Hero For All Seasons', which told the tale of Nelson Mandela.

January 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Jan 20 inauguration of Democrat Barack Obama as 44th president of the US promises to open a new era for the country and the world. For Americans, it represents the fall of a final racial barrier - fittingly just weeks before the US celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln, the man who ended slavery.