Obama: "Mandela makes me want to be a better man"

This direct is now closed . Relive the course of the ceremony to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela , minute by minute.

The highlights :

- More than 40,000 people attended the farewell ceremony to former South African President Nelson Mandela, died Thursday night at the age of 95 . The ceremony was broadcast around the world , began at 11 am ( French time ) and ends shortly after 15 hours.

- A hundred heads of state and government and dozens of personalities from the world of culture and the arts were present. Image of French national unity Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy arrived together in the stadium and sat side by side in the stands .

- Barack Obama was the star of the ceremony. In a highly applauded by the crowd speech , U.S. President Nelson Mandela called " giant of history ."


- The handshake between U.S. President Barack Obama and Raul Castro of Cuba is also one of the strongest images of this unprecedented tribute .