LEADERS from countries across the world attended Nelson Mandela's memorial service at the FNB stadium in Soweto amid driving rain.

Those attending included Prime Minister David Cameron and his three surviving predecessors, Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Also seen arriving at the service were supermodel Naomi Campbell, rock star Bono, former South African president FW De Klerk, ex-US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former French president Nicholas Sarkozy.

Mr Mandela, who died last Thursday aged 95, made his last public appearance at the stadium at the closing ceremony of the 2010 football World Cup.

Here, in East Lancashire, the flag above Blackburn Cathedral is being flown at half mast as a sign of mourning for Mandela.